Many people celebrate Easter around the globe; however, this year’s Easter was very different for the Christian minority in Lahore, Pakistan. Christian families united to celebrate Easter in a children’s amusement park, when suddenly, their celebrations ended in tragedy as a loud explosion unleashed by suicide bombers ravaged the park. There has always been discomfort between the Christian population and a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban, the latter group being responsible for taking the lives of 72 innocent people, mainly women and children. There is absolutely no justification for the death of innocent people due to their opposing beliefs, and Lahore’s government needs to strengthen protection for these minorities.

“Picturing the crying children and families mourning their losses breaks my heart. The splinter group needs to be handled by the government,” sophomore Karla Aregnal said.

Given the extreme religious tension in the region, it’s not hard to imagine that the Pakistani Christian minority would become the targets of unfortunate discrimination for practicing their own beliefs. They are no strangers to tragedy; just last year, there had been an attack on Easter Sunday that targeted Pakistani Christians at church. Given last year’s attack, security should have been present at any large gatherings of Christians on Easter in order to lessen the likelihood of more attacks. If the government were to strengthen the protection of Pakistani Christians and other religions, harmony and understanding would slowly develop among the opposing faiths and produce less conflicts.

Some argue that government interference would only cause more chaos and lead to attacks against the government. The history between Christianity and Islam dates to ancient times, which makes many agree that the tension will never ease and no amount of government interference could create tranquility.

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It is simply horrifying that people would want to hurt so many woman and children just because they practice another religion. It’s just wrong and the victims, especially the children, did nothing to deserve the act of violence.

— sophomore Alexa Marie

Proper government intervention to crack down on terrorism is just what Lahore and other cities in Pakistan need. Even if there are some regulations and safety measures in place for religious minorities it is obvious to say that they are not being completely followed. It is the government’s responsibility to protect its citizens, and currently, Pakistan’s minorities are in great danger. Even though the history of Christianity and Islam run hundreds of years into the past, many people tend to generalize the members of each religion based on the actions of radical groups that do not truly reflect the religion’s beliefs. Ultimately, the longer the Pakistani government equivocates, the more likely it is that the Christian population of the region will be wiped away.

With the recurrent Easter attacks in Lahore, Pakistan, many innocent people had been injured and killed due to people’s inability to accept and understand others for who they are. Only time can tell what will happen next Easter if Pakistan’s government doesn’t take meaningful action.