Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – It is dangerous to say that Christ is the son of God because this declaration “hurts the feelings of many Pakistani Muslims” who “do not want to hear such things, even in Christian Churches”. This warning was delivered by some residents of Punjab to local Christian congregations who “should immediately stop their prayers to the supposed son of God”.

It was Charles Hamilton, a Christian from Faisalabad, who told AsiaNews about this: “We believe in Jesus, son of God. How can we renounce this belief? What’s more, if we bow to this request, not only will we go against our religious values, we will pave the way for more conditions to be imposed on us, which would destroy us.”

Anti-Christian violence is on the rise in Pakistan: recently, a mob of about 40 Muslims attacked Christians when they were preparing for an evangelistic meeting organized by the Salvation Army Church. Despite police reassurances, the perpetrators (who injured seven people who had come for the meeting) have not been brought to book for the violence.

 All the same, there are also positive aspects in the relationship between the two communities. Faizur Rehman, one of the leaders of the Islamic community, apologized for the incidents targeting Christians. In a written document, Rehman said: “There will be no more denominational incidents and we apologise for what happened. Christians should feel secure in their faith.”