Muted Christmas for Christians in Pakistan
ICC Note
“As Christians in Pakistan , we have to be careful – too much attention or fanfare is bad. But if we don’t get a tree at all then my children will be upset, so it’s a balance.”
By Ayesha Nasir
12/18/2009 Pakistan (The National)-Nabila Ishtiaq, 34, has been preparing for Christmas for more than a month, including finding an artificial tree that is “just the right size”.
Her concern for the tree’s size, however, has little to do with its cost or suitability for her home, but rather, as a member of Pakistan ’s oft-persecuted Christian minority, Mrs Ishtiaq is well aware that to highlight their religion is to invite trouble.
“I am afraid that if our tree is too big then our Muslim neighbours might get angry,” she said, as she sat on her bed stitching sequins on the dress her daughter planned to wear over the holidays.
“As Christians in Pakistan , we have to be careful – too much attention or fanfare is bad. But if we don’t get a tree at all then my children will be upset, so it’s a balance.”
This year has been particularly traumatic. In August, an angry and armed mob of radical Muslims attacked a Christian village in Gojra, eastern Pakistan , firing indiscriminately, throwing petrol bombs and looting houses. Some 70 houses were burnt to the ground and at least seven Christians died in the flames.
The attack happened after an allegation that the Quran was defiled by Christians in Gojra, a claim later proved untrue. Blasphemy laws in Pakistan make defiling the Quran and images of the Prophet Mohammed punishable by death, and is often used to settle scores or persecute minorities.
“Given the anti-Christian events of the past few months it’s no surprise that Christians are being careful in how they will celebrate this day this year,” said Peter Jacobs, president of the National Commission for Justice and Peace. “Many are worried about coming in the limelight and attracting the attention of Muslims.”
