This was something few imagined. The 10th of Muharram in 2013 will remembered as a sad day for Pindites. We had to stay at home for three days. It was the only Sunday since 1995, since we moved to this city, that we could not go to church because of the curfew. Precious lives were lost, worship places burnt and fear gripped the twin cities. Back in 1971 as a child I used to go with my father to watch Shia mourners on the street of Abbottabad. No big deal at time. But over the years, much has changed. The divide between Shia and Sunni communities seems growing, at the surface at least if not inside deeply. It is not an easy situation for religious leaders and politicians. Christianity has gone through the similar traumatic experiences since its inception in early days and even after. Heretics and dissenters and those who differed in religious views and practices were subjected to a harsh treatment. Not long ago, Anabaptists were killed mercilessly because they held a different view on the ritual of baptism. John Bunyan was imprisoned because he preached without permission. He used this time of imprisonment for writing his world famous book, ” Pilgrims Progress”. People with positive attitude can bring something good even in adverse circumstances. His book is known to be read widely on a scale second to the world best seller book, “Bible”. William Tyndale was burnt at stake because he translated Bible into the English language, the vernacular. It took several decades of concerted efforts to reconcile and accept each other. Politically, a recent example is the reconciliation between Black and White communities in South Africa. I attended a worship service in Cape Town, where these two communities were together; enemies of yesterday were singing songs of worship together and spending their energies for nation building. The main proponent for peace, Nelson Mandela and Bishop Desmond Toto, both are living today to witness the fruit, in their life time. Thus it is very possible for opposing religious communities and political opponents to find peace through a process of reconciliation.

What we need in our country is not to prove who is right and who is wrong in his views about Sunni and Shia school of thought. We need to accept each other as people who hold different views about religious beliefs. Much blood has been shed. Will there be a day when Shia can perform their religious rites with out the fear of attack? The mutual respect is the key. Forgiveness is a powerful tool for reconciliation, but few have used it. Perhaps few have experienced it. It is a great feeling if one has been forgiven by someone or if someone has forgiven his enemy. There is no alternative for forgiveness. All faiths in Pakistan have the equal right to worship and we should be proud of our country and it’s laws. Even if we disagree with the policies of government or of belief of certain community, we cannot shun from the obligation towards the fellow citizens. If we helped just one person in need regardless of his political and religious beliefs, things will start getting better. I will add a quote from great martyr of Christianity. His marble statue has been erected in the Westminster Abby for posterity.

“ In the first place [the church] can ask the state whether its actions are legitimate and in accordance with its character as state, i.e., it can throw the state back on its responsibilities. Secondly, It can aid the victims of state action. The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community (!). The third possibility is not to just bandage the victims under the wheel, but to put a spoke in the wheel itself”– Dietrich Bonheoffer.

Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) enunciated fine statues in his famous charter of privileges to Christians, written in his letter to the Monks of the monastery of St. Catherine, (located in the desert of Sinai) in 628 CE. Can we expect similar efforts as described above for suffering and week communities in Pakistan?