ISLAMABAD, 22 May 2007 (IRIN) - Christians living in the town of Charsadda, in Pakistan's conservative North West Frontier Province (NWFP) along the border with Afghanistan, have renewed calls for greater security after a second ultimatum for them to convert to Islam or be killed.

"We as members of the Christian community are very much concerned about our safety and security," Shambaz Bhatti, president of the All-Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), a local advocacy group for religious freedom and other human rights in Pakistan, told IRIN in the capital, Islamabad, on Monday.

"Islamic extremism is on the rise in Pakistan," Bhatti said.

His comments come five days after a second warning issued in Charsadda - this time on a wall opposite one of the two churches in the town - demanding that the community's 500 Christian residents convert to Islam within 10 days or face death.

"This new message has increased our sense of insecurity and we need protection," Bhatti said.

An earlier 10-day deadline set in an unsigned letter delivered to the home of Michael John, the head of Pakistan's Catholic church in the town, as well as several other families, passed without incident.

"We are in great danger and need protection," John, who is also a member of parliament, reportedly said at the time.

"Taliban Detonation Department"

According to Bhatti, the fact that the latest warning was signed by a group describing itself as the "Taliban Detonation Department" was particularly disturbing.

"They are getting bolder," he said, noting the latest letter warned residents that explosive devises would be used against them if they did not comply.

And while conceding that the government had now beefed up security outside the town's two churches, he said this was not sufficient.

"You can't just protect the buildings. The residents themselves are now scared."

He called on President Pervez Musharraf to issue a public statement denouncing these types of ultimatums and making it clear that the Christian minority was under his government's protection.

Political party blamed

APMA places blame for the current situation on the extremist policies of the country's Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) political party, formed after Pakistan became part of the "Global War on Terror", and the party governing NWFP.

"These were the people that opposed the women's protection bill, as well as the same people who presented bills calling for the death sentence for anyone found guilty of converting to religions other than Islam," Bhatti said.

Meanwhile, Islamic radicals in NWFP are continuing a sustained campaign to prevent "anti-Islamic" activities in the area. They want a ban on western music and films, as well as the trimming of men's beards.

Christianity was mainly brought to what today is Pakistan by the British rulers of India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Many Christians living in Pakistan migrated from India before partition. Christians in Punjab and Sindh after 1945 were active supporters of the Muslim League of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, according to historians.

Pakistan's two million plus Christian community has long complained of discrimination, including in terms of employment opportunities, and has often found itself on the receiving end of threats, particularly after 9/11, when the Musharraf government aligned itself with Washington in its war against "terror".

ds/at/ar/cb

IRIN news