Daily Times

Quetta: This year, Madeeha Gill had bought five new dresses for Christmas celebrations. She wore one of those dresses to the prayer service at the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church on December 17. “She returned home draped in a coffin,” her father Barkat Gil says, with tears in his eyes.

He recalls that he had dropped Madeeha, his wife and a daughter in law at the main gate of the church just two hours before the terrorists stormed the facility, killing nine worshippers.

His son called him and informed him about the attack, asking him to rush the church to check for the family members and assist with rescue efforts.

“When I reached the church, the security forces had cordoned off the area. I turned towards the Civil Hospital to look for my family,” he says. When he reached the hospital, Madeeha was in the operation theatre, fighting for her life. Minutes later, doctors returned from the theatre and informed him about her death.

“My daughter was seated in the front row during the prayer service at the church when the bomb exploded,” he tells Daily Times.

Gil’s wife and daughter-in-law also suffered injuries but now their condition is out of danger.

“This year the Christmas Day will be spent by our family with a heavy heart. We will receive guests not for festivities but to share our grief and sorrow,” he says.

Alexander Calvin, a senior photographer working with an Urdu newspaper, and his wife were on their way to the church to attend a children’s performance in which their two sons were participating.

“When I realised that the church was under attack, I immediately ran to the Sunday school building where children were preparing for the performance. I told them to lock the door from inside. After that I came back to the church,” Calvin recalls. “I saw such a horrible moment for the first time in my life,” he says, adding people injured in the attack were in agony and pain but he could not do much to help. “I felt helpless watching them lose the battle of life in front of my eyes,” he says.

Calvin, his wife, and two children were among the fortunate ones who survived the attack.

“The immediate action of police prevented bombers and save us from a greater tragedy. Hundreds could have died if attacker had not been stopped at the entrance,” he says.

Aliza was inside the hall when the attack took place. “We were in shock to see our festivity turned into mourning in a matter of minutes,” she says. One of her relatives was among the dead.

“We were praying when a bullet hit my relative, we were heartbroken, and our family is very worried,” she says, adding. “I find it difficult to go to bed every night since the day of the attack. The memories of the incident refuse to go away and let me sleep in peace,” she says.

“We cannot bear more carnage. The government should do something to get rid of these terrorists,” she says.

Nine people died and 57 were left wounded in the attack.

There were 400 worshippers attending the prayer service when the attack took place. Law enforcement personnel deployed at the site had responded and killed one of the attackers on the main entrance, but the other attacker rushed to the church building in the meanwhile. There, he exploded himself.

The students of the Sunday school (Christian missionary school) were also present in the church for children’s performance.

The Methodist Church is the main and the largest city church of Protestants where they hold major religious ceremonies on Christmas and Easter. This year, the church will remain closed on Christmas as repair work remains underway to undo the damage done to the building.

The church roof and walls were damaged badly. Glass windows, furniture and musical instruments all got damaged from the impact of the blast.

“Over a million rupees had recently been spent in decorating the church’s building and buying new furniture this year,” Pastor Simon Bashir tells Daily Times, “there will be no Christmas ceremonies at the church this year.”

Bashir was leading the service when the attackers struck and suffered injuries as well.

“Christmas is a time of happiness but this year we will mourn our dead,” the pastor said. “People who have survived in the blast will have to bear the loss of their loved ones killed in front of them,” he says.

“I saw the destruction of the church and I could not do anything,” he said.

The Methodist Church was built by Bethel mission in 1890. In 1935, the high-intensity earthquake in Quetta on May 31 had destroyed the church. But it was rebuilt by the Protestant community in 1959. The largest church of Catholics is located in the Quetta Cantonment.

The Methodist church is located on the city’s busiest Zarghon Road near the railway station at Imdad chowk. Zarghon Road is considered part of one of Quetta’s most secured zones because several important buildings and offices of government are situated here. These include the Balochistan Assembly building, Governor’s House, CM house and Civil Secretariat of Balochistan.

Largest concentration of city’s Christian community is found in Essa Nagri and Basti Panchayat Colony on Kasi Road. The community has recently spread out to the Nawa Killi area as well.

Hizbullah Khan is a freelance investigative Journalist.

Published in Daily Times, December 25^th 2017.