200 Muslims surround a church and have the cross removed

Una cross of a Christian church it was removed under the cries of 200 Muslims who surrounded it. It happened in Pakistan, in the province of Indian Punjab . He tells it InfoChretienne.com.

People screamed: “Tear it down! Frighten the Christians! ”.

Rafaqat Yaqoob he is the pastor of that community. He couldn't do anything. He told UCA News that the neighbors had not opposed the construction of that church: “We prayed in the houses. The neighbors were informed of the construction of the house of God. There was no opposition ”.

On 29 August, while Christians had gathered for worship, a crowd of Muslims surrounded the church: “I asked the guide of the madrasa to discuss it later in the afternoon but they began to prevent families from entering the building. […] The deputy commissioner accused us of turning a house into a church overnight. Local Christians are now being targeted ”.

That church was built by some of its members, in total 80, workers in the brick factories: it was built on land, near their houses. The Punjab Minister for Human and Minority Rights Ejaz Alam Augustine spoke of "illegal construction".

However, Sajid Christopher, chief executive of the Human Friends Organization, told Aid to the Church in Need of his fears about the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan. He fears further attacks.

“When the Taliban were in power before - said Sajid Christpher - there were many terrorist attacks in Pakistan. There were terrorist organizations attacking churches and other Christian institutions. They have clearly become targets. Now that the Taliban are back, the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, Pakistani Taliban movement, ed) and other Islamist groups will be strengthened and therefore there could be attacks ”.