Seek Justice. Encourage the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.  (Isaiah 1:17)

On Easter Sunday 74 people were killed and over 300 injured in a suicide bomb attack in a Lahore park. The majority of the victims were women and children. But even though the world’s attention has been fixed on Pakistan in recent days, our partners on the ground say that, while the people of Pakistan have been united in their grief, the situation in the country is much worse than the media is showing.

Last week our partners met a 12-year-old girl who doesn’t yet know that both her parents were killed in the attack, and one man who has tragically, lost three of his children. 

“We are not only hurt and grieving but also very angry over the loss of so many innocent lives. Just one year on from the Youhanabad attacks, this has hit at the heart of our nation. We are again compelled to pick up body parts of our loved ones and prepare for mass burials.”  michelle chaudhry, csw partner in pakistan

According to latest reports from our partners, while relations between Muslims and non-Muslims are quite friendly, many people in Pakistan have become afraid to venture out in public places, with shopping areas and roads becoming less busy. But while the streets are empty, hospitals have been filled beyond their capacity. There is an urgent need for medical care, supplies and shelter, while the long-term psychological effects of the attack on survivors and their families have yet to be addressed. 

CSW is working through partners meeting survivors and their families, as well as working with the international media to give our unique analysis on the situation. We have worked for religious minorities in Pakistan for a long time, and we know that this attack did not happen in a vacuum. Ever-increasing violence against religious minorities has been a fact of life in Pakistan for many years.  CSW’s partner Michelle Chaudhry commented, “The federal and provincial governments have to assert their authority to work jointly on a strategy to protect religious minorities and to stop the brutal violence committed by terrorists.”

Please join with us in praying for Pakistan:

• For complete healing and rehabilitation for the survivors of the Lahore attacks and their families;
  
• That God would silence extreme voices that do not represent the will of the majority in Pakistan;
  
• That God would watch over the families that have been devastated by this violence especially where more than one family member has lost their life and  children have become orphans;
  
• For an end to the violence that has been targeting religious minorities in Pakistan;
  
• That Pakistan’s government would show greater commitment to address the underlying causes of religiously-motivated violence, like hate speech, reforms to biased curricula and review of discriminatory legislation.