Religion
Pakistan: Minority Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas
Karachi, 21 Dec. (AKI) - (by Syed Saleem Shahzad) - The minority Christian community in Pakistan has begun preparations for Christmas.
Although there are reports of Christians facing threats and discrimination in the overwhelmingly Muslim country, members of the community in the southern port city of Karachi are out in force to celebrate the festival.
"We do celebrate Christmas like the Muslims in Pakistan celebrate their Eids," said Herbert Fernandas, president of the Catholic Association of Pakistan in an interview with AKI.
Fernandes was referring to the Muslim festivals of Eid al-Fitr, that marks the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice which was celebrated earlier this week.
"We start our preparations well before 25 December - we buy new clothes, light-up our houses and decorate with Christmas trees. You can see Christmas trees outside many of the houses in the Sadar area of Karachi where most Christians live," he said.
"Bakeries prepare special sweets and cakes which are served to visiting guests in these homes," said Fernandas.
There are 2.4 million Christians in Pakistan - less than two percent of the country's population. Over half (52 percent) of the country's Christians are Catholic while the rest are Protestant.
In Karachi, Christians play a prominent role in business, education and in the media.
The old market in city's Sadar suburb is where Christian families, originally from the former Portuguese colony of Goa in India, settled during British colonial rule.
Young Christian women can easily be identified in the Sadar area wearing skirts and sleeveless shirts as opposed to the Muslim women who are generally wear pants and long-sleeve tops or are dressed in the traditional 'salwar kameez' - long tunics and loose trousers.
"The Christians are very happy and have no problem living in Pakistan," a member of the Goan Roman Catholic Community in Karachi, Ralph D'Cruz, told AKI.
"The problems related to militancy and some laws concerning minorities are of some concern but this is for all Pakistanis and nothing specific to Christians or other minorities," said D' Cruz who works as a crime reporter with a government-owned news agency.
"These extremist jihadis are Pakistani establishment's ploy and nothing to do with Pakistani society," said D'Cruz.
"I never faced any problem being a Christian while covering criminal cases or the police department," he added.
D'Cruz's wife, even referred to the positive discrimination her community sometimes faces.
"We are sometimes given preference for jobs as English is our lingua franca," she said.
Despite being a long established community, Christians in other parts of Pakistan have faced problems. There have been reports of Christians in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) facing death threats if they did not convert to Islam.
Christians, like other religious minorities in Pakistan also have to deal with the country's blasphemy laws, which give the death penalty for defiling the Koran or insulting the Prophet, a sweeping definition that can be widely interpreted.
Muslim extremists have been known to use Pakistan's blasphemy laws as an excuse to attack Christians.
Although no Christian in Pakistan has ever been executed under the blasphemy laws, members of the minority community say that they have been victimised under the legislation.
Aftab Alexander Mughal, a Christian and a publisher of a magazine on minority communities, told AKI of a Christian woman named Martha Bibi, who this year was accused and convicted of making derogatory remarks against the Koran and of defiling the Prophet Mohammad.
Bibi has been in jail since January and the High Court in Lahore recently turned down her appeal to have the charges quashed.
It is estimated that it takes about seven to ten years for those convicted in such cases to be freed once the case reaches the Supreme Court.
Mughal said that although, no one found guilty of blasphemy has been hanged so far, some of those charged under the legislation have been killed while in police custody.
Many of those convicted of blasphemy are believed to be Christian.
Although there are reports of Christians facing threats and discrimination in the overwhelmingly Muslim country, members of the community in the southern port city of Karachi are out in force to celebrate the festival.
"We do celebrate Christmas like the Muslims in Pakistan celebrate their Eids," said Herbert Fernandas, president of the Catholic Association of Pakistan in an interview with AKI.
Fernandes was referring to the Muslim festivals of Eid al-Fitr, that marks the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha or the Feast of Sacrifice which was celebrated earlier this week.
"We start our preparations well before 25 December - we buy new clothes, light-up our houses and decorate with Christmas trees. You can see Christmas trees outside many of the houses in the Sadar area of Karachi where most Christians live," he said.
"Bakeries prepare special sweets and cakes which are served to visiting guests in these homes," said Fernandas.
There are 2.4 million Christians in Pakistan - less than two percent of the country's population. Over half (52 percent) of the country's Christians are Catholic while the rest are Protestant.
In Karachi, Christians play a prominent role in business, education and in the media.
The old market in city's Sadar suburb is where Christian families, originally from the former Portuguese colony of Goa in India, settled during British colonial rule.
Young Christian women can easily be identified in the Sadar area wearing skirts and sleeveless shirts as opposed to the Muslim women who are generally wear pants and long-sleeve tops or are dressed in the traditional 'salwar kameez' - long tunics and loose trousers.
"The Christians are very happy and have no problem living in Pakistan," a member of the Goan Roman Catholic Community in Karachi, Ralph D'Cruz, told AKI.
"The problems related to militancy and some laws concerning minorities are of some concern but this is for all Pakistanis and nothing specific to Christians or other minorities," said D' Cruz who works as a crime reporter with a government-owned news agency.
"These extremist jihadis are Pakistani establishment's ploy and nothing to do with Pakistani society," said D'Cruz.
"I never faced any problem being a Christian while covering criminal cases or the police department," he added.
D'Cruz's wife, even referred to the positive discrimination her community sometimes faces.
"We are sometimes given preference for jobs as English is our lingua franca," she said.
Despite being a long established community, Christians in other parts of Pakistan have faced problems. There have been reports of Christians in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) facing death threats if they did not convert to Islam.
Christians, like other religious minorities in Pakistan also have to deal with the country's blasphemy laws, which give the death penalty for defiling the Koran or insulting the Prophet, a sweeping definition that can be widely interpreted.
Muslim extremists have been known to use Pakistan's blasphemy laws as an excuse to attack Christians.
Although no Christian in Pakistan has ever been executed under the blasphemy laws, members of the minority community say that they have been victimised under the legislation.
Aftab Alexander Mughal, a Christian and a publisher of a magazine on minority communities, told AKI of a Christian woman named Martha Bibi, who this year was accused and convicted of making derogatory remarks against the Koran and of defiling the Prophet Mohammad.
Bibi has been in jail since January and the High Court in Lahore recently turned down her appeal to have the charges quashed.
It is estimated that it takes about seven to ten years for those convicted in such cases to be freed once the case reaches the Supreme Court.
Mughal said that although, no one found guilty of blasphemy has been hanged so far, some of those charged under the legislation have been killed while in police custody.
Many of those convicted of blasphemy are believed to be Christian.
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