Holy Week starts amid safety concerns for Pakistan Christians

An unidentified gunman shot and killed a Christian sanitary worker on April 1 in Peshawar where the Taliban hold sway

Pakistan police have beefed up security around churches in northwestern Peshawar city ahead of Easter after a Christian was shot dead on the eve of Palm Sunday.  

An unidentified gunman shot and killed Kashif Masih, a Christian sanitary worker, on April 1 in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

“Our faith remains strong yet our Easter is canceled. We can’t celebrate after this unnatural death,” said Naveed Masih, brother of Kashif Masih. 

The Many Faces of Asian Mary in Asia
and the World

Footage from a surveillance camera at the Salvation Army Church, one of four churches in the Christian enclave, showed a man on a motorcycle, wearing a black mask, firing three rounds of bullets at Masih, a father of three.

Father Tariq Mehmood, parish priest of St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Peshawar, said celebrating Christian festivals under the "shadow of guns" have become a norm.

“There is a never-ending security alert in our province. Police ask us to take precautions before every gathering. We thank the security agencies for their cooperation,” said Father Mehmood.

At least 10 armed policemen guard the church, located on a main road, during prayer times.

Their number was hiked to 20 on Palm Sunday and 16 Catholic volunteers checked with metal detectors all those who entered the church. 

Police are monitoring the Christian enclave in Peshawar to avoid further attacks on Christians in the city, where religious minorities are often targets of hate attacks.  

Masih’s death came a day after a Sikh shopkeeper Dayal Singh was killed by an unidentified motorcyclist in another area of Peshawar. 

Police said Singh died on March 31 in his grocery shop, which sold goods at a discounted rate to help observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in the country, hit by an economic crisis. 

A day before, ophthalmologist Birbal Genani, a Hindu, was shot dead by unknown assailants in the port city of Karachi. His assistant also sustained bullet injuries.

Jihadist militants are on an attacking spree in Pakistan since November last year after the Pakistani Taliban, an offshoot of the ruling Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, called off the ceasefire pact with the government.

The insurgent group decided to end the 5-month-old pact after the army beefed up attacks against them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and other parts of the south Asian nation.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, after the defeat of the US-led NATO forces, has emboldened Pakistani Taliban whose top leaders are hiding in the rugged border regions of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

Pakistani Taliban hold sway over Peshawar, the sixth largest city in Pakistan with more than 2.3 million population, and can strike the capital city at will due to its strong presence.

In January, Protestant All Saints Church in Peshawar observed the first anniversary of the death of its Pastor William Siraj, who was killed by bike-riding gunmen.

The pastor worked in the Diocese of Peshawar for the Church of Pakistan, a union of Protestant churches, including the Methodists and the Anglicans.

“Terrorists are hell-bent on weakening the state and worsening the situation," Pastor Shahzad Murad, the present vicar of All Saints Church.

He said prayers for economic and political progress have become a regular feature in both Catholic and protestant churches.

“Religious minorities are soft targets. But it is getting difficult. God will wipe away our tears,” he added.

Murad said four Sikh people were murdered last year. 

All Saints Church, which was targeted by two suicide bombers in 2013, has pressed volunteers to check on the crowd of worshippers during the Holy Week services. 

The 2013 attack, dubbed as the worst on Christians in Pakistan, claimed 70 lives and injured more than 120 people.

Share your comments

Latest News