The story: Human chain formed to protect Christians during Lahore mass
The story behind the story
The passive energy of mourning the loss of lives in the Peshawar church attacks had engulfed the Sunday mass at Lahore’s St. Anthony’s Church where I stood reporting on that October morning.
I had stumbled across calls for formation of a human chain outside St. Anthony’s Church the previous day as I sat browsing through Facebook on late Saturday night.
Having my fair share of experience of reporting protests, particularly on social issues, there was one thing I could vouch for – such protests were almost never on time, with many being cancelled without prior notification.
Luckily for me, a number at the bottom of the Facebook page listed contact details of organiser Muhammad Jibran Nasir. Over the next few minutes, I learnt that such an activity had indeed been planned in Lahore and that Jibran was, right at that moment, catching a flight from Karachi to Lahore.
I was both relieved and excited to cover an exercise that aimed at ensuring interfaith harmony in the face of growing religious intolerance.
On that day, the intention behind the event seemed inspiring but the emptiness of the courtyard kept me cynical as I waited for a larger turnout. There was no one in sight except for a handful of people and a lot of police.
All the people I spoke to said this was the first time the church was being guarded so heavily. What surprised me most was that it was not for the protection of the church but a pre-emptive measure to ensure protesters were restrained to a smaller area.
By noon some 300 people from all walks of life had gathered together to send a clear message. Sadly, by the end of the protest, the police had disappeared, just as everyone assumed they would.
Standing next to me, a foreign journalist visiting South Asia inquired what I, as a journalist, was interested in. I told him that in a country where casualties and violation of basic rights are often disregarded by those in power, there are some who have decided to not watch quietly and to speak out. Lahore’s Liberty Chowk, I told him, has transformed into the Speakers’ Corner of the Hyde Park.
The massive response on social media regarding the human chain was overwhelming. But undeniably, it also reflected how the world viewed Pakistan - a country where people have decided to tell those abusing their assumed power that they have had enough.
Rising above differences that Sunday, a few hundred Lahoris stood united, this time for Pakistan. I, the cynical journalist, witnessed this happen.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 1st, 2014.
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