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Christianity in Pakistan

April 21, 2023

Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan,[1][2] making up about 1.27% of the population according to the 2017 Census.[3][1] Of these, approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant (primarily Anglican and Presbyterian). A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan.[4][5][6][7]

Pakistani Christians
Total population
2.63 million
1.27% of the Pakistani Population[1]
Regions with significant populations
Especially in Punjab and Islamabad Capital Territory
Languages

Around 75 percent of Pakistan's Christians are rural Punjabi Christians, while some speak Sindhi and Gujarati, with the remainder being the upper and middle class Goan Christians and Anglo-Indians.[8][9]

As Punjabi Christians are mainly Dalit Christians—descendants of lower-caste Hindus who converted during the colonial era in India—their dire socio-economic conditions facilitate religious discrimination; for example, it is estimated that Christians fill about 80% of the manual sewer cleaning jobs in the whole of Pakistan.[10][11][12]

History

 
St Patrick's Cathedral Karachi

Thomas the Apostle is credited with the arrival of Christianity to the Indian subcontinent, establishing the community of Saint Thomas Christians on the Malabar Coast; Saint Thomas Christian crosses (Mar Thoma Sleeva) have been found all over the Indian subcontinent, including one near the city of Taxila in what is now Pakistan.[13]

In 1745, the Bettiah Christians, the northern Indian subcontinent's oldest surviving Christian community, was established by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin under the patronage of King Dhurup Singh; the Hindustan Prefecture was raised in 1769 at Patna and later shifted to Agra, which was elevated to the status of a Vicariate in 1820.[14] The Capuchins, through their Agra Diocese and Allahabad Diocese, expanded their ministry and established in the 1800s Catholic churches in colonial India's northern provinces including Rajasthan, UP, CP, Bihar and Punjab, the latter of which now includes Pakistan.[14]

In 1877, on Saint Thomas' Day at Westminster Abbey, London, Rev. Thomas Valpy French was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of Lahore, a large diocese of the Church of India, Burma and Ceylon, which included all of the Punjab, then under British rule in colonial India, and remained so until 1887; during this period he also opened the Divinity College, Lahore in 1870.[15][16][17] Rev. Thomas Patrick Hughes served as a Church Missionary Society missionary at Peshawar (1864–84), and became an oriental scholar, and compiled a 'Dictionary of Islam' (1885).[18]

The Christians of colonial India were active in the Indian National Congress and wider Indian independence movement, being collectively represented in the All India Conference of Indian Christians, which advocated for swaraj and opposed the partition of India.[19][20][21] The meeting of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore in December 1922, which had a large attendance of Punjabis, resolved that the clergymen of the Church in India should be drawn from the ranks of Indians, rather than foreigners.[22] The AICIC also stated that Indian Christians would not tolerate any discrimination based on race or skin colour.[22] Following the death of K. T. Paul of Salem, the principal of Forman Christian College in Lahore S. K. Datta became the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians, representing the Indian Christian community at the Second Round Table Conference, where he agreed with Mahatma Gandhi's views on minorities and Depressed Classes.[23] On 30 October 1945, the All India Conference of Indian Christians formed a joint committee with the Catholic Union of India that passed a resolution in which, "in the future constitution of India, the profession, practice and propagation of religion should be guaranteed and that a change of religion should not involve any civil or political disability."[19] This joint committee enabled the Christians in colonial India to stand united, and in front of the British Parliamentary Delegation "the committee members unanimously supported the move for independence and expressed complete confidence in the future of the community in India."[19] The office for this joint committee was opened in Delhi, in which the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University M. Rahnasamy served as president and B.L. Rallia Ram of Lahore served as General Secretary.[19] Six members of the joint committee were elected to the Minorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly.[19] In its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee of the All India Conference of Indian Christians and Catholic Union of India prepared a 13-point memorandum that was sent to the Constituent Assembly of India, which asked for religious freedom for both organisations and individuals.[19]

When Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947, the organization and activities of the Christian community changed drastically; the Catholic Union of India granted independence to its branches in Sind and Baluchistan in its Second Annual General Meeting in Bangalore in October 1947.[24] Some Christians in Punjab and Sindh had been quite active after 1945 in their support for Muhammad Ali Jinnah's Muslim League. Even before the final phase of the movement, leading Indian Christians like Pothan Joseph had rendered valuable services as journalists and propagandists of the Muslim League.[citation needed] Jinnah had repeatedly promised all citizens of Pakistan complete equality of citizenship, but this promise was not kept by his successors. Pakistan became an Islamic Republic in 1956, making Islam the source of legislation and cornerstone of the national identity, while guaranteeing freedom of religion and equal citizenship to all citizens. In the mass population exchanges that occurred between Pakistan and India upon independence due to conflict between Muslims and followers of Indian religions, most Hindus and nearly all Sikhs fled the country. Pakistani Punjab is now over 2% Christian, with very few Hindus and Sikhs left. Christians have made some contributions to the Pakistani national life. Pakistan's first non-Muslim Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court was Justice A. R. Cornelius. Pakistani Christians also distinguished themselves as great fighter pilots in the Pakistan Air Force. Notable amongst them are Cecil Chaudhry, Peter O'Reilly and Mervyn L Middlecoat. Christians have also contributed as educationists, doctors, lawyers and businessmen. One of Pakistan's cricketers, Yousuf Youhana, was born Christian, but later converted to Islam, taking the Islamic name Mohammad Yousuf. In Britain, the bishop emeritus of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali is a Pakistani Christian.

In 2016, it was reported that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) had banned all of the Christian television stations. PEMRA doesn't allow landing rights for religious content, allowing airing of Christian messages only on Easter and Christmas.[25]

Since 1996, the small community of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Pakistan was placed under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the newly formed Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia that was set up by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[26] In 2008, the Diocese was divided, and Pakistan came under the jurisdiction of newly formed Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia.[27]

Deterioration of relations

 
Holy Trinity Church Murree

According to journalist Pamela Constable, in the 1980s and 1990s tensions between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan began to "fester". Constable credits the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the rise of military dictator General Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, and the influence of stricter religious teachings coming from the Gulf states as catalysts for the change. After the 9/11 attacks on the US, things grew worse with "many Pakistani Muslims" seeing the American response to the attacks "as a foreign plot to defame their faith."[28][29]

Pakistan's Christian community developed a "growing sense of concern", particularly over the strict blasphemy laws – which restricts any insults against the Islamic prophet Muhammad and makes the crime punishable by death – which many activists viewed as "being abused to target religious minorities. In the 1990s, some Christians were arrested on charges of blasphemy, and for protesting that appeared to insult Islam. John Joseph, a bishop in Faisalabad, committed suicide to protest the execution of a Christian man on blasphemy charges.[30][31]

In 2009, a series of attacks killed eight Christians in Gojra,[32] including four women and a child.[33] In 2013, a suicide bombing at a Church in Peshawar left more than 100 people dead, and a series of attacks at churches in Lahore in 2015 left 14 dead.[34] On March 27, 2016 over seventy people were killed when a suicide bomber targeting Christians celebrating Easter (though the majority of victims were Muslim in this instance) attacked a playground in Lahore.[35]

Demographics

 
Christian Proportion of each Pakistani District in 2017 according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics
Christian population in Pakistan
YearPop.±% p.a.
1981 1,310,426—    
1990 1,769,582+3.39%
1998 2,092,902+2.12%
2017 2,637,587+1.22%
Source: [36][37][1]

While Christianity in Pakistan is growing fast, it is growing more slowly than the population as a whole, causing it to decline in percentage terms. This is due to low fertility rates among Pakistani Christians. Today, most Pakistani Christians live in Northern Punjab.

Apart from Catholics, Christians of other denominations re-organized themselves, in India, into the Churches of North and South India respectively, and as the Church of Pakistan in 1970. Politically, groups like the Pakistan Christian Congress have arisen. The New Apostolic Church also has followers in Pakistan.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) reports over 4,000 members in 13 congregations throughout Pakistan. LDS members are most prevalent in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.[38]

According to the Pakistan's National Council for Justice and Peace (NCJP) report 2001 the average literacy rate among Christians is 34 percent compared to the national average of 46.56 percent.[39]

Persecution

 
Church in Islamabad
 
Outside of the Sialkot Cathedral
 
Easter Celebrations at Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, Lahore

After the partition of India and the formation of Pakistan in 1947, many Sikhs were forced to migrate to an independent India.[40] Many Christians worked under Sikh landlords and when they departed the western parts of the Punjab region, the Government of Pakistan appropriated Sikh property to Muslims arriving from East Punjab.[40] This caused over 300,000 Christians in Pakistan to become homeless.[40] On top of that, rogue Muslims threatened Christians that Pakistan was made for Muslims only and that if Christians wanted to stay there, they had to live a life of servitude and perform sanitation work.[40] Some Christians were therefore murdered for refusing to pick up garbage.[40] In 1951, seventy-two Muslims were charged with the murder of eleven Christians after communal riots over agricultural land erupted.[40]

Many churches built during the colonial Indian period, prior to the partition, remain locked, with the Pakistani government refusing to hand them over to the Christian community.[41] Others have been victims of church arsons or demolitions.[41] In 1971, East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh, and the majority of Pakistan's Hindus, who lived in Bangladesh, were severed from Pakistan. Pakistan became a culturally monolithic, increasingly Islamic state, with smaller religious minorities than ever.

With the governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia ul-Haq, more stringently Islamic laws transformed Pakistan. Conversion to other faiths than Islam is not prohibited by law. Muslims who change their faith to Christianity, are subject to societal pressure. Extremely controversial were the blasphemy laws, which made it treacherous for non-Muslims to express themselves without being accused of being un-Islamic. Zia also introduced the Sharia as a basis for lawmaking, reinforced by Nawaz Sharif in 1991. Coerced conversions to Islam from Christianity are a major source of concern for Pakistani Christians, and the minority faces threats, harassment and intimidation tactics from extremists.[42]

Discrimination in the Constitution

See also: Zia-ul Haq's Islamitization

Christians, along with other non-Muslim minorities, are discriminated against in the Constitution of Pakistan. Non-Muslims are barred from becoming President[43] or Prime Minister.[5] Furthermore, they are barred from being judges in the Federal Shariat Court, which has the power to strike down any law deemed un-Islamic.[44] In 2019, Naveed Amir, a Christian member of National assembly moved a bill to amend the article 41 and 91 of the Constitution, which would allow non-Muslims to become Prime Minister and President of Pakistan. However, Pakistan's parliament blocked the bill[45]

In 2019, a Christian journalist quit the channel Dunya News after she was allegedly persecuted for her faith by co-workers and insulted for not converting to Islam.[citation needed]

Blasphemy Laws

See also: Blasphemy law in Pakistan

Several hundred Christians, along with Muslims themselves (though much fewer in comparison), have been prosecuted under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, and death sentences have been handed out to at least a dozen.[46]

Pakistani law mandates that any "blasphemies" of the Quran are to be met with punishment. On July 28, 1994, Amnesty International urged Pakistan's Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto to change the law because it was being used to terrorize religious minorities. She tried but was unsuccessful. However, she modified the laws to make them more moderate. Her changes were reversed by the Nawaz Sharif administration. Some people accused of blasphemy have been killed in prison or shot dead in court, and even if pardoned, may remain in danger from imams in their local village.[47]

Ayub Masih, a Christian, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 1998. He was accused by a neighbor of stating that he supported British writer Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses. Lower appeals courts upheld the conviction. However, before the Pakistan Supreme Court, his lawyer was able to prove that the accuser had used the conviction to force Masih's family off their land and then acquired control of the property. Masih has been released.[48]

On September 22, 2006, a Pakistani Christian named Shahid Masih was arrested and jailed for allegedly violating Islamic "blasphemy laws" in the country of Pakistan. He is at present held in confinement and has expressed fear of reprisals by Islamic fundamentalists.[49] (Note that the name "Masih", which comes from Arabic المسيحيين Al-Masihiyyin, "Christians", is a common surname in Pakistan and India among Christians.)

In November 2010, Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging for "blasphemy"; the sentence has to be upheld in higher court before it can be executed.[50][51] Bibi was acquitted in 2018.

In August 2012, Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl, reportedly 11 or 14 years old, and an illiterate with mental disabilities was accused of blasphemy for burning pages from a book containing Quranic verses. The allegation came from a Muslim cleric who himself has subsequently been accused by the police of framing the girl. The girl, and later the cleric, were both arrested and released on bail.[52][53][54]

In July 2013 Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Christian couple, were arrested and charged with blasphemy for allegedly sending a text message in English, that was considered offensive of Mohammed. Both members of the couple are illiterate and do not speak English. Sentenced to death, they remained on death row for eight years before their sentence was overturned. Unable to remain in Pakistan, for lack of safety, they were granted asylum in a European country.[55]

In 2018, Amoon, 42, and Qaiser Ayub, 45, both Christians, were convicted of blasphemy and given the death penalty. Authorities were alerted a WordPress.com blog in 2011 that violated the country's blasphemy laws. The blog, allegedly created by a Muslim man close to the brothers who argued with them over their sister, publicly displayed their contact information, and was used in their conviction, despite acknowledging that anyone could've created the blog and both brothers' denying their part in the blog's creation.[56][57] The courts upheld the verdict in sentence in 2022.

Forced conversions

Main article: Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan
 
Protest against forced conversion of Christian girls in Pakistan organised by NCJP

In October 2020, the Pakistani High Court upheld the validity of a forced marriage between 44-year-old Ali Azhar and 13-year-old Christian Arzoo Raja. Raja was abducted by Azhar, forcibly wed to Azhar and then forcibly converted to Islam by Azhar.[58] Human rights organizations estimate that upwards of 1,000 Christian, Hindu, and Sikh girls are abducted each year. A large portion of them are then forced to convert to Islam.[59]

Forced displacements

Since 2014, the Capital Development Authority (CDA), a public benefit corporation responsible for providing municipal services in Islamabad, has been targeting and demolishing illegal slums who are largely occupied by Christians in the city. The Supreme Court put on hold the demolitions and ordered from the CDA a written justification to it. The CDA's replied that "Most of these katchi abadies [slums] are under the occupation of the Christian community." "It seems this pace of occupation of land by Christian community may increase. Removal of katchi abadies is very urgent to provide [a] better environment to the citizen[s] of Islamabad and to protect the beauty of Islamabad ." Various human rights activists condemned the response.[6][60][61]

On November 9, 2020 Yasmin Masih and her son Usman Masih, both Christians, were murdered in Ahmad Nagar Chattha by Hussain Shakoor, a Muslim.[62]

In May 2021, Muslim nurses in Mental Government Hospital in Lahore occupied the Christian hospital chapel and raised Islamic slogans. Christian nurses, who use the chapel daily for prayer, pleaded for their protection.[63][64]

Muslim extremist violence against Christians

See also: Religious discrimination in Pakistan, Peshawar church attack, Lahore church bombings, List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001, and 2009 Gojra riots

Christians in Pakistan report being targeted by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.[65][66][67]

On 9 August 2002 gunmen threw grenades into a chapel on the grounds of the Taxila Christian Hospital in northern Punjab, 24 kilometres (15 miles) west of Islamabad, killing four, including two nurses and a paramedic, and wounding 25 men and women.[68] On September 25, 2002, unidentified Muslim gunmen shot dead six people at a Christian charity in Karachi's central business district. They entered the third-floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice (IPJ) and shot their victims in the head. All of the victims were Pakistani Christians. Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said the victims had their hands tied and their mouths had been covered with tape.[69] On 25 December 2002, several days after an Islamic cleric called for Muslims to kill Christians, two burqa-clad Muslim gunmen tossed a grenade into a Presbyterian church during a Christian sermon in Chianwala in east Pakistan, killing three girls.[70]

After the Karachi killings, Shahbaz Bhatti, the head of the All Pakistan Minority Alliance, told BBC News Online, "We have become increasingly victimised since the launch of the US-led international War on Terror. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the international community to ensure that the government protects us."[71]

In November 2005, 3,000 militant Islamists attacked Christians in Sangla Hill in Pakistan and destroyed Roman Catholic, Salvation Army and United Presbyterian churches. The attack was over allegations of violation of blasphemy laws by a Pakistani Christian named Yousaf Masih. The attacks were condemned by some political parties in Pakistan.[72] However, Pakistani Christians have expressed disappointment that they have not received justice. Samson Dilawar, a parish priest in Sangla Hill, said the police have not committed to trial any of those arrested for committing the assaults, and the Pakistani government did not inform the Christian community that a judicial inquiry was underway by a local judge. He said that Muslim clerics still "make hateful speeches about Christians" and "continue insulting Christians and our faith".[73]

In February 2006, churches and Christian schools were targeted in protests over publication of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons in Denmark, leaving two elderly women injured and many homes and much property destroyed. Some of the mobs were stopped by police, but not all.[74] On June 5, 2006, a Pakistani Christian stonemason named Nasir Ashraf was working near Lahore when he drank water from a public facility using a glass chained to the facility. He was immediately assaulted by Muslims for "polluting the glass". A mob gathered and beat Ashraf, calling him a "Christian dog". Bystanders encouraged the beating, saying it was a "good" deed that would help the attackers get into heaven. Ashraf was hospitalized.[75] In August 2006, a church and Christian homes were attacked in a village outside of Lahore in a land dispute. Three Christians were seriously injured and one reported missing after about 35 Muslims burned buildings, desecrated Bibles and attacked Christians.[76] Based, in part, on such incidents, Pakistan was recommended by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in May 2006 to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern" (CPC) by the Department of State.[76]

In July 2008, a mob stormed a Protestant church during a prayer service on the outskirts of Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, denouncing the Christians as "infidels" and injuring several, including a pastor.[77]

The 2009 Gojra riots was a series of violent pogroms against Christian minorities by Muslims.[78] In June 2009, International Christian Concern reported the rape and killing of a Christian man in Pakistan, for refusing to convert to Islam.[79] In March 2011, Shahbaz Bhatti was killed by gunmen after he spoke out against Pakistan's blasphemy laws. The UK increased financial aid to the country, sparking criticism of British foreign secretary William Hague. Cardinal Keith O’Brien stated, "To increase aid to the Pakistan government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy."[80] The Catholic Church in Pakistan requested that Pope Benedict declare martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti.[81]

At least 20 people, including police officials, were wounded as 500 Muslim demonstrators attacked the Christian community in Gujranwala city on 29 April 2011, Minorities Concern of Pakistan has learnt.[82] During a press conference in Karachi, the largest city of Pakistan, on 30 May 2011, Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi and other clerics of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam quoted “immoral Biblical stories” and demanded to ban the Bible. Maulana Farooqi said, “Our lawyers are preparing to ask the court to ban the book.”[83]

On 23 September 2012, a mob of protesters in Mardan, angry at the anti Islamic film Innocence of Muslims, reportedly "set on fire the church, St Paul's high school, a library, a computer laboratory and houses of four clergymen, including Bishop Peter Majeed." and went on to rough up Zeeshan Chand, the pastor's son.[84][85] On 12 October 2012, Ryan Stanton, a Christian boy of 16 went into hiding after being accused of blasphemy and after his home was ransacked by a crowd. Stanton stated that he had been framed because he had rebuffed pressures to convert to Islam.[53][86]

In March 2013, Muslims attacked a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, where more than 100 houses were burned after a Christian was alleged to have made blasphemous remarks.[87] On 22 September 2013, 75 Christians were killed in a suicide attack at the historic All Saints Church in the old quarter of the regional capital, Peshawar.[88]

On 14 February 2014 Muslims stormed the Church building and attacked school property in Multan. They were led by Anwar Khushi, a Muslim gangster who struck a deal with the local people's spokesperson. They seized the Church property and displaced the people and deprived them of their building.

On 15 March 2015, two blasts took place at a Roman Catholic Church and a Christ Church during Sunday service at Youhanabad town of Lahore.[89] At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks.[90][91]

On 27 March 2016, at least 70 were killed and over 340 wounded when a suicide bomber targeting Christians celebrating Easter attacked a playground in Lahore. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing.[35][92][93][94]

On 17 December 2017, a bomb killed nine and injured fifty-seven.[95] The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took responsibility.[96]

Forced conversions of Christian children are known to occur, and if a child resists, they can be raped, beaten, or bullied.[97]


By province

Province Percentage of Christians (in 2017)[3] Population as per 1998 Census[37]
  Balochistan 0.27% 31,200
  Federally Administered Tribal Areas 0.06% 2,306
  Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 0.15% 36,668
  Punjab 1.88% 1,699,843
  Sindh 0.85% 294,885
  Islamabad Capital Territory 4.34% 32,738
Total 1.27% 2,092,902

Gallery

 
The Taxila Cross, discovered in 1935 at Sirkap near Taxila, is said to be one of the Saint Thomas Christian crosses (Mar Thoma Sleeva) that corresponds in shape to the one in Mylapore; it has been placed at Lahore Cathedral.[13]
 
St Andrew Church Stained glass, Lahore

Missionaries accompanied colonizing forces from Portugal, France, and Great Britain. Jesuit missionaries sent from their Portuguese-held Goa built a Catholic church in Lahore, the first in Punjab, around 1597, two years after being granted permission by emperor Akbar, who had called them to his court in Fatehpur Sikri for religious discussions. This church was later demolished, perhaps during Aurangzeb times. Later on, Christianity was mainly brought by the British rulers of India in the later 18th and 19th  century. This is evidenced in cities established by the British, such as the port city of Karachi, where the majestic St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of Pakistan's largest church, stands, and the churches in the city of Rawalpindi, where the British established a major military cantonment.

 
Holy Trinity Cathedral, Karachi

The Europeans won[how?] small numbers of converts to Anglicanism, Methodism, the Lutheran Church and Catholicism from the native populations. Islam was very strong in the provinces of Punjab, Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province, but small native communities of converts to Christianity were formed. The largest numbers came from resident officers of the British Army and the government. European and wealthy native Christians established colleges, churches, hospitals and schools in cities like Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. There is a large Catholic Goan community in Karachi that was established when Karachi's infrastructure was developed by the British before World War II, and the Irish (who were subjects of the British Empire and formed a large part of the British Army) were an important factor in the establishment of then the Catholic community of northwestern colonial India (now Pakistan).

 
Night view of St Mary's Cathedral & Bishop's House Multan

Notable Christians

Christians in Pakistani military services

The Christians in Pakistan have long been active in various fields of public service. Many Christians have served in the Pakistan Armed Forces, civilian services and other organizations. Some have received high civilian and military awards.

Pakistan Air Force

Pakistan Army


Pakistan Navy

Religious ministers

Civil services and police

Education

Politicians

Human rights defenders

Entertainment

Sports

  • Jack Britto, Olympic field hockey player.
  • Ian Fyfe, cricketer, coach and a sports journalist from Karachi.[111]
  • Jacob Harris, first class cricketer and sports coach from Karachi
  • Shazia Hidayat, track and field athlete. She was the only female athlete on the Pakistan team competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
  • John Permal, 1964-74 the fastest human in Pakistan.
  • Sidra Sadaf, woman cyclist who won a silver medal at the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January 2010.
  • Yousaf Youhana, first class Test Cricketer who used to openly use the sign of the cross before starting his innings. He was one of the most successful batsmen of the Pakistan Cricket Team. He later converted to Islam.

Writers

  • Cyril Almeida, journalist and an assistant editor for the daily newspaper Dawn.[112]
  • Kanwal Feroze, scholar, poet, writer and journalist.
  • Omer Shahid Hamid wrote the novel The Prisoner, which tells the story of a Christian police officer in Karachi.
  • Mohammed Hanif wrote the novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti about a Christian nurse in Karachi.
  • Late Begum Bilquis Sheikh was an aristocratic Pakistani lady who converted from Islam to Christianity and wrote her famous memoirs about this.
  • Nabeel Qureshi a former Ahmadi who converted to Christianity, wrote three books. Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity, Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward and No God BUT One: Allah or Jesus.

Other

Candidates to sainthood

See also

References

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  2. ^ "Why are Pakistan's Christians targeted?". BBC News. October 30, 2018.
  3. ^ a b (PDF). Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-05-24. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  4. ^ . Adherents.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2013-02-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ a b . Pakistani.org. Archived from the original on 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  6. ^ a b Ghani, Faras (14 Dec 2015). "Islamabad's Christian slums face demolition". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  7. ^ Telushkin, Shira (31 March 2018). "The Americanization of an Ancient Faith". The Atlantic. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  8. ^ Jacobsen, Douglas (21 March 2011). The World's Christians: Who they are, Where they are, and How they got there. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 112–. ISBN 978-1-4443-9729-1.
  9. ^ Coren, Michael (21 October 2014). Hatred. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 978-0-7710-2385-9. At [Pakistan's] inception in 1947, Pakistani Christians could be divided in three categories. a) Punjabi rural working class Anglicans, (b) Catholic urban middle class Goans in Karachi, and c) White Anglo-Indians who lived in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Quetta and this included both Irish Catholic and English Protestants.
  10. ^ ur-Rehman, Zia; Abi-Habib, Maria (4 May 2020). "Sewer Cleaners Wanted in Pakistan: Only Christians Need Apply". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
    In Pakistan, manual sewer cleaners are known as "sweepers".
  11. ^ Phan, Peter C. (2011). Christianities in Asia. John Wiley & Sons. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-4443-9260-9. For example, 90 to 95% of Pakistani Christians are Punjabi of the chura (dalit) group converted from Hinduism rather than from Islam or local religious systems.
  12. ^ Sara, Singha; Ariel, Glucklich (23 April 2015). "Dalit Christians and Caste Consciousness in Pakistan". Retrieved 22 September 2020. This study explores caste discrimination in Pakistan against untouchable (Dalit) converts to Christianity. During the nineteenth century in India, many Dalits converted to Christianity to escape caste persecution. In the 1870s in Punjab, a mass movement to Protestant Christianity flourished among the Dalit Chuhra caste. The Chuhras were the largest menial caste in Punjab and engaged in degrading occupations including sweeping and sanitation work. By the 1930s, almost the entire Chuhra caste converted to Protestant Christianity. In 1947, during the partition of India, the majority of Chuhra converts in Punjab became part of the Protestant community in Pakistan. After Partition, many uneducated Chuhras were confined to menial jobs in the sanitation industry. Today, the stigma of Dalit ancestry is a distinct feature of social discrimination against Chuhra Christians in Pakistan.
  13. ^ a b Kurikilamkatt, James (2005). First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India: Ancient Christianity in Bharuch and Taxila. ATF Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-925612-64-6.
  14. ^ a b Jose Kalapura, SJ (April 2020). "Centenary History of Patna Jesuit Mission". Patna Ganga Lahar. Jesuit Conference of South Asia: 9–10.
  15. ^ "Churches and Ministers: Home and Foreign Events". The New York Times. January 13, 1878.
  16. ^ An Heroic Bishop Chapter VI. His Fourth Pioneer Work: The Lahore Bishopric.
  17. ^ Beginnings in India By Eugene Stock, D.C.L., London: Central Board of Missions and SPCK, 1917.
  18. ^ "British Library". Mundus.ac.uk. 2002-07-18. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Thomas, Abraham Vazhayil (1974). Christians in Secular India. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. pp. 106–110. ISBN 978-0-8386-1021-3.
  20. ^ Oddie, Geoffrey A. (2001). "Indian Christians and National Identity 1870-1947". The Journal of Religious History. 25 (3): 357, 361. doi:10.1111/1467-9809.00138.
  21. ^ Pinto, Ambrose (19 August 2017). "Christian Contribution to the Freedom Struggle". Mainstream. LV (35).
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Works cited

  • Gabriel, Theodore (2021). Christian Citizens in an Islamic State: The Pakistan Experience. Taylor & Francis.

Further reading

  • Church of England (1908). Urdu version of the Book of Common Prayer, and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the church, according to the use of the Church of England: together with the Psalter or Psalms of David ... and the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of bishops ... Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. p. 274. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
  • "Christmas sweetens religious ties in Pakistan". ucanews.com reporter, Lahore. Union of Catholic Asian News.

External links

  •   Media related to Christianity in Pakistan at Wikimedia Commons
  • British Pakistani Christian Association
  • Pakistan Christians demand help
  • World Watch List - Pakistan
  • Centre for legal aid assistance and settlement
  • Forced conversions in Pakistan: A dark reality

April 21, 2023
christianity, pakistan, christianity, third, largest, religion, pakistan, making, about, population, according, 2017, census, these, approximately, half, catholic, half, protestant, primarily, anglican, presbyterian, small, number, eastern, orthodox, christian. Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan 1 2 making up about 1 27 of the population according to the 2017 Census 3 1 Of these approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant primarily Anglican and Presbyterian A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan 4 5 6 7 Pakistani ChristiansInterior of Saint Patrick s Cathedral KarachiTotal population2 63 million 1 27 of the Pakistani Population 1 Regions with significant populationsEspecially in Punjab and Islamabad Capital TerritoryLanguagesPunjabiUrduEnglishAround 75 percent of Pakistan s Christians are rural Punjabi Christians while some speak Sindhi and Gujarati with the remainder being the upper and middle class Goan Christians and Anglo Indians 8 9 As Punjabi Christians are mainly Dalit Christians descendants of lower caste Hindus who converted during the colonial era in India their dire socio economic conditions facilitate religious discrimination for example it is estimated that Christians fill about 80 of the manual sewer cleaning jobs in the whole of Pakistan 10 11 12 Contents 1 History 1 1 Deterioration of relations 2 Demographics 3 Persecution 3 1 Discrimination in the Constitution 3 2 Blasphemy Laws 3 3 Forced conversions 3 4 Forced displacements 3 5 Muslim extremist violence against Christians 3 6 By province 4 Gallery 5 Notable Christians 5 1 Christians in Pakistani military services 5 1 1 Pakistan Air Force 5 1 2 Pakistan Army 5 1 3 Pakistan Navy 5 2 Religious ministers 5 3 Civil services and police 5 4 Education 5 5 Politicians 5 6 Human rights defenders 5 7 Entertainment 5 8 Sports 5 9 Writers 5 10 Other 5 11 Candidates to sainthood 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Works cited 8 Further reading 9 External linksHistory Edit St Patrick s Cathedral Karachi Thomas the Apostle is credited with the arrival of Christianity to the Indian subcontinent establishing the community of Saint Thomas Christians on the Malabar Coast Saint Thomas Christian crosses Mar Thoma Sleeva have been found all over the Indian subcontinent including one near the city of Taxila in what is now Pakistan 13 In 1745 the Bettiah Christians the northern Indian subcontinent s oldest surviving Christian community was established by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin under the patronage of King Dhurup Singh the Hindustan Prefecture was raised in 1769 at Patna and later shifted to Agra which was elevated to the status of a Vicariate in 1820 14 The Capuchins through their Agra Diocese and Allahabad Diocese expanded their ministry and established in the 1800s Catholic churches in colonial India s northern provinces including Rajasthan UP CP Bihar and Punjab the latter of which now includes Pakistan 14 In 1877 on Saint Thomas Day at Westminster Abbey London Rev Thomas Valpy French was appointed the first Anglican Bishop of Lahore a large diocese of the Church of India Burma and Ceylon which included all of the Punjab then under British rule in colonial India and remained so until 1887 during this period he also opened the Divinity College Lahore in 1870 15 16 17 Rev Thomas Patrick Hughes served as a Church Missionary Society missionary at Peshawar 1864 84 and became an oriental scholar and compiled a Dictionary of Islam 1885 18 The Christians of colonial India were active in the Indian National Congress and wider Indian independence movement being collectively represented in the All India Conference of Indian Christians which advocated for swaraj and opposed the partition of India 19 20 21 The meeting of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore in December 1922 which had a large attendance of Punjabis resolved that the clergymen of the Church in India should be drawn from the ranks of Indians rather than foreigners 22 The AICIC also stated that Indian Christians would not tolerate any discrimination based on race or skin colour 22 Following the death of K T Paul of Salem the principal of Forman Christian College in Lahore S K Datta became the president of the All India Conference of Indian Christians representing the Indian Christian community at the Second Round Table Conference where he agreed with Mahatma Gandhi s views on minorities and Depressed Classes 23 On 30 October 1945 the All India Conference of Indian Christians formed a joint committee with the Catholic Union of India that passed a resolution in which in the future constitution of India the profession practice and propagation of religion should be guaranteed and that a change of religion should not involve any civil or political disability 19 This joint committee enabled the Christians in colonial India to stand united and in front of the British Parliamentary Delegation the committee members unanimously supported the move for independence and expressed complete confidence in the future of the community in India 19 The office for this joint committee was opened in Delhi in which the Vice Chancellor of Andhra University M Rahnasamy served as president and B L Rallia Ram of Lahore served as General Secretary 19 Six members of the joint committee were elected to the Minorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly 19 In its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947 the joint committee of the All India Conference of Indian Christians and Catholic Union of India prepared a 13 point memorandum that was sent to the Constituent Assembly of India which asked for religious freedom for both organisations and individuals 19 When Pakistan was created on 14 August 1947 the organization and activities of the Christian community changed drastically the Catholic Union of India granted independence to its branches in Sind and Baluchistan in its Second Annual General Meeting in Bangalore in October 1947 24 Some Christians in Punjab and Sindh had been quite active after 1945 in their support for Muhammad Ali Jinnah s Muslim League Even before the final phase of the movement leading Indian Christians like Pothan Joseph had rendered valuable services as journalists and propagandists of the Muslim League citation needed Jinnah had repeatedly promised all citizens of Pakistan complete equality of citizenship but this promise was not kept by his successors Pakistan became an Islamic Republic in 1956 making Islam the source of legislation and cornerstone of the national identity while guaranteeing freedom of religion and equal citizenship to all citizens In the mass population exchanges that occurred between Pakistan and India upon independence due to conflict between Muslims and followers of Indian religions most Hindus and nearly all Sikhs fled the country Pakistani Punjab is now over 2 Christian with very few Hindus and Sikhs left Christians have made some contributions to the Pakistani national life Pakistan s first non Muslim Chief Justice of Pakistan Supreme Court was Justice A R Cornelius Pakistani Christians also distinguished themselves as great fighter pilots in the Pakistan Air Force Notable amongst them are Cecil Chaudhry Peter O Reilly and Mervyn L Middlecoat Christians have also contributed as educationists doctors lawyers and businessmen One of Pakistan s cricketers Yousuf Youhana was born Christian but later converted to Islam taking the Islamic name Mohammad Yousuf In Britain the bishop emeritus of Rochester Michael Nazir Ali is a Pakistani Christian In 2016 it was reported that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority PEMRA had banned all of the Christian television stations PEMRA doesn t allow landing rights for religious content allowing airing of Christian messages only on Easter and Christmas 25 Since 1996 the small community of Eastern Orthodox Christians in Pakistan was placed under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the newly formed Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia that was set up by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople 26 In 2008 the Diocese was divided and Pakistan came under the jurisdiction of newly formed Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia 27 Deterioration of relations Edit Holy Trinity Church Murree Sacred Heart Cathedral Lahore According to journalist Pamela Constable in the 1980s and 1990s tensions between Christians and Muslims in Pakistan began to fester Constable credits the Soviet war in Afghanistan the rise of military dictator General Mohammed Zia ul Haq and the influence of stricter religious teachings coming from the Gulf states as catalysts for the change After the 9 11 attacks on the US things grew worse with many Pakistani Muslims seeing the American response to the attacks as a foreign plot to defame their faith 28 29 Pakistan s Christian community developed a growing sense of concern particularly over the strict blasphemy laws which restricts any insults against the Islamic prophet Muhammad and makes the crime punishable by death which many activists viewed as being abused to target religious minorities In the 1990s some Christians were arrested on charges of blasphemy and for protesting that appeared to insult Islam John Joseph a bishop in Faisalabad committed suicide to protest the execution of a Christian man on blasphemy charges 30 31 In 2009 a series of attacks killed eight Christians in Gojra 32 including four women and a child 33 In 2013 a suicide bombing at a Church in Peshawar left more than 100 people dead and a series of attacks at churches in Lahore in 2015 left 14 dead 34 On March 27 2016 over seventy people were killed when a suicide bomber targeting Christians celebrating Easter though the majority of victims were Muslim in this instance attacked a playground in Lahore 35 Demographics Edit Christian Proportion of each Pakistani District in 2017 according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Christian population in PakistanYearPop p a 19811 310 426 19901 769 582 3 39 19982 092 902 2 12 20172 637 587 1 22 Source 36 37 1 While Christianity in Pakistan is growing fast it is growing more slowly than the population as a whole causing it to decline in percentage terms This is due to low fertility rates among Pakistani Christians Today most Pakistani Christians live in Northern Punjab Apart from Catholics Christians of other denominations re organized themselves in India into the Churches of North and South India respectively and as the Church of Pakistan in 1970 Politically groups like the Pakistan Christian Congress have arisen The New Apostolic Church also has followers in Pakistan The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS Church reports over 4 000 members in 13 congregations throughout Pakistan LDS members are most prevalent in Islamabad Lahore and Karachi 38 According to the Pakistan s National Council for Justice and Peace NCJP report 2001 the average literacy rate among Christians is 34 percent compared to the national average of 46 56 percent 39 Persecution Edit Church in Islamabad Outside of the Sialkot Cathedral Easter Celebrations at Cathedral Church of the Resurrection Lahore After the partition of India and the formation of Pakistan in 1947 many Sikhs were forced to migrate to an independent India 40 Many Christians worked under Sikh landlords and when they departed the western parts of the Punjab region the Government of Pakistan appropriated Sikh property to Muslims arriving from East Punjab 40 This caused over 300 000 Christians in Pakistan to become homeless 40 On top of that rogue Muslims threatened Christians that Pakistan was made for Muslims only and that if Christians wanted to stay there they had to live a life of servitude and perform sanitation work 40 Some Christians were therefore murdered for refusing to pick up garbage 40 In 1951 seventy two Muslims were charged with the murder of eleven Christians after communal riots over agricultural land erupted 40 Many churches built during the colonial Indian period prior to the partition remain locked with the Pakistani government refusing to hand them over to the Christian community 41 Others have been victims of church arsons or demolitions 41 In 1971 East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh and the majority of Pakistan s Hindus who lived in Bangladesh were severed from Pakistan Pakistan became a culturally monolithic increasingly Islamic state with smaller religious minorities than ever With the governments of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia ul Haq more stringently Islamic laws transformed Pakistan Conversion to other faiths than Islam is not prohibited by law Muslims who change their faith to Christianity are subject to societal pressure Extremely controversial were the blasphemy laws which made it treacherous for non Muslims to express themselves without being accused of being un Islamic Zia also introduced the Sharia as a basis for lawmaking reinforced by Nawaz Sharif in 1991 Coerced conversions to Islam from Christianity are a major source of concern for Pakistani Christians and the minority faces threats harassment and intimidation tactics from extremists 42 Discrimination in the Constitution Edit See also Zia ul Haq s Islamitization Christians along with other non Muslim minorities are discriminated against in the Constitution of Pakistan Non Muslims are barred from becoming President 43 or Prime Minister 5 Furthermore they are barred from being judges in the Federal Shariat Court which has the power to strike down any law deemed un Islamic 44 In 2019 Naveed Amir a Christian member of National assembly moved a bill to amend the article 41 and 91 of the Constitution which would allow non Muslims to become Prime Minister and President of Pakistan However Pakistan s parliament blocked the bill 45 In 2019 a Christian journalist quit the channel Dunya News after she was allegedly persecuted for her faith by co workers and insulted for not converting to Islam citation needed Blasphemy Laws Edit See also Blasphemy law in Pakistan Several hundred Christians along with Muslims themselves though much fewer in comparison have been prosecuted under Pakistan s blasphemy laws and death sentences have been handed out to at least a dozen 46 Pakistani law mandates that any blasphemies of the Quran are to be met with punishment On July 28 1994 Amnesty International urged Pakistan s Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to change the law because it was being used to terrorize religious minorities She tried but was unsuccessful However she modified the laws to make them more moderate Her changes were reversed by the Nawaz Sharif administration Some people accused of blasphemy have been killed in prison or shot dead in court and even if pardoned may remain in danger from imams in their local village 47 Ayub Masih a Christian was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death in 1998 He was accused by a neighbor of stating that he supported British writer Salman Rushdie author of The Satanic Verses Lower appeals courts upheld the conviction However before the Pakistan Supreme Court his lawyer was able to prove that the accuser had used the conviction to force Masih s family off their land and then acquired control of the property Masih has been released 48 On September 22 2006 a Pakistani Christian named Shahid Masih was arrested and jailed for allegedly violating Islamic blasphemy laws in the country of Pakistan He is at present held in confinement and has expressed fear of reprisals by Islamic fundamentalists 49 Note that the name Masih which comes from Arabic المسيحيين Al Masihiyyin Christians is a common surname in Pakistan and India among Christians In November 2010 Asia Bibi was sentenced to death by hanging for blasphemy the sentence has to be upheld in higher court before it can be executed 50 51 Bibi was acquitted in 2018 In August 2012 Rimsha Masih a Christian girl reportedly 11 or 14 years old and an illiterate with mental disabilities was accused of blasphemy for burning pages from a book containing Quranic verses The allegation came from a Muslim cleric who himself has subsequently been accused by the police of framing the girl The girl and later the cleric were both arrested and released on bail 52 53 54 In July 2013 Shagufta Kausar and Shafqat Emmanuel a Christian couple were arrested and charged with blasphemy for allegedly sending a text message in English that was considered offensive of Mohammed Both members of the couple are illiterate and do not speak English Sentenced to death they remained on death row for eight years before their sentence was overturned Unable to remain in Pakistan for lack of safety they were granted asylum in a European country 55 In 2018 Amoon 42 and Qaiser Ayub 45 both Christians were convicted of blasphemy and given the death penalty Authorities were alerted a WordPress com blog in 2011 that violated the country s blasphemy laws The blog allegedly created by a Muslim man close to the brothers who argued with them over their sister publicly displayed their contact information and was used in their conviction despite acknowledging that anyone could ve created the blog and both brothers denying their part in the blog s creation 56 57 The courts upheld the verdict in sentence in 2022 Forced conversions Edit Main article Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan Protest against forced conversion of Christian girls in Pakistan organised by NCJP In October 2020 the Pakistani High Court upheld the validity of a forced marriage between 44 year old Ali Azhar and 13 year old Christian Arzoo Raja Raja was abducted by Azhar forcibly wed to Azhar and then forcibly converted to Islam by Azhar 58 Human rights organizations estimate that upwards of 1 000 Christian Hindu and Sikh girls are abducted each year A large portion of them are then forced to convert to Islam 59 Forced displacements Edit Since 2014 the Capital Development Authority CDA a public benefit corporation responsible for providing municipal services in Islamabad has been targeting and demolishing illegal slums who are largely occupied by Christians in the city The Supreme Court put on hold the demolitions and ordered from the CDA a written justification to it The CDA s replied that Most of these katchi abadies slums are under the occupation of the Christian community It seems this pace of occupation of land by Christian community may increase Removal of katchi abadies is very urgent to provide a better environment to the citizen s of Islamabad and to protect the beauty of Islamabad Various human rights activists condemned the response 6 60 61 On November 9 2020 Yasmin Masih and her son Usman Masih both Christians were murdered in Ahmad Nagar Chattha by Hussain Shakoor a Muslim 62 In May 2021 Muslim nurses in Mental Government Hospital in Lahore occupied the Christian hospital chapel and raised Islamic slogans Christian nurses who use the chapel daily for prayer pleaded for their protection 63 64 Muslim extremist violence against Christians Edit See also Religious discrimination in Pakistan Peshawar church attack Lahore church bombings List of terrorist incidents in Pakistan since 2001 and 2009 Gojra riots Christians in Pakistan report being targeted by Tehrik i Taliban Pakistan 65 66 67 On 9 August 2002 gunmen threw grenades into a chapel on the grounds of the Taxila Christian Hospital in northern Punjab 24 kilometres 15 miles west of Islamabad killing four including two nurses and a paramedic and wounding 25 men and women 68 On September 25 2002 unidentified Muslim gunmen shot dead six people at a Christian charity in Karachi s central business district They entered the third floor offices of the Institute for Peace and Justice IPJ and shot their victims in the head All of the victims were Pakistani Christians Karachi police chief Tariq Jamil said the victims had their hands tied and their mouths had been covered with tape 69 On 25 December 2002 several days after an Islamic cleric called for Muslims to kill Christians two burqa clad Muslim gunmen tossed a grenade into a Presbyterian church during a Christian sermon in Chianwala in east Pakistan killing three girls 70 After the Karachi killings Shahbaz Bhatti the head of the All Pakistan Minority Alliance told BBC News Online We have become increasingly victimised since the launch of the US led international War on Terror It is therefore the responsibility of the international community to ensure that the government protects us 71 In November 2005 3 000 militant Islamists attacked Christians in Sangla Hill in Pakistan and destroyed Roman Catholic Salvation Army and United Presbyterian churches The attack was over allegations of violation of blasphemy laws by a Pakistani Christian named Yousaf Masih The attacks were condemned by some political parties in Pakistan 72 However Pakistani Christians have expressed disappointment that they have not received justice Samson Dilawar a parish priest in Sangla Hill said the police have not committed to trial any of those arrested for committing the assaults and the Pakistani government did not inform the Christian community that a judicial inquiry was underway by a local judge He said that Muslim clerics still make hateful speeches about Christians and continue insulting Christians and our faith 73 In February 2006 churches and Christian schools were targeted in protests over publication of the Jyllands Posten cartoons in Denmark leaving two elderly women injured and many homes and much property destroyed Some of the mobs were stopped by police but not all 74 On June 5 2006 a Pakistani Christian stonemason named Nasir Ashraf was working near Lahore when he drank water from a public facility using a glass chained to the facility He was immediately assaulted by Muslims for polluting the glass A mob gathered and beat Ashraf calling him a Christian dog Bystanders encouraged the beating saying it was a good deed that would help the attackers get into heaven Ashraf was hospitalized 75 In August 2006 a church and Christian homes were attacked in a village outside of Lahore in a land dispute Three Christians were seriously injured and one reported missing after about 35 Muslims burned buildings desecrated Bibles and attacked Christians 76 Based in part on such incidents Pakistan was recommended by the U S Commission on International Religious Freedom USCIRF in May 2006 to be designated as a Country of Particular Concern CPC by the Department of State 76 In July 2008 a mob stormed a Protestant church during a prayer service on the outskirts of Pakistan s largest city Karachi denouncing the Christians as infidels and injuring several including a pastor 77 The 2009 Gojra riots was a series of violent pogroms against Christian minorities by Muslims 78 In June 2009 International Christian Concern reported the rape and killing of a Christian man in Pakistan for refusing to convert to Islam 79 In March 2011 Shahbaz Bhatti was killed by gunmen after he spoke out against Pakistan s blasphemy laws The UK increased financial aid to the country sparking criticism of British foreign secretary William Hague Cardinal Keith O Brien stated To increase aid to the Pakistan government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti Christian foreign policy 80 The Catholic Church in Pakistan requested that Pope Benedict declare martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti 81 At least 20 people including police officials were wounded as 500 Muslim demonstrators attacked the Christian community in Gujranwala city on 29 April 2011 Minorities Concern of Pakistan has learnt 82 During a press conference in Karachi the largest city of Pakistan on 30 May 2011 Maulana Abdul Rauf Farooqi and other clerics of Jamiat Ulema e Islam quoted immoral Biblical stories and demanded to ban the Bible Maulana Farooqi said Our lawyers are preparing to ask the court to ban the book 83 On 23 September 2012 a mob of protesters in Mardan angry at the anti Islamic film Innocence of Muslims reportedly set on fire the church St Paul s high school a library a computer laboratory and houses of four clergymen including Bishop Peter Majeed and went on to rough up Zeeshan Chand the pastor s son 84 85 On 12 October 2012 Ryan Stanton a Christian boy of 16 went into hiding after being accused of blasphemy and after his home was ransacked by a crowd Stanton stated that he had been framed because he had rebuffed pressures to convert to Islam 53 86 In March 2013 Muslims attacked a Christian neighbourhood in Lahore where more than 100 houses were burned after a Christian was alleged to have made blasphemous remarks 87 On 22 September 2013 75 Christians were killed in a suicide attack at the historic All Saints Church in the old quarter of the regional capital Peshawar 88 On 14 February 2014 Muslims stormed the Church building and attacked school property in Multan They were led by Anwar Khushi a Muslim gangster who struck a deal with the local people s spokesperson They seized the Church property and displaced the people and deprived them of their building On 15 March 2015 two blasts took place at a Roman Catholic Church and a Christ Church during Sunday service at Youhanabad town of Lahore 89 At least 15 people were killed and seventy were wounded in the attacks 90 91 On 27 March 2016 at least 70 were killed and over 340 wounded when a suicide bomber targeting Christians celebrating Easter attacked a playground in Lahore The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing 35 92 93 94 On 17 December 2017 a bomb killed nine and injured fifty seven 95 The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant took responsibility 96 Forced conversions of Christian children are known to occur and if a child resists they can be raped beaten or bullied 97 By province Edit Province Percentage of Christians in 2017 3 Population as per 1998 Census 37 Balochistan 0 27 31 200 Federally Administered Tribal Areas 0 06 2 306 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 0 15 36 668 Punjab 1 88 1 699 843 Sindh 0 85 294 885 Islamabad Capital Territory 4 34 32 738Total 1 27 2 092 902Gallery Edit The Taxila Cross discovered in 1935 at Sirkap near Taxila is said to be one of the Saint Thomas Christian crosses Mar Thoma Sleeva that corresponds in shape to the one in Mylapore it has been placed at Lahore Cathedral 13 St Andrew Church Stained glass Lahore Sacred Heart Cathedral Lahore Missionaries accompanied colonizing forces from Portugal France and Great Britain Jesuit missionaries sent from their Portuguese held Goa built a Catholic church in Lahore the first in Punjab around 1597 two years after being granted permission by emperor Akbar who had called them to his court in Fatehpur Sikri for religious discussions This church was later demolished perhaps during Aurangzeb times Later on Christianity was mainly brought by the British rulers of India in the later 18th and 19th century This is evidenced in cities established by the British such as the port city of Karachi where the majestic St Patrick s Cathedral one of Pakistan s largest church stands and the churches in the city of Rawalpindi where the British established a major military cantonment Holy Trinity Cathedral Karachi The Europeans won how small numbers of converts to Anglicanism Methodism the Lutheran Church and Catholicism from the native populations Islam was very strong in the provinces of Punjab Balochistan and the North West Frontier Province but small native communities of converts to Christianity were formed The largest numbers came from resident officers of the British Army and the government European and wealthy native Christians established colleges churches hospitals and schools in cities like Karachi Lahore Rawalpindi and Peshawar There is a large Catholic Goan community in Karachi that was established when Karachi s infrastructure was developed by the British before World War II and the Irish who were subjects of the British Empire and formed a large part of the British Army were an important factor in the establishment of then the Catholic community of northwestern colonial India now Pakistan Night view of St Mary s Cathedral amp Bishop s House MultanNotable Christians EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed August 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Christians in Pakistani military services Edit The Christians in Pakistan have long been active in various fields of public service Many Christians have served in the Pakistan Armed Forces civilian services and other organizations Some have received high civilian and military awards Pakistan Air Force Edit Air Commodore Patrick Desmond Callaghan 1945 1971 98 Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry 98 Squadron Leader Peter Christy 98 Air Vice Marshal Eric Gordon Hall 1947 1977 98 Air Commodore Nazir Latif 98 Wing Commander Mervyn L Middlecoat 98 Air Vice Marshal Michael John O BrianPakistan Army Edit Brigadier Daniel Austin Brigadier Mervyn Cardoza Lieutenant Colonel Derek Joseph Major General Julian Peter Major General Noel Israel Khokhar Brigadier Samson Simon Sharaf Pakistan Navy Edit Rear Admiral Leslie MungavinReligious ministers Edit Rt Rev Samuel Robert Azariah Moderator of the Church of Pakistan and Bishop in Raiwind 99 Bishop Andrew Francis former Bishop of Multan in Pakistan Anthony Theodore Lobo awarded the Presidential Pride of Performance Award in 1990 for services to the cause of literature and education 100 Bishop Azad Marshall President of the National Council of Churches of Pakistan 101 Francis Nadeem awarded Tamgha e Imtiaz for Public Service 102 Civil services and police Edit Cincinnatus Fabian D Abreo administrator and politician Dilshad Najmuddin ex IG Police and former ambassador Kamran Michael senator who served as Minister for Statistics and a member of the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz PML N Manuel Misquita former mayor of Karachi 103 Shahbaz Bhatti member of the National Assembly and a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party PPP 104 and Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs from 2008 2011 105 Education Edit Riffat Arif teacher women s activist and philanthropist from Gujranwala 106 Bernadette Louise Dean academic and educator Jacqueline Maria Dias professor of nursing at the Aga Khan University Norma Fernandes teacher awarded the Tamgha i Imtiaz for her services to education 107 Mary Emily Gonsalves awarded the Sitara e Imtiaz in recognition of her services to education 108 Yolande Henderson veteran high school teacher 109 Oswald Bruno Nazareth high school teacher for 50 years Politicians Edit Clement Shahbaz Bhatti Federal Minister for Minorities Affairs Khalil Tahir Sandhu Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs 2008 2018 Kamran Michael Federal Minister and Senator Shunila Ruth Member of National Assembly 2013 2018 Aasiya Nasir Member of National Assembly 2002 2018 Human rights defenders Edit Dr Rubina Feroze Bhatti Member National Commission on the Rights of the Child Romana Bashir Member Punjab Commission on the Status of Women 2014 2018 Entertainment Edit Alycia Dias Playback singer Azekah Daniel Actress Bohemia Rapper Nirmal Roy Musician and singer from Lahore 110 Sunita Marshall Television actress and model The Benjamin Sisters Singer band consist of three sisters Nerrisa Shae Gill Pakistani singer and cover artist mostly known for her Punjabi duet song Pasoori Aniq Ernest Pakistani Film Director CEO Big Guns ProductionsSports Edit Jack Britto Olympic field hockey player Ian Fyfe cricketer coach and a sports journalist from Karachi 111 Jacob Harris first class cricketer and sports coach from Karachi Shazia Hidayat track and field athlete She was the only female athlete on the Pakistan team competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney Australia John Permal 1964 74 the fastest human in Pakistan Sidra Sadaf woman cyclist who won a silver medal at the 11th South Asian Games in Dhaka Bangladesh in January 2010 Yousaf Youhana first class Test Cricketer who used to openly use the sign of the cross before starting his innings He was one of the most successful batsmen of the Pakistan Cricket Team He later converted to Islam Writers Edit Cyril Almeida journalist and an assistant editor for the daily newspaper Dawn 112 Kanwal Feroze scholar poet writer and journalist Omer Shahid Hamid wrote the novel The Prisoner which tells the story of a Christian police officer in Karachi Mohammed Hanif wrote the novel Our Lady of Alice Bhatti about a Christian nurse in Karachi Late Begum Bilquis Sheikh was an aristocratic Pakistani lady who converted from Islam to Christianity and wrote her famous memoirs about this Nabeel Qureshi a former Ahmadi who converted to Christianity wrote three books Seeking Allah Finding Jesus A Devout Muslim Encounters Christianity Answering Jihad A Better Way Forward and No God BUT One Allah or Jesus Other Edit Sunny Benjamin John singer from Karachi 113 Quentin D Silva former Chairman amp Chief Executive of Shell Pakistan Limited 114 Candidates to sainthood Edit Akash Bashir former student of the Don Bosco Technical Institute in Lahore security guard and martyr On 31 January 2022 Pope Francis declared him a Servant of God He is the first native Pakistani candidate for sainthood in the history of the Catholic Church in Pakistan 115 See also Edit Pakistan portal Christianity portalChristianity in Punjab Pakistan List of churches in Pakistan Demographics of Pakistan 2009 Gojra riots Asia Bibi blasphemy case Blasphemy in Pakistan Religion in Pakistan Freedom of religion in Pakistan Persecution of Christians in Pakistan Forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan Religious discrimination in PakistanReferences Edit a b c d Riazul Haq and Shahbaz Rana 27 May 2018 Headcount finalised sans third party audit Retrieved 23 January 2021 Why are Pakistan s Christians targeted BBC News October 30 2018 a b Salient Features of Final Results Census 2017 PDF Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Archived from the original PDF on 2021 05 24 Retrieved 20 May 2021 By Location Adherents com Archived from the original on 2013 01 24 Retrieved 2013 02 18 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b The Constitution of Pakistan Notes for Part III Chapter 3 Pakistani org Archived from the original on 2009 11 10 Retrieved 2013 02 18 a b Ghani Faras 14 Dec 2015 Islamabad s Christian slums face demolition Al Jazeera Retrieved 1 April 2016 Telushkin Shira 31 March 2018 The Americanization of an Ancient Faith The Atlantic Retrieved 29 August 2020 Jacobsen Douglas 21 March 2011 The World s Christians Who they are Where they are and How they got there John Wiley amp Sons pp 112 ISBN 978 1 4443 9729 1 Coren Michael 21 October 2014 Hatred McClelland amp Stewart ISBN 978 0 7710 2385 9 At Pakistan s inception in 1947 Pakistani Christians could be divided in three categories a Punjabi rural working class Anglicans b Catholic urban middle class Goans in Karachi and c White Anglo Indians who lived in Karachi Lahore Rawalpindi and Quetta and this included both Irish Catholic and English Protestants ur Rehman Zia Abi Habib Maria 4 May 2020 Sewer Cleaners Wanted in Pakistan Only Christians Need Apply The New York Times Retrieved 4 May 2020 In Pakistan manual sewer cleaners are known as sweepers Phan Peter C 2011 Christianities in Asia John Wiley amp Sons p 25 ISBN 978 1 4443 9260 9 For example 90 to 95 of Pakistani Christians are Punjabi of the chura dalit group converted from Hinduism rather than from Islam or local religious systems Sara Singha Ariel Glucklich 23 April 2015 Dalit Christians and Caste Consciousness in Pakistan Retrieved 22 September 2020 This study explores caste discrimination in Pakistan against untouchable Dalit converts to Christianity During the nineteenth century in India many Dalits converted to Christianity to escape caste persecution In the 1870s in Punjab a mass movement to Protestant Christianity flourished among the Dalit Chuhra caste The Chuhras were the largest menial caste in Punjab and engaged in degrading occupations including sweeping and sanitation work By the 1930s almost the entire Chuhra caste converted to Protestant Christianity In 1947 during the partition of India the majority of Chuhra converts in Punjab became part of the Protestant community in Pakistan After Partition many uneducated Chuhras were confined to menial jobs in the sanitation industry Today the stigma of Dalit ancestry is a distinct feature of social discrimination against Chuhra Christians in Pakistan a b Kurikilamkatt James 2005 First Voyage of the Apostle Thomas to India Ancient Christianity in Bharuch and Taxila ATF Press p 140 ISBN 978 1 925612 64 6 a b Jose Kalapura SJ April 2020 Centenary History of Patna Jesuit Mission Patna Ganga Lahar Jesuit Conference of South Asia 9 10 Churches and Ministers Home and Foreign Events The New York Times January 13 1878 An Heroic Bishop Chapter VI His Fourth Pioneer Work The Lahore Bishopric Beginnings in India By Eugene Stock D C L London Central Board of Missions and SPCK 1917 British Library Mundus ac uk 2002 07 18 Retrieved 2013 02 18 a b c d e f Thomas Abraham Vazhayil 1974 Christians in Secular India Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press pp 106 110 ISBN 978 0 8386 1021 3 Oddie Geoffrey A 2001 Indian Christians and National Identity 1870 1947 The Journal of Religious History 25 3 357 361 doi 10 1111 1467 9809 00138 Pinto Ambrose 19 August 2017 Christian Contribution to the Freedom Struggle Mainstream LV 35 a b Webster John C B 2018 A Social History of Christianity North west India since 1800 Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 909757 9 In December 1921 the Punjabi dominated meetings of the All India Conference of Indian Christians in Lahore was more cautious in their proposals but less cautious in the rationale they offered They passed resolutions first indicating that the Protestant missions should be completely merged in the Indian Church and that in future all Foreign Missionaries should be related to it and then urging the missions in the meantime to appoint Indians of ability and character on an increasing scale Among their supporting arguments were that Indian Christians are not going to put up with colour and racial distinctions that foreign missionaries could not solve the community s problems because of lack of sympathy that the missions were too divided by denominational differences to bring about a united Indian Church and that In these days Indians look up to Indians and do not pay much attention to foreigners Black Brian Hyman Gavin Smith Graham M 2014 Confronting Secularism in Europe and India Legitimacy and Disenchantment in Contemporary Times A amp C Black pp 88 91 ISBN 978 1 78093 607 9 Partition Affects Catholic Union Of India Bangalore Indian Daily Mail 21 November 1947 A resolution that in view of the partition of India into two separate Dominions and the result of the Catholic Associations of Sind and Baluchistan the only associations in Pakistan affiliated to the Catholic Union to sever its connection with the Union the jurisdiction and activities of the Union be confined to the Dominion of India and necessary amendments be made in the Constitution was passed at the Second Annual General Meeting of the Catholic Union of India held at St Joseph s College Hall Civil Area last week Mr Ruthnasamy President of the Union was in the chair Anugrah Kumar November 2016 Pakistan Bans All 11 Christian TV Stations Arrests Cable Operators in Crackdown The Christian Post Official page of the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and Southeast Asia Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Singapore and South Asia Taylor Adam 2016 03 28 An Easter Sunday suicide bombing shows plight of Pakistan s Christians The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved 2016 03 28 Constable Pamela 2015 03 20 The dam of self restraint bursts for Pakistan s Christians The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved 2016 03 28 Blasphemy Law in Pakistan Jones Owen Bennett 2003 Pakistan Eye of the Storm New Haven Connecticut Yale University Press p 19 ISBN 0 300 10147 3 6 killed in Pakistan as Muslims burn Christian homes CNN com edition cnn com Retrieved 2016 03 28 Pakistan Christians die in unrest BBC 2009 08 02 Retrieved 2016 03 28 Two blasts at Lahore churches claim 15 lives www geo tv Retrieved 2016 03 28 a b Hussain Annie Gowen Shaiq Cunningham Erin 2016 03 28 Death toll in Pakistan bombing climbs past 70 The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Retrieved 2016 03 28 Dr Iftikhar H Malik Religious Minorities in Pakistan PDF Retrieved 12 February 2020 a b Population distribution by religion 1998 Census PDF Pakistan Statistical Year Book 2011 Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2011 Retrieved 2020 05 20 Swensen Jason Promise potential define LDS Church in India Pakistan DeseretNews com Archived from the original on 2016 02 02 Retrieved 2016 01 29 Religious Minorities in Pakistan By Dr Iftikhar H Malik PDF Retrieved 9 April 2020 a b c d e f Aqeel Asif March 2 2018 Humiliated and betrayed Christians Daily Times a b C Christine Fair Shaun Gregory April 8 2016 Pakistan in National and Regional Change State and Society in Flux Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 92465 3 Wilkinson Isambard Where Christianity faces a fight to survive The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 2006 06 02 Retrieved 2021 07 11 The Constitution of Pakistan Part III Chapter 1 The President Pakistani org Retrieved 2013 02 18 The Constitution of Pakistan Part VII Chapter 3A Federal Shariat Court Pakistani org Retrieved 2013 02 18 Pakistan s parliament blocks bill allowing non Muslims to become country s PM President City Delhi The Hindu TNN Retrieved 10 February 2020 Q amp A Pakistan s controversial blasphemy laws BBC News 2 Sep 2012 Archived from the original on 3 April 2019 Retrieved 2 November 2012 Hundreds of Christians are among the accused at least 12 of them were given the death sentence for blaspheming against the Prophet Guerin Orla 6 December 2010 Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has price on her head BBC Retrieved 6 December 2010 Religious Intolerance In Pakistan Religioustolerance org Retrieved 2013 02 18 Gheddo Piero 2013 02 14 PAKISTAN Young Christian arrested for blasphemy Asia News Asianews it Archived from the original on 2014 01 15 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Hussain Waqar 11 November 2010 Christian Woman Sentenced to Death Agence France Presse Archived from the original on 14 November 2010 Retrieved 11 November 2010 Crilly Rob Sahi Aoun 9 November 2010 Christian Woman sentenced to Death in Pakistan for blasphemy The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 11 November 2010 Retrieved 11 November 2010 Girl held in Pakistan accused of burning Quran pages Edition cnn com 2012 08 20 Retrieved 2013 02 18 a b Teenager in Hiding After Blasphemy Accusation Pakistani Police Say The New York Times October 13 2012 Pakistani activists alarmed by threats to minorities Deutsche Welle 21 Aug 2012 ACN 2022 05 06 Pakistan I spent eight years on death row after being falsely accused of blasphemy ACN International Retrieved 2022 11 17 Christian Brothers Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy Conviction Upheld by Pakistani High Court American Center for Law and Justice Retrieved 2022 07 21 News Morning Star 2022 06 24 Pakistani court upheld death sentence for Christian brothers despite shoddy investigation lawyer The Christian Post Retrieved 2022 07 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a last has generic name help Pakistan high court upholds forced marriage of abducted Catholic minor Catholic Herald October 28 2020 Abducted shackled and forced to marry at 12 BBC News March 10 2021 Islamabad s Christian slum dwellers pray for Christmas miracle The Express Tribune Islamabad 25 December 2015 Retrieved 2 April 2016 Sandhu Serina 14 December 2015 Plans to demolish Christian majority slums in Islamabad put on hold by Supreme Court The Independent Retrieved 2 April 2016 Ahmad Imtiaz November 10 2020 Christian mother son killed in Pak over alleged blasphemous remarks Hindustan Times Chaudhry Kamran May 6 2021 The clock is ticking for Pakistan s beleaguered Christian nurses UCA News UCANews Khokhar Shafique May 7 2021 Pakistan false blasphemy charges against Christian nurses multiply AsiaNews After the Malala Yousafzai shooting can shock therapy free Pakistan Ibnlive in com Archived from the original on 2012 10 15 Retrieved 2013 02 18 The Problem Of Pakistan Ibtimes com 4 October 2012 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Pakistan should be on the genocide watch list US think tank Indiatoday intoday in 2012 09 26 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Orders fresh probe into church attack SC rues poor investigation in sensitive cases Newspaper Dawn Com 2010 12 24 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Six Killed in Anti Christian Attack in Karachi English peopledaily com cn 2002 09 25 Retrieved 2013 02 18 girls died in attack on Christian church in Pakistan Earlychurchofjesus org Retrieved 2013 02 18 Gunmen execute Pakistan Christians Domini org 2002 09 25 Archived from the original on 2018 10 02 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Asien Pakistan Sangla Hill attack continues to draw condemnation missio Archived from the original on February 15 2006 Gheddo Piero 2013 02 14 PAKISTAN Islamic extremists still unpunishedied 40 days after the Sangla Hill attack Asia News Asianews it Archived from the original on 2015 04 02 Retrieved 2013 02 18 International Christian Response Cartoon Protesters in Pakistan Target Christians Christianresponse org Archived from the original on August 23 2006 Christian attacked for polluting Pakistanchristianpost com Archived from the original on 2006 10 21 Retrieved 2007 01 05 a b Vu Michelle August 22 2006 Pakistan Church Christian Homes Attacked in Land Dispute The Christian Post Archived from the original on September 1 2006 Retrieved 2018 05 24 Mazhar Jawad July 15 2008 Muslim Mob Attack Protestant Church In Pakistan BosNewsLife Retrieved March 16 2011 Waraich Omar August 5 2009 Pakistan Who s Attacking the Christians Time Archived from the original on August 8 2009 Retrieved March 16 2011 Nora Zimmett June 13 2009 Christian Man Raped Murdered for Refusing to Convert to Islam Family Says FOX News Archived from the original on May 14 2013 Retrieved June 11 2011 Johnson Simon 15 March 2011 William Hague accused of anti Christian foreign policy telegraph co uk London Retrieved March 16 2011 Mughal Aftab Alexander 17 April 2011 Pope Benedict is urged to declare martyrdom of Shahbaz Bhatti Spero News Retrieved 17 April 2011 Mughal Aftab Alexander 2 May 2011 Pakistan Christians left their homes after Muslim mob attacked them Continental News Archived from the original on April 7 2022 Mughal Aftab Alexander 5 June 2011 Christian leaders condemn the demand of Islamic party to ban the Bible in Pakistan Continental News Archived from the original on April 7 2022 Fallout of film Pak mob sets church ablaze pastor s son injured in attack Indianexpress com 2012 09 24 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Anti Islam film protests Mob sets church on fire in Pakistan Ndtv com 2012 09 23 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Pakistan Blasphemy Boy Ryan In Hiding Worthynews com 2012 10 12 Archived from the original on 2012 11 24 Retrieved 2013 02 18 Protesters burn Christian homes in Pakistan France 24 9 March 2013 Archived from the original on 10 April 2013 Retrieved 12 March 2013 New York Times Suicide Attack at Christian Church in Pakistan Kills Dozens by ISMAIL KHAN and SALMAN MASOOD 22 September 2013 Two blasts at Lahore churches claim 15 lives PAKISTAN geo tv geo tv 15 March 2015 Agencies Imran Gabol Nadeem Haider Waseem Riaz Abbas Haider Akbar Ali 15 March 2015 15 killed in Taliban attack on Lahore churches dawn com Worshippers killed in Pakistan church bombings aljazeera com Suicide blast kills at least 72 in Lahore park The Express Tribune 27 March 2016 72 killed over 300 injured in Lahore suicide blast The News 27 March 2016 Retrieved 27 March 2016 Saifi Sophia 2016 03 28 Pakistan bombing Taliban targets Christians kills 69 CNN Retrieved 2020 04 04 Shah Dawn com Syed Ali December 17 2017 9 killed in suicide attack on Quetta s Bethel Memorial Methodist Church DAWN COM ISIS claims responsibility for Quetta church blast The Nation Retrieved 2017 12 17 Evil weeds poison good fruit in Pakistan UCA News a b c d e f PAF S Gallant Christian Heroes Carry Quaid s Message Archived from the original on 2011 03 07 Retrieved 2011 02 14 Anglican Communion Office Member Church Pakistan Anglicancommunion org Retrieved 2020 04 04 News Corp and Facebook have reached pay deals for news in Australia The Frontier Post March 16 2021 Contact Us NCC Pakistan Retrieved 2020 04 04 Pakistan Civil Awards PDF permanent dead link Presidents Archived 2011 02 06 at the Wayback Machine KGA Retrieved 1 October 2010 Pakistani minister a Christian assassinated Albuquerque Express 3 March 2011 Archived from the original on 8 March 2011 Retrieved 3 March 2011 Pakistan minorities minister shot dead in Islamabad Times Of India November 4 2012 Archived from the original on November 4 2012 How Sister Zeph s one room school in Gujranwala became a global sensation dawn com 26 May 2016 Honouring the distinguished President approves national civil awards The Express Tribune August 13 2013 Daily Times 24 March 2009 Archived from the original on 7 June 2011 InpaperMagazine From October 16 2011 Educationist With a heart of gold DAWN COM Bakhsh Madeeha Burgeoning songster Nirmal Roy hits a home run with her exquisite Coke Studio debut www christiansinpakistan com Retrieved 2018 03 19 Syed Osman Naeem Development Technology Professionals The Old Patricians theoldpatricians org Archived from the original on 2014 11 29 D P Satish 11 October 2016 Grounded Pakistani Journalist Cyril Almeida Has Goan Roots News18 Retrieved 11 October 2016 Dharkan Fall 2006 Archived 2010 04 14 at the Wayback Machine SHELL PAKISTAN LIMITED Year Ended 30 06 2006 Paktribune Akash Bashir Who Died Protecting Catholic Worshippers in Pakistan Named a Servant of God NCR Retrieved 2022 06 01 Works cited Edit Gabriel Theodore 2021 Christian Citizens in an Islamic State The Pakistan Experience Taylor amp Francis Further reading EditChurch of England 1908 Urdu version of the Book of Common Prayer and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the church according to the use of the Church of England together with the Psalter or Psalms of David and the form and manner of making ordaining and consecrating of bishops Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge p 274 Retrieved 2011 07 06 Christmas sweetens religious ties in Pakistan ucanews com reporter Lahore Union of Catholic Asian News External links Edit Media related to Christianity in Pakistan at Wikimedia Commons British Pakistani Christian Association Pakistan Christians demand help Open Doors USA s information about Pakistan Open Doors USA s information about Pakistan World Watch List Pakistan Pakistan Christian News Christians in Pakistan Centre for legal aid assistance and settlement Forced conversions in Pakistan A dark reality Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Christianity in Pakistan amp oldid 1150297497, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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