Christians in the town of Gojra are making muted preparations for Easter this year. Residents of the neighbourhood called Christian Colony are haunted by memories of a 2009 attack in which seven members of a family were killed and dozens of houses torched by a Muslim mob."If we celebrate it with a fanfare, we fear somebody might get annoyed and attack us," said Khalid Anjum, 45.
The only sign of the approach of Easter was a few young men practicing hymns in St. Mary's Catholic Church. "Fear is there but we cannot give up our religion," said Wilson Rafiq who plays the tabla.
The level of fear has increased since Monday's death sentence for a Muslim convicted of gunning down two Christians who had been accused of blasphemy.
Rather then welcoming what some people might see as justice,
| Way to maintain the facade of neutrality, Reuters. |
"Things will only get worse. If one is punished, someone else will stand up to take revenge for him," housewife Shahida Kashif said. "My kids still get scared whenever there's a small disturbance. They say 'Mother, they've come. They'll set fire to our houses again'. They still have fear in their hearts."
A mob of about 1,000 Muslims, fired up by rumours that a Christian had desecrated the Koran, rampaged through the neighborhood, firing guns and throwing gasoline bombs. Hameed Pannum Khan was gunned down and six members of his family, including two women and two children, were burned to death when their hut was set on fire.
Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a Muslim
Kashmiri denied taking part in it and made an appeal for tolerance. "Everybody should follow their own religion and should stop slinging mud at others," he said.