PAKISTAN Village Christians fast after deadly church attack

SANGOWALI, Pakistan (UCAN) -- Christians in a village fasted for three days after an attack on their community that resulted in one person dead and 10 injured.
Pastor Patras Masih of the United Presbyterian church in Sangowali village, northeastern Pakistan, on March 6, called for three days of fasting from March 11-13. The attack on his church and Christian families occurred on March 2.
In his address to Christians after prayers on March 6, he asked them to offer up the situation to God, as part of their fast.
On March 2, a group of 20 Muslims threw bricks at the church and then attacked Christian families in the vicinity. One of them, Shakeela Manzoor, 40, later died of head injuries.
Local Christians registered the case with the police. A local Muslim has been arrested since. Of Sangowali's 200 households, around 40 are Christian, mostly shoemakers.
The next day, the All Pakistan Minority Alliance (APMA), a grouping of minority political parties, organized a demonstration with collaboration from three local pastors in the village. More than 1,000 people blocked the main road for an hour and shouted, "Stop attacking churches, stop bullying Christians!"
Pastor Masih said on the sidelines of the rally: "It is sad that the death occurred during Lent. Manzoor, mother of three children, was lost because the assailants did not allow Christians to take the injured to the hospital in time." He added, "We asked people to dedicate their fast for a fair solution to our calamity."
The Protestant pastor said the attack destroyed window panes and a glass cross on the church tower.
Arif Khokar, APMA youth coordinator and brother of Manzoor, said the attack aimed at harassing the Christian minority after a Christian teenager reported to the police in late February of an attempt to sodomize him.
This is reportedly the fourth church attacked in the country this year. According to Shahbaz Bhatti, APMA chairman and the Federal Minister for Minorities, it is another attempt to create religious disharmony and anarchy. "I strongly condemn the unfortunate events during Lent. I have directed police to take action against those responsible," he said.
Source: UCAN