World | Pakistan
Christians flee northwestern area after 'threats'
Several families of Christians have fled their homes in northwestern Pakistan after their minority community received threatening letters to shut churches and convert to Islam within 10 days, a rights activist said yesterday.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 May 12, 2007
Islamabad: Several families of Christians have fled their homes in northwestern Pakistan after their minority community received threatening letters to shut churches and convert to Islam within 10 days, a rights activist said yesterday.
The unsigned letters were distributed this week in the town of Charsadda, where Pakistan's interior minister last month escaped a suicide attack that killed 28 people.
Shahbaz Bhatti, head of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, claimed militants trying to impose Taliban-style social strictures were responsible for the letters.
He said several families among the 500 or so Christians in the town had already migrated to other places and others are contemplating the same.
He appealed President Pervez Musharraf to "take strong and immediate measures for the safety of our people". "These extremists are asking us to change our religion. We will not do it, even if we have to die," Bhatti told The Associated Press.
Police said on Thursday they had stepped up security at churches in Charsadda. Copies of the handwritten letter, sent to churches and homes, did not say what consequences the Christians might face if they did not comply with the ultimatum, which expires on May 17.
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