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Afghan events could affect Pakistan's Christians

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Pakistan:    country    profile 		Christians in Pakistan could be among those affected by whatever action the United States takes against Afghanistan.

The Rev. Aslam Barkat, a United Methodist pastor in West Virginia who grew up in Pakistan, said he doesn't see much of a threat to Christians in the Islamic country at the moment. However, he said, the situation "is going to be fluid, depending on who does what."

The United States has demanded that the Taliban, Afghanistan's ruling party, hand over Osama bin Laden, who is considered the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The Taliban has said that bin Laden is in its control at a secure location, and the government had refused to surrender him as of Oct. 1.

Tensions already had flared in neighboring Pakistan in recent years, when laws were used against Christians and Hindus accused of blasphemy against Mohammed and the Koran, according to Sarla Chand, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries in New York.

"I think it's a very precarious position for Christians in Pakistan right now," she said, adding that cities along the border with Afghanistan, such as Peshawar, could be especially volatile.

Although they account for less than 2 percent of Pakistan's 152 million people, Christians are active in social service work there. The United Methodist Church, for example, still supports United Christian Hospital in Lahore. It also helps fund scholarships for theological education, disaster relief for floods and earthquakes, community-based health care programs, and physical and mental rehabilitation programs for children, according to Chand.

In the late 1800s, the Methodist Church was established in the cities of Karachi, Quetta and Lahore, initially as a ministry to English-speaking communities of Anglo-Indians and some British army and civilian personnel. The ministry was turned over to the British Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1900 and grew to 15,000 members by 1915.

The government granted a plot of land in the Multan area to the Methodist Church in 1930 for the establishment of four Christian villages. This area was divided in two in 1947, after the partition agreement between Pakistan and India, with the largest portion becoming part of India. The church also had several educational projects, including the Lucie Harrison High School for Girls in Lahore, which was nationalized in 1972; a teacher-training institute in Raiwind; and a cooperative effort in running two colleges and a hospital in Lahore.

When the Methodist Church joined with the Anglicans and Scottish Presbyterians to become part of the Church of Pakistan in 1970, it had about 60,000 members. A separate Presbyterian denomination, connected to the Presbyterian Church USA, also exists in Pakistan.

Today, Chand said, the Church of Pakistan has eight dioceses, each with its own bishops. The Multan and Raiwind dioceses are those considered formerly Methodist.

Church World Service, the development and relief agency of the U.S. National Council of Churches, also works in Pakistan in both urban and rural settings. Programs include community health, food security development, legal assistance and drug rehabilitation.

October 1, 2001

Source: United Methodist News Service
General Board of Global Ministries
United Methodist Church
475 Riverside Drive - New York, New York 10115
1-800-UMC-GBGM