On Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 – Shadab Khokhar, National Chair of ‘International Christian AWAZ’, Canada’, led a delegation to meet the Consul General of Pakistan, Toronto. A petition was handed to the Consul General of Pakistan, Mr. Tassaduq Hussain, in which the government of Pakistan was appreciated for assuring the release of the Christians abducted from a religious gathering in Peshawar. The Federal and the Provincial governments were greatly appreciated. The members of the delegation were Kenneth Irshad, James Malik, Rev. Wilson Nazim, Rev. Carol Patrick and Shadab Khokhar. ‘The Pakistani Christians are indebted to the government of Pakistan, for getting the abducted Christians released from the militants’, but an atmosphere of terror and fear has been further enhanced for the Christians living in Pakistan and specifically in the province of NWFP’. Says’ Khokhar. The delegation drew the attention of the Consul General to incidents across the NWFP, where Christians have been intimidated, harassed and threatened to convert to Islam or leave the province. The Pakistani Christian community is worried and nervous as ‘Zero Tolerance’ towards non-Muslims is being preached from the loud speakers of the mosques across Pakistan. ‘Convert to Islam or Leave Pakistan’, is the new slogan of the fundamentalists. On June 23rd, 2008, the Tailban representative Abdul Karim, held a press conference at the Bara Press Club, near Peshawar, and stated that the kidnapping was the result of a misunderstanding and apologized on behalf of the organization’s local director, Mangal Bagh. The Consul General, Hussain was very receptive and he strongly condemned the abduction, calling it an inhumane criminal act, with the intensions to de-stabilize the government. Mr. Hussain assured the delegation that the petition and the concerns of the Pakistani Christian community living in the GTA will be passed on to the foreign office, Islamabad. On Monday, June 30th, 2008 – Samson Marcus, Rev. Wilson Nazim and Shadab Khokhar, took sweets to the Pakistan Consulate, Toronto to be distributed to the staff of the Consulate as a token of appreciation for the efforts of the Pakistan government and as a traditional way to celebrate the release of their brethren from the clutches of the Taliban. Sincere congratulations were exchanged among the Consulate staff and the Pakistani Christian delegation.