Street politics in Pakistan is not subtle these days. With narrow escapes and restrictions for CMS partners, "Stay indoors" is not just advice being given to Benazir Bhutto. John Hayward, CMS Regional Manager, examines the violent stand-off in Pakistani politics. Boom! Shattered glass splinters the air. Your car lifts off the ground. Your head crashes into the steering wheel.
For the innocent caught up in Pakistan’s political violence, this is everyday life. This happened to a driver who works with CMS people in mission Carol and Roger Smith for Islamabad Christians Against Narcotics (ICAN).
The driver narrowly escaped death during the latest assassination attempt on Pakistan’s President Musharraf.
He was shielded from the worst of the bomb blast by a soft-drinks lorry but suffered concussion.
When Pakistani lawyers recently took to the streets to protest at Musharraf declaring a state of emergency and suspending the constitution, their verbal eloquence was met by batons splitting their heads.
Split heads concentrate the minds, apparently.
Best to keep out of the way. That’s the advice that Carol and Roger were given and followed. Their driver was repeatedly stopped and questioned and took three times longer than normal to get to work.
Even their elderly cook was body searched at least once on his way to the house.
Life in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, has been rather restricted for Carol and Roger over the past few months, as they try to carry on work with ICAN, a CMS-backed drug rehabilitation and awareness-raising project.
At the height of summer, a stand-off at the Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad saw devotees confronting the army and police in an attempt to bring about a particularly extreme concept of the Islamic state.
When negotiations between the authorities and mosque leaders got nowhere, the siege ended in a shootout. High-velocity bullets travel a long way, Carol and Roger learned, and they were warned to be more vigilant than one might think necessary.
Warnings are sent by text message from the British Embassy of situations which might trigger trouble.
Clampdown on rights activists The recent demonstrations by lawyers follow earlier ones when judges and court officials joined them on the streets in support of the country’s Chief Justice, a critic of Musharraf’s undemocratic rule.
The state of emergency was ostensibly called because of the increase in terrorist attacks across Pakistan, including the suicide bomb attack on the former prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. It killed 140 people.
In response to the attacks, General Musharraf made a deal with Islamic fighters to release 30 terrorist prisoners in exchange for captured army personnel.
He has arrested lawyers and placed senior judges under house arrest, including, this week, Benazir Bhutto.
Some of the arrested lawyers are Christians, others are known for their campaigning for human rights and support of the rights of Christians and other religious minorities.
Politicians and other political activists were placed under house arrest or taken away.
This week Musharraf announced that elections will be held in February 2008 --- a delay of a month. But no one is holding their breath, or getting the campaign posters printed.
But this offers just a possibility of the deadlock being broken.
It's complicated The factors involved in the present stand-off are complicated, even if they can be brought down to ‘military dictatorship v democracy’ or ‘ally in the war on terror v Islamist extremism’.
It suits Musharraf to paint the Islamist threat as huge, but, in truly free elections, extreme parties would likely get less than five per cent of the vote.
No side has all the moral arguments supporting it. But people have ways of gradually working their way through the issues to reach acceptable solutions – and the pressure is on from the United States and the European Union.
In the rest of the country, mission partners are being advised to mind where they go, but generally there are no problems. Most people have enough to do keeping themselves and their families fed, clothed and housed – they want a quiet life in a stable society.
During times of trouble, people find themselves closer to God, understanding and experiencing him more vividly. Carol and Roger Smith's driver testifies that his life continues to grow as he trusts God, his Redeemer in many different ways.
Prayer points PRAY that an acceptable solution is found and implemented peacefully with an urgency that enables people to live their lives and develop their futures.
PRAY for the Christian community, which can be a vulnerable target for religious extremists and those who want to grab the possessions of the weak and unrepresented.
PRAY that, as Muslim leaders the world over have reminded Christians that our faiths are about loving God and our neighbours, this message will be put into practice.
PRAY for the seven CMS people in mission currently in Pakistan and our partner organisations. Next week the Regional Manager and Personnel Officer begin a tour of the country.