Lahore: a city in need of prayers

Grieving Christians respond to Easter terror attack with faith.

Catholic nuns partake in a vigil for the victims of the terrorist bomb attack that killed over 70 people at a recreational park in Lahore on Easter evening. (Photo by ucanews.com)

Lahore:  Safina John, 42, was injured in her left leg by the suicide bomb attack that hit Lahore's crowded Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park on Easter evening.

Lying on a bed in Shaikh Zayed Hospital, the widower spoke of what occurred when the terrorist blew himself up.

"I was standing near the children's rides with my three sisters and their children when the huge explosion rocked the park. Everybody fell down," John told ucanews.com.

"Doctors say my bone is badly injured and I won't be able to walk for some time," she said. "But we are being provided free medicine and I thank God for a new life."

Two of her sister's children were also hospitalized from the attack and her elder sister remains in a critical condition after undergoing surgery to remove the shrapnel. Doctors said she needs further surgery.

The two sisters are survivors of an attack that left at least 72 people dead, of whom mostly were women and children.

The park was packed with Christians celebrating the Easter holiday.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Christians were the main target. Despite this, the majority of the victims are reported to be Muslims.

In March last year, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide bombers carried out attacks on two churches in the city's Youhanabad area, killing at least 15 people and wounding more than 70.

Bishops meet bomb victims

Catholic and Protestant Bishops visited the Lahore bomb blast victims at hospitals and offered funeral services on Easter Monday.

Anglican bishops Irfan Jamil of Lahore and Bishop Samuel Azariah of Raiwind visited victims in two hospitals.

"Precious lives have been lost on a day of joy. This is a loss for Pakistan," Bishop Jamil told ucanews.com.

"We need to defend ourselves as the war on terror goes on. The government is trying to clamp down on extremists but it needs to increase security measures."

Bishop Jamil also expressed his concern at the indefinite closure of public parks in provincial capital by the government.

"Our people are poor and cannot afford to travel abroad for leisure. Parks are the only place where they can relax with families and now they are stuck in their homes," he added.

"The whole country is on alert after the disaster … We have to live with caution in our country."

A day after the attack dozens of priests and nuns joined a protest march and vigil at the site of the attack. Some wore black armbands while others placed flowers near the children's rides where the bomb exploded.

Prayers for the deceased and their families were also made in all of the city's churches.

Father Renato Zecchin, an Australian Jesuit who is the headmaster of two Catholic schools in the city, was at the park a month ago with some of his students for a sports morning.

Not far from the park, Father Zecchin held a Mass at the school on Easter Monday for the victims of the attack.

"We also prayed for those who died in Brussels and Paris," Father Zecchin said in reference to other cities recently hit by terrorist attacks.

Source: UCAN