ICC Note:

Christian leaders in Pakistan have declared their solidarity with other persecuted religious minorities by speaking out on behalf of the country’s Shia community. Pakistan, a Sunni dominated nation, has a significant Shia population that is often discriminated against and sometimes out right persecuted by the majority community. Recently, a series of killings has caused members of the Shia community to go on a hunger strike until the government takes action to better protect their community. Christians also face similar insecurity in Pakistan and have been the targets of extremists and terrorists in recent years. 

6/10/2016 Pakistan (Vatican Radio) – “The government must take notice of Shia killings. Nobody has the right to force their beliefs upon others,” Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani national director of the Pakistani Catholic bishops’ National Commission for Justice and Peace, told ucanews.com.

“The state must protect all religious minorities,” he said.

Father Mani urged the majority Sunni Muslim clerics to highlight the true teachings of Islam and condemn violence in the name of religion.

Roadside camps with Shias undertaking a protest hunger strike have been erected in major Pakistani cities since May 11 when paramilitary police opened fire on protesting Shias in Parachinar, a Pakistani city bordering Afghanistan. Four Shia Muslims were killed.

Those killings were in addition to nine Shias killed in various sectarian attacks in Pakistan in May.

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