Terrorists struck two churches in a Christian locality namely Yuhana-abad in Lahore on Sunday, killing 16 and injuring 75. The 2000 worshipers inside the buildings were saved by private security guards who prevented the Deobandi terrorists from entering the premises. The injured were taken to hospitals by ambulances of a private charity called Edhi Foundation and the security of the hospital was taken over by Christian youth. Two suspects were caught, lynched and the dead bodies set on fire by the angry mob. The protesters also damaged substantial public and private property and thwarted any effort by the police to intervene. Demonstrations were held all over the country from Peshawar to Karachi. Finally paramilitary had to be called in which took control of Yuhana-abad Lahore.

The significant thing this time is the overly-aggressive response and mob justice of the Christian community which shows that people have completely lost faith in the state as giving them protection, enforcing rule of law, or even having the will and power to neutralize terrorists. And the fact remains that in today’s Pakistan Muslims are as insecure as members of any minority community. A friend told me that fewer and fewer people are now going to mosques for prayers due to fear of a terrorist attack.

This paints a very bleak picture of our future. We are perhaps rapidly moving towards anarchy. And that would be the logical consequence in a country where puppet rulers can only issue hollow statements, the actual rulers are only interested in their own safety while the common man is left at the mercy of the terrorist.

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