PESHAWAR: The killing of a Christian priest in Peshawar has reignited fear amongst local parishioners and brought back painful memories of one of the nation’s bloodiest attacks on the community in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital.
Gunmen shot and killed Pastor William Siraj and wounded another Christian cleric, Naeem Patrick, as they drove home from Sunday service at a small church located on the outskirts of Peshawar.
“We felt insecure [even] before this. The feeling of insecurity increases when these kinds of incidents take place,” Naqqash Bhatti, a relative of Siraj, told Reuters at the funeral service for the slain priest on Monday.
The service, attended by hundreds of mourners, was held at the colonial era All Saints Church in Peshawar — the site of a twin suicide bombing that killed scores of worshippers in 2013.
Following the bombing, a small Christian community set up a smaller discreet church on the outskirts of Peshawar in 2014 — and named it the “Martyrs of the All Saints Church” in memory of the attack.
Siraj was targeted just after he had attended Sunday mass at the memorial church, which is nestled in a crammed brick-walled lane surrounded by the modest houses of the local Christian community — many of whom shifted there after the 2013 suicide attack.
The intimate community and the memorial church served as a comfort zone for many who lost friends and family in the suicide attack, and struggled to get on with their lives.
“We are poor people and work till late night in the city and then return home quite late at night,” said Waheed Masih, 36, who lives across from the church, where Siraj was a regular.
“The killing […] has created panic and nobody wants to leave their homes due to fear and terror,” he added.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Siraj yet, but it comes amidst a resurgence in militant attacks in Pakistan, particularly along the western border with Afghanistan.
Protestant Bishop Humphrey Sarfaraz, who also attended Siraj’s funeral service, told Reuters he had requested the region’s top police official to arrange more security for the Christian clergy and enhanced patrolling for Sunday services.
The police have widened their manhunt for two unidentified assailants after the provincial police chief, Moazzam Jah Ansari, ordered investigators to use all available resources to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators.
Hina Jilani, chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), on Monday condemned the killing, saying the commission sees the attack “as a blatant assault not only on Pakistan’s Christian community but on all religious minorities whose right to life and security of person remains under constant threat”.
She demanded more steps for the protection of minorities.
