Dear Mr. Bhatti,

I have been reading the letter written at your web.site both by Christians and Muslims, after the tragic incident of Bahawalpur, where 18 Christians and one Muslim lost their lives at the hands of terrorism. First of all I would like to thank those Muslims, who have written letters of condolence and sympathy to their Christian countrymen, we deeply appreciate your love and concern for the 10 million Pakistani Christians. I believe that it is need of the time that we all Pakistanis, both Muslims and Christians, should join hands to struggle together against those who are working to destabilise our beloved country. Pakistan belongs to all Pakistanis, and no one has the right to kill other Pakistanis in the name of religion or sect.

The particular incident of Bahawalpur needs to be seen in the context of the events that had already been happening for a while in that region of southern Punjab, and particularly the city of Bahawalpur. Bahawalpur is the home town of Moulana Masood Azhar, who is the founder and chief of a terrorist organisation called Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is involved in acts of terrorism in Indian held Kashmir and Afghanistan in the name of Jihad. Molana Azhar is a close ally of Osama bin Laden, and was released from the Indian prison in exchange of an Indian plane, that was highjacked by terrorists, and taken to Afghanistan about two years ago. Jaish-e-Mohammad is also one of the organisations, which are banned recently by the USA and UK, on charges of being terrorist organisations. The members of Jaish-e-Mohammad are well trained in Guerrilla warfare, and are armed with sophisticated firearms. The local churches in Bahawalpur had been receiving threats from the extremists a few days before the tragic incident, which involved writing graffiti on the walls of the local churches too. These threats were conveyed to the local police, which didn't take them seriously, because no one was expecting the unthinkable.

Secondly this tragic incident comes just a few days after the killing of some high profile Harkat-ul-Mijahideen leaders in Kabul, as result of the US bombing. There is a strong possibility of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen involvement in the aparent revenge attack on the Church in Bahawalpur. Though the style of Ambush is very similar to Sipah-e-Sihabah, who been involved in similar attacks on Shia mosques over the years. During this investigation, the Government should also keep in mind Senator Sami-ul-Haq's statement, that two Christians will be killed for every Muslim killed in Afghanistan. Mr. Haq is the leader of the radical Islamic organisation called "Jamiate Ulma-e-Islam", and has been involved in leadeing violent demonstration against the Government for its support of US action.

The thing that surprises me is that these Jihadis are very keen on discussing issues in the language of guns, and pray for an opportunity to fight in the name of Allah. Now since Allah has provided them with an excellent opportunity for participating in this holy aspect of Islamic teaching, then why not go to Afghanistan and perform their religious obligations. Why they are wasting their bullets on Pakistani Christians, who aren't going to hit back, because this is not part of their religious teachings. If they think that by killing Christians in Pakistan, they are going to hurt America, then the only word that will come to mind is IDIOTS. Because there is no link between us and the Americans, and US doesn't give us to eat, Pakistani Christians work very hark to earn their own living by themselves. It is Pakistani Muslims like Amel Kansi, who had been working for the CIA, and no Pakistani Christian has ever sold his allegiance to a foreign country. All the paid Indian agents working for RAW so far have also been Muslims (Alhamdullilah), and no Christian has ever sold his commitment to an enemy country.

In Pakistan we have a culture of not accepting the responsibility for our evil actions, and we always put our blame on someone else. Anything happens, it is quickly blamed on India, Israel & USA. Even our national level leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto have called each other as Indian agents. If we expect the whole world to believe in our baseless conspiracy theories, then we just live in a fool's paradise. A number of Muslim leaders, particularly the religious leaders in Pakistan are very quick to point finger at India for the Bahawalpur atrocity as well.

I am not arguing for India, but commonsense says that India can't possibly be involved everything done in our country. My question is, that are Sipah-e-Sihabah, Sipah-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Indian organisations, which are involved in the killings of hundreds of innocent Pakistani Muslims in the name of Islam. But when something happens against Christians, then suddenly we start reciting the name of Almighty India, who is control of everything else in the land of the pure. Ironical! Isn't it???

I think that it is just about the time for the Government to ban these terrorist organisations, who are involved in gross acts of terrorism in the name of Jihad within and outside Pakistan. The hands of these groups have already been red with the blood of innocent Pakistani Muslims in the name of sectarianism; now the Pakistani Christians are just their fresh and latest victims. If we want peace and harmony in our beloved homeland, where both Muslims and Christians can live and work together to make Pakistan one of the greatest nations in the world, then it is just the right moment to curb the evil of religious hatred and extremism in Pakistan, to make it really a land of the pure.

Asif