Tragedy in Pakistan

By Sam Lucero
News and Information Manager

The Dec. 27 assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to her native country last October after an eight-year exile, is another sad chapter in the violent history of the Islamic country. Bhutto was gunned down as she waved to her supporters from a vehicle following a political rally in Rawalpindi.

A feminist Muslim in a staunchly conservative country, Bhutto had been a longtime target of political foes and religious extremists. Her death will surely have repercussions that could impact not only diplomatic relations with the United States and other western democracies, but also the small Christian minority that numbers around 5 million in the nation of approximately 165 million.

Bhutto's return to Pakistan this year created a stir as the country prepared for parliamentary elections this month. Bhutto had voiced her support for U.S. forces entering Pakistan if the extremist Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists set up camp. This pledge was viewed - and proven correct - as a death wish.

When Bhutto was prime minister of Pakistan, twice between 1988 and 1996, she was seen as a defender of her country's poor. She was an advocate for women's issues and she opposed sexual discrimination that is part of her country's culture.

As a Muslim nation, Pakistan has enacted strict blasphemy laws. Under these laws, desecration of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, is punishable by life imprisonment. Insulting the name of the prophet Mohammed carries a mandatory death sentence. These laws have been used by people as a way to settle arguments.

This was the case in 2005, when a crowd of some 2,000 men swarmed the Catholic compound in Sangla Hill, Pakistan, home of the Church of the Holy Spirit. Armed with sticks, hammers and flammable liquids, they smashed and burned all contents on the premises. The attack was sparked by reports that a Christian had burned pages from the Quran. The charges were never proven.

Following the attack, and two similar ones on other Christian churches in Sangla Hill, Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf condemned the incidents. But Catholic leaders said the president has failed to reform the blasphemy laws that endanger religious minorities.

With the assassination of Bhutto, it is feared that violence against religious minorities will continue, especially if Muslim extremists gain power. It is ironic that both Bhutto and Pakistan's current president, Musharraf, were both educated by Catholic missionaries. And at a school for girls at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Sangla Hill, 90 percent of the 450 students enrolled at the time of the 2005 attack were Muslim.

Keep the Pakistani people in your prayers. While we fret about the appointment of a new bishop, residents of Pakistan must worry about civil unrest and continued violence.