Karachi – Pakistan (Thursday, 05-28-2015, Gaudium Press) Parvez Henry Gill, a Christian Pakistani businessman has decided to build a 140-foot Cross which is being called by the media as the “bulletproof Cross”. The concrete cross has been under construction for two years.
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With workers still climbing all over the scaffolding behind him, Gill, who is 58 years old, told CBS News the cross was to be “a sign of God which leads people to believe that God is everywhere,” and that there is “no reason to be scared.”
“God will protect you. Stay in your country. Don’t be afraid,” added Gill. “I said, ‘I am going to build a big cross, higher than any in the world, in a Muslim country,’ ” said Gill. “It will be a symbol of God, and everybody who sees this will be worry-free.”
And Christians in Pakistan do have legitimate cause for concern. Members of the overwhelming Muslim majority in Karachi warned that the cross could provoke more violence by Islamic militants in a city where they are known to operate.
Protests erupted in March after two bombs planted near churches in Pakistan’s central city of Lahore left at least 14 people dead and scores more injured. Christian churches had been attacked before.
“The Cross itself is not just a symbol,” argued Saeed Khan, a Karachi shopkeeper who stood with other spectators watching work on the cross continue. “It represents a provocation that will cause more bloodshed. Don’t we have enough problems already?”
The cross has gone up immediately next to Karachi’s Gora Qabristan, one of the oldest Christian cemeteries in the city.
Even within Karachi’s Christian community, whose ancestors settled here during British colonial rule, there were mixed views of the prject.
Christian visitors to the cemetery unanimously defended Gill’s — or any other Christian’s — right to build a cross in their city, but some worried the project could become a target for Islamic militants. “. (GPE/EPC)
With information from CBS News and The Washington Post
