ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: Shemon Masih on Sunday went to the Our Lady of Fatima Church in Sector F-8/4 and was surprised to see the enhanced security arrangements there.

Along the officials of the church, four armed guards were checking every person entering the building. Soon, he came to know that the new guards were former armymen and had been deputed in the church by the Pakistan Ex-Servicemen Association (PESA).

This is not the only church being guarded by the former army officials.

In Islamabad, PESA also arranged security for the Catholic Cathedral and St. Thomas Church.

In Rawalpindi, the association deployed security guards at the St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Christ Church and St. John Church.

PESA said it had also arranged bulletproof CIT (cash-in-transit) armoured vehicles to the churches for the security of their priests.

On September 22, two suicide bombers struck the All Saints Church in Peshawar leaving 80 worshippers dead and over 150 others injured. The incident created an embarrassment for Pakistan all over the world as it was even discussed during the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

After the Peshawar church attacks, PESA on September 27 announced its decision to provide security to the churches all over the country. It contacted the leadership of the Christians community to know about the churches which they considered were under threat.

Shemon Masih appreciated the decision of PESA and said the Christian community believed that a majority of the Muslims wanted interfaith harmony in the country.

Brigadier (retired) Syed Masoodul Hasan, the PESA coordinator, told Dawn that in collaboration with private security companies 24 CIT armoured vehicles and 144 security guards had been arranged and deputed in 26 churches in different cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Mardan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Karachi.

“A large number of former army officials are working with private security companies so we contacted them with a request to depute some of the guards in churches during Sunday services.” He said additional security would also be provided if the church authorities asked for it.

He said so far three companies have offered free of cost security guards to PESA for deployment in the churches.

“On Sunday, I received a number of calls from former army officers who want to donate money for the security of the churches. So we are considering paying the security companies for the services,” he said.

When asked if PESA would also provide security guards to Hindus and Sikhs, he said there was no direct threat to these two communities.

“Yes, we will take steps in future if we feel there is a need to protect them,” he added.

Father Rehmat Hakim of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Sector F-8/4 told Dawn that on Friday Brigadier (retired) Simon Sharaf, who is also the principal of the Christian College, Rawalpindi, contacted him and offered the services of security officials for the church.

“I told him that we have security concerns and on Sunday morning four armed ex-armymen reached the church and remained there till the evening,” he said.

“They handled the security very smartly and I have decided to request PESA to send the guards every Sunday. I hope that after the security arrangements we will not face any untoward incident in the federal capital,” he said.

Brigadier (retired) Mehmood, the executive vice-president of PESA, said the decision to provide security to the churches had been taken to show that irrespective of their religious affiliations people of Pakistan were equal citizens of the country.

He said an attack on a church or any other worship place was a gross violation of the teachings of Islam.

When contacted, Rufin Anthony, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, said security guards had been deployed by PESA around the churches across the country.