Pakistan’s first saint? By Amy Balog

Catholic Herald : In a shithole called Pakistan. Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old volunteer security guard, sacrificed himself when he blocked a suicide bomber from entering St John’s Catholic Church in Lahore, Pakistan exactly 10 years ago, on Sunday, 15 March, 2015.

As he locked his arms around the terrorist, moments before the explosion, his final words were: “I will die but I will not let you go in.” His martyrdom saved the lives of more than a thousand faithful inside the church at the time. The Vatican declared him Servant of God in February 2022, paving the way for him to become the very first saint in the Muslim-majority country’s history.

Churches in Pakistan began recruiting volunteer security guards after two suicide bombers killed 127 and injured 250 in an attack on the Anglican All Saints Church in Peshawar in September 2013. In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Akash’s mother said that her son “kept insisting for three months that he wanted to guard the church”, adding that the young man “was ready to sacrifice his life if God gave him a chance to protect others”.

On the fateful day, Akash prevented the attacker from entering the church, forcing him to detonate his suicide vest outside. Two other people were also killed, but an even larger scale tragedy was prevented.

His mother recalled that she “was washing clothes in the house” when Akash left for church that Sunday. “He was wearing all white. Moments later I heard the firing of weapons outside. Then our street thundered with explosions… He was a simple boy who died in the path of the Lord.”

Local Christian pastor Samuel Ashan Khokhar assisted in the morgue after the bodies were transferred there. He recounted: “It was a moving moment when I saw the boy’s face. Although lifeless, I was struck by his beauty, I was deeply touched by the smile and serenity that emanated from Akash’s face. He radiated a luminous and sacred presence that recalled the first Christian martyrs.”

Within minutes of Akash’s sacrifice, a second suicide bomber targeted the nearby Protestant Christ Church. More than 10 people were killed and dozens injured in the second blast. 

Bashir’s parents stand with their parish priest, Fr Francis Gulzar, outside in front of the memorial to their son, Akash | ACN

The roots of Christianity in Pakistan go all the way back to the first century. St Thomas the Apostle first arrived in Kerala on the Indian subcontinent in 52 AD before visiting the present-day Punjab province where the majority of Pakistan’s Christians live to this day. He is believed to have been martyred in Chennai, India in 72 AD.

There are an estimated three million Christians in Pakistan today, comprising less than two percent of the population. They often live in extreme poverty and are routinely treated as second-class citizens, even though freedom of religion is ostensibly guaranteed by the constitution. Indeed, the country was originally envisioned as a haven for religious minorities where non-Hindus could escape India’s caste system.

The nation’s draconian blasphemy laws are also frequently misused against Christians, often as part of personal vendettas. For example, Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five, endured eight years on death row for blasphemy after co-workers accused her of insulting the prophet Mohammed during an argument. She was eventually acquitted in 2018.

More recently, on 16 August, 2023, the city of Jaranwala in Punjab was shaken by a wave of violence which Pakistan’s bishops described as “the worst tragedy against Christians” in the country’s history. Nearly a thousand people were forced to flee their homes after a mob torched dozens of churches and hundreds of Christian family homes. The rampage began following allegations that two Christian brothers had torn pages out of a Qur’an – a crime punishable by life imprisonment. 

Many Christian families lost all their possessions in the Jaranwala riots, and the mob also desecrated a Christian cemetery. Tragically, the police failed to respond before the situation spiralled out of control. Even though at least 5,000 people committed acts of violence that day, less than 400 have been arrested. Out of those detained, 228 were later released on bail and 77 had the charges against them dropped.

While living in fear of further violence, Pakistani Christians’ education and employment options are extremely limited. Many Christian children are forced to labour in inhumane conditions, and girls are especially vulnerable to mistreatment, including sexual assault and forced marriage.

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