Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lahore (Agenzia Fides) – The Christian community in Pakistan has issued a firm denunciation of the dynamite attack that took place in the city of Lahore. Today, May 27, in a violent explosion at the Central Police Station in the city, over 40 people lost their lives and 200 were wounded.
Local police say the terrorist attack was carried out using a car bomb. The building in question is located in the commercial center of the city, which is full of offices and businesses. The explosion completely destroyed a building belonging to the police emergency services and seriously damaged others, including a police station, a Secret Service office, and the Supreme Court headquarters. Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and civil and political authorities across the nation, have all condemned the attack (just another in a series of attacks in Lahore) and said that “enemies of Pakistan who want to destabilize the country are coming here after their defeat in Swat.”
Pakistani civil society has expressed its indignation and sadness for the bloodbath occurring in the nation, for the spread of religious fundamentalism that uses terrorists tactics and has asked the government to take serious measures in protecting the innocent, especially those in the North-West Frontier Province, but also in the larger cities of Pakistan where attacks have been taking place for months.
The Christian Churches have expressed their solidarity to the families of the victims and mentioned the “urgent need to stop the chain of hate and violence that is trying to destroy the country.” Individuals and groups that “propose violence in the name of religion should be condemned and stopped, as they show disrespect for human life, attack solidarity and freedom in the country, undermine national harmony, and damage the state,” the Christian leaders said in a recent seminar held in Lahore (see Fides 25/5/2009). The Christian Churches have been warning of the dangers of the spread of Taliban groups, who lead a campaign of hate and intolerance, for some time now. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/5/2009)
