It’s not good to be a Christian in Pakistan. Actually it’s not good to be any religion, other than Muslim, in Pakistan or any other Muslim majority country. And if you happen to live anywhere near fundamentalists, like the Taliban, not being Muslim could mean death. If they have no compunction about killing those within their own religion, why should they care less about killing a non-Muslim, which is exactly what happened to an 11-year-old Christian boy in a town near Karachi.

On April 22, armed Taliban attacked some Christians living in Tiasar Town (a suburb of Karachi), wounding 6 (3 seriously, including the boy Irfan Masih) and setting on fire 6 homes. The boy was shot in the head and died 5 days later. There was also word that bibles were removed from several homes and burned. What do you suppose the reaction would be if Christians had burned Korans? I think we all know the answer to that.

The attack was instigated because the Taliban were angry the Christians had the audacity to erase Taliban-generated graffiti.

According to NCJP [National Commission for Justice and Peace] activists, the Taliban attacked the Christians because they were wiping off insulting graffiti from the walls of local homes and the local church. The Taliban had scribbled words that incited hatred and violence, like ‘Taliban are coming’, ‘Long live Taliban’ and ‘Be prepared to pay Jizia (Tax for non-Muslims) or embrace Islam’.

Only about 700 Christian families live in that area, and they deserve to live in peace, practicing their own religion, without fear of violence, death or having to pay a Jizia!