Christians in Pakistan feel under threat amid growing religious intolerance

(Vatican Radio) The small Christian community in Pakistan is worried about growing religious intolerance and sectarian violence following the recent suicide bombing against an Anglican church in Peshawar that killed over 80 people. It was the deadliest ever attack against Pakistani Christians. A militant Islamic group linked to the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted Christians to avenge the deaths of Muslims killed by drone strikes by the U.S. military.

Joseph Coutts is the Archbishop of Karachi and the President of the Pakistani Catholic Bishops Conference. He told Susy Hodges that there is growing anger among many Pakistani Muslims over the war in Afghanistan, especially the drone attacks, and the Christian community is being used as a scapegoat.

Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Coutts:

Archbishop Coutts said there was huge shock over the Pershawar church bombing which marked the first suicide bomb attack against a Christian Church in Pakistan which he described as “a soft target.” Asked if he believed this could be a new tactic by Islamic militants, the archbishop said Christians in Pakistan are “very worried about the future” and says these attacks by militants constitute “a very big problem for the government.”

Pakistan’s controversial anti-blasphemy law has been the subject of much criticism by Christians and other religious minorities but Archbishop Coutts does not see “any chance of a repeal” of this law in the future. He agrees with those who claim that this law “has been misused” to settle scores.

Turning to the prospects for the future, the archbishop says the tiny Christian community in Pakistan does feel under threat. “The problem is the increasing intolerance and the perception, in general, among the Muslims is that the Christians are identified with the West” … that is with the war in Afghanistan with “NATO forces perceived as Christian forces oppressing the Muslims.” “Understandably,” he continues, “there’s a lot of anger among Muslims, especially over the drone attacks," where innocent Civilians are often killed in what has been described as “collateral damage” alongside the military targets.