Christians Under Attack

Muslim youths shot dead father of four Yunis Ilyas, 47, and newly-wed Jameel Masih, 21, in a church in Hoor Camp, Hyderabad.

Earlier in the evening, the group of youths shouted abuse at Christians as they arrived at the church for an evening prayer service.

They left after they were approached by the pastor and several other Christians but returned to the church later armed with guns and proceeded to shoot at the church members as they left the church.

Ilyas’ family is one of 41 in the area being supported by a Barnabas Fund feeding programme.  They had been visited by Wilson Saraj, Barnabas Fund’s South Asia coordinator, just this month.

Mr Saraj has spoken with the pastor of the church since the attack, which left two others injured, one seriously.

He said: “The church and the entire community are deeply saddened by this attack and tragic loss of these two brothers in Christ.

“The Christian community is feeling very insecure today.  They urgently need our prayers.”

Police have registered a case against the suspects and investigating the killings.

The attack is unsettling news for Pakistan’s Christian community, coming just three weeks after the assassination of Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti.

Barnabas Fund said Christians in Pakistan have been feeling “particularly vulnerable” since the murder of Bhatti, who was the Pakistani parliament’s only Christian minister and an outspoken critic of the blasphemy laws.

Christians make up only three per cent of the population in majority-Muslim Pakistan.  For years, they have been calling upon the government to repeal the blasphemy laws, which they say are being misused by extremists to settle personal scores and persecute them.

The government has refused to take any action on the blasphemy laws and last month, Sherry Rehman was forced to withdraw her Bill proposing amendments to the blasphemy laws after she received several death threats.

In January, the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer, was assassinated by his bodyguard because of his support for changes to the blasphemy laws and his recommendation to the Pakistani president to pardon Asia Bibi, a Christian woman sentenced to death last November for blasphemy.