Toespraak Fr. Francis Chaman

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

first of all I would like to express my heart felt thanks and sincere gratitude to Respected and Very Rev Fr. Roger who gave me this opportunity to concelebrate this holy mass with him and share my experience about the situation of Christians in Pakistan.

Pakistan is a country situated in southern part of Asia, in its north lies China, the Central Asian states and the Russian Federation, to the West is Afghanistan and Iran, while to the East is India. There are four provinces in Pakistan namely Punjab, Balochistan, NWFP, [North West Frontier Post] and Sindh. Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. The total population of Pakistan is 190 millions. Islam is the state religion. There are 97 percent Muslims and 3 percent different religious minorities.

We being Christians face serious problems in every sphere of life namely socio-political, socio-cultural and socio-economical. There is a lot of discrimination, exploitation and prejudice on the basis of religion, race, colour and creed.

1. Legal Context of Discrimination

General Zia Ul-Haq, the Pakistan army commander, overthrew the then civilian Prime Minister Zulfiqar Aali Bhutto. He ruled the country for 11 years and introduced many changes in the constitution of Pakistan. Islamization in Pakistan was his top priority. He implemented and enforced sharia and this bill was passed during his time. He added two amendments 209 B and 205 C of the Pakistan penal Code, any one who desecrates the Quran or defiles the name of the prophet Mohammad is punished with death or life imprisonment. Implemented in 1986 by then dictator, General Zia Ul-Haq ,to woo the country's fundamentalist faction, the laws have become a tool to persecute religious minorities. Almost a thousand people have been charged so far under the law, and hundreds have become it s victims.
Blasphemy law is a very sensitive issue. Few years back the judge of the High Court was murdered by the religious fanatics because he made a decision in favor of a Christian who was accused and facing case under the blasphemy law. Since then Muslim lawyers feel reluctant to plead cases of accused Christians. The religious fanatics and extremists want judges to hang accused Christians, they want a predetermined decision.

2. Socio-Political Context of Discrimination

General Zia-Ul-Haq introduced and imposed a separate election system for the Christians, and according to this system the Christians cannot cast their vote for Muslim candidates. Christians are forced to think that they are not equal citizens: they are rather a religious minority which is no part of the main stream. By constitution Christians can not hold any important office in the government.

3. Socio-Economical Discrimination

Being Christians we can not take part in any business or income generating activity. As the Muslims come to know that you are Christian, they will create many problems. E.g. they accuse Christians of desecrating their Book (Quran) and pave the way to use blasphemy law against them. They will not leave their aim unless they succeed in their dirty planning.

Muslims think that Christians are low class people and that they are there to serve Muslims. According to Muslims, it is the Christians' responsibility to do all sorts of menial (ondergeschikt, minderwaardig) and dirty works like sweeping, cleaning, looking after the animals, making bricks on the kiln (bakoven) and so on. On the other hand Christians are not paid properly.

Women used to clean and sweep the houses of rich Muslims are sexually abused and raped. If they open their mouth a case is filed against them on baseless charges.

4. Socio-Cultural Discrimination

Muslims call Christians ‘kafir', which means infidels and unclean. 
Secondly we Christians are called ‘CHURA' by the Muslims. The word ‘CHURA' is very strong in our cultural context and it expresses dislike, hatred, ill feelings and sense of inferiority and discrimination. It gives great and intense psychological pain to Christian people. It expresses non acceptance and leads to fear, stress and sense of insecurity.
Another painful and bitter reality for Christians is not having right to eat and drink in restaurants and hotels. As soon as the owner comes to know that a customer is a Christian he will beat him and demands money for the new utensils, because these have become unclean by being used by a Christian.
In schools and colleges our children are not allowed to drink water from the glasses used by Muslim students. In all the institutions Christian students are not treated equally. Christians have to study Islam as it is the essential part of syllabus.
The Muslim students always try to create unnecessarily trouble for the Christian students on the basis of religion and creed. Sometimes it is so strong that Christian students have to leave the institution or may be even their study. Many a time our children do not want to go to any school or college because of the fear and stressful situation.

4. New Trends in Islam

Since 1976 the ‘MDRASSA' [ school, seminary ] culture has prevailed very quickly throughout Pakistan. That is the place where young boys are given a training of freedom fighters. The extremist interpretation of the Quran playing a big role to recruit different religious groups like Jaish e Mohammad, Taliban, Lashker e Tayyaba, Lahker e Janghwai, Juand Ullaha, Sipa Sahaba and so on. These groups are deadly against the USA and Europe. If the USA is acting against any Muslim country anywhere in the Muslim world, the extremist and fanatics take revenge from the local Christians of Pakistan. They are involved in bomb blasts, suicide attacks, killings, kidnapping, burning Christian colonies, attacking and desecrating the churches. Rev. Fr Bonnie Mendes says, 'The Taliban want to destroy democracy and spread a fundamentalist ideology. Christians of Pakistan live in an atmosphere of fear, but are urged to be stronger. Since 1997-2013, churches, colonies, schools, offices and villages have been attacked 120 times. In these attacks thousands of people have been killed. Last month on 22nd September 2013 there was a twin suicide attack on the church while people were busy in Sunday worship. In this attack 100 people died and 150 got badly injured. This incident took place in Peshawar. 
There will be no relief for Christians unless the blaspheme law is changed. Whereas the Islamist movements have already warned the government not to change the laws ‘if it wants to stay in power'.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ we are celebrating mission Sunday. This mission is given to the Church by Christ Himself. So every baptized is a missionary by the nature of baptism. I ask this question: how is it possible to practice our faith and bear witness to the mission, given by Jesus, in a country like Pakistan where Christians are already suffering and undergoing persecution? It will not be out of place to say that we are living in the valley of death. This mission is difficult one, and we need consistent, steadfast and unshakable faith. The word of God helps us and presents before us good examples of different people who suffered and offered their lives for the sake of their true faith.

If we see the book of 2 Maccabees ch.7, it tells the martyrdom of seven brothers who were forced by the king to eat pork, but they opted to die instead of going against their faith. The mother of these brothers witnessed the pain, torture and death of her seven sons.How brave and praiseworthy that mother is! For us Christians in Pakistan the situation is the same, the Muslims force us to accept Islam or get ready to die. Likewise Christians in Pakistan prefer to die for the sake of their true faith, they never compromise: I can see they are following the good example of these seven brothers. If we see the gospel of St. Lk. 9:23-24 ‘Then He said to them all, if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.'

Once more I thank Very Rev. fr Roger and all of you and I pray may the good Lord bless you all your families, your parish and your very good parish priest.

Fr Francis Chaman, 
27.10.2013 
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Beste zusters en broeders,

Eerst en vooral wil ik mijn hartelijke dank uitspreken aan uw pastoor die mij de gelegenheid gaf om deze eucharistie samen te vieren en enkele woorden te zeggen over de situatie van de christenen in Pakistan.

Pakistan heeft een bevolking van 190 miljoen. 97 percent is moslim, 3 percent belijdt een andere godsdienst.

Wij christenen ondervinden op velerlei vlakken alle soorten van moeilijkheden: we worden gediscrimineerd, uitgebuit en moeten tal van vooroordelen ondergaan omwille van onze godsdienst, of ons ras of kleur.

Eerst en vooral discrimineert de wetgeving ons. Paksitan is een moslimland. Islam en de sharia-wet zijn staatsgodsdienst. De wet op de godslastering zegt dat ieder die de Koran of de naam van de profeet Mohammed bekladt, met de doodstraf of levenslange opsluiting wordt gestraft. Deze wet is een voorwendsel geworden om de religieuze minderheden te vervolgen. Extremisten willen dat christenen die beschuldigd worden, opgehangen worden.

Er is ook politieke discriminatie. Zo heeft een christen niet het recht om voor een moslim-kanditaat te kiezen. Christenen hebben ook g toespraak die Fr. Francis Chamaneen toegang tot vooraanstaande staatsbetrekkingen. Zo worden we gedwongen te denken dat we minderwaardige mensen zijn ten opzichte van de moslims.

Verder is er economische discriminatie. Als christenen mogen we geen bedrijven oprichten of runnen. Moslims doen ons voelen dat we tweederangsmensen zijn, dat we de dienaars van de moslims moeten zijn om het vuile werk, of het minderwaardige werk te doen: kuisen, vee hoeden, bakstenen maken in de ovens enz. Christenen worden om hun werk ook niet passend vergoed.
Het gebeurt ook vaak dat poetsvrouwen die de huizen van de rijke moslims netjes houden, seksueel worden misbruikt en verkracht. Als de slachtoffers hun mond wagen te openen, worden ze zelf voor de rechtbank gedaagd op grond van niets...

Er is ook culturele discriminatie. Moslims noemen de christenen ‘kaffir', dat wil zeggen onreine mensen, heidenen. Of ook Chura, wat een woord is dat afkeer, haat en negatieve gevoelens, minderwaardigheid en discriminatie uitdrukt. Bij de christenen leidt dit tot angst en onzekerheid.
Christenen worden niet toegelaten te eten en te drinken in restaurants en hotels. 
In scholen en hogescholen mogen de christelijke kinderen niet uit de drinkbekers der moslims drinken. Kinderen durven vaak niet naar school omdat ze het voorwerp zijn van spot en plagerijen vanwege de moslims.

Ten slotte zijn er recentelijk, sinds 1976, over heel Pakistan medrassa, scholen, opgericht die als doel hebben jonge moslims te trainen in het vechten tegen het Westen, de USA en Europa. Jonge mannen zijn medeplichtig aan bomaanslagen, zelfmoordcommando's, moorden, kidnapping, afbranden van christelijke dorpen, aanvallen en vernielen van kerken. Op 22 september ll. werden 100 kerkgangers gedood en 150 gewond toen ze met bommen aangevallen werden na een kerkdienst in Peshawar.

Beste zusters en broeders het is missiemaand en missiezondag. Ik zit met de vraag: hoe kunnen wij als christenen leven en getuigen, ons geloof beleven in een land als Pakistan? Christenen worden hier letterlijk vervolgd. Ja, we leven werkelijk in ‘de vallei des doods'. Hoe moeten we ons in zulk een situatie gedragen?

We hebben gelukkig goede voorbeelden. In het OT boek Maccabeeën staat het verhaal van de 7 broers die martelaar werden voor hun geloof. Ze werden verplicht varkensvlees te eten, maar verkozen eerder te sterven dan de Joodse wetten te overtreden. Wij christenen in Pakistan staan voor dezelfde uitdaging: we willen eerder sterven dan ons geloof in de ware God op te geven. We volgen onze Heer Jezus die gezegd heeft: Als iemand mij wil volgen, moet hij zichzelf verloochenen, iedere dag zijn kruis opnemen en mij volgen. Wie zijn leven wil redden, zal het verliezen, en wie het verliest om mijnentwil, zal het redden.

Nogmaals bedankt, fr. Roger en u allemaal, en ik bid dat de goede God uw families , uw parochie en uw pastoor zou zegenen.