Security for minorities: Protesters vent anger at church blasts

Traffic problems at several areas due to blocked roads.

LAHORE:

Protests were held at several spots in the city on Monday against the bombing of a church in Peshawar that killed dozens of people. The day of protests caused traffic problems at several main roads, but remained largely peaceful.

Demonstrations were staged at the Lahore Press Club, the Liberty Roundabout and at various points along Ferozepur Road, which is dotted with a number of Christian-majority neighbourhoods. The city’s courts remained inactive as lawyers went on strike to condemn the church attack.

Traffic problems were reported from The Mall, Davis Road, Ferozepur Road, Multan Road, Jail Road, Circular Road, Raiwind Road and Bund Road, as protesters burned tyres and held marches.

The death toll from the attack stands at 83 and could rise, with several of the injured in critical condition.

Press Club

The Human Liberation Commission of Pakistan and the Maseeha Millat Party organised a protest at the Lahore Press Club. The protesters carried banners and placards condemning the attack, chanted slogans and burnt tyres.

HLCP Chairman Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra said that the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments had failed to protect the minorities in the country. He demanded that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif remove Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and PTI chief Imran Khan remove KP Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak.

Pastor Anwar Javaid, the HLCP international affairs director, said that some died from their injuries in the blast because they were not provided prompt and adequate medical aid.

“This tragedy saddens us all, though we were always aware of the ongoing consequences of extremist tendencies and politics of convenience,” he said.

They said they wouldn’t end their protests until the government took concrete measures to protect their lives and property. Members of Minhajul Quran and the Inter-Faith Harmony Council joined in to express solidarity with the Christian community. They lit candles in memory of the dead and demanded justice for the persecuted minority.

Ferozepur Road

There were brief clashes near Youhanabad when police tried to reopen Ferozepur Road to traffic. Protesters threw stones at the policemen, injuring three. A police official said that they had been instructed not to retaliate and the situation did not escalate. Near General Hospital, some protesters blocked the road and stormed onto the Metro Bus Service track, forcing a brief suspension of buses.

A protest was also staged at Liberty Market, with Christians carrying placards, banners and the cross rallying and chanting slogans against the PTI and its leadership. Christian workers also staged a protest near the airport.

Courts

The Punjab Bar Council called a lawyers’ strike to express solidarity with the Christian community and the victims of the blasts.

Members of the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) marched in a rally from the bar premises to GPO Chowk on The Mall. They condemned the attack and demanded that the government identify and arrest the militants behind the bombing.

Addressing the protesters, LHCBA President Abid Saqi said that the government had failed to protect the minorities.

The targeting of minorities sent the wrong message to the outside world about Pakistan and Islam, he said.

He said that Pakistan’s Christian population should be shown that their countrymen sympathised with them and felt their pain. He demanded that the government beef up security at churches around the country.

The strike by the lawyers meant that cases at the LHC, sessions court, civil courts and district courts in Lahore were adjourned without progress.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2013.