Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old volunteer security guard, gave his life exactly ten years ago, on Sunday, March 15, 2015, when he stopped a suicide bomber from entering St. John’s Catholic Church in Lahore, Pakistan. As he restrained the attacker in a firm hold just before the explosion, his final words were: “I will die but I will not let you go in.”
His bravery prevented what could have been a mass tragedy, saving the lives of over a thousand worshippers inside the church at the time. In recognition of his sacrifice, the Vatican declared him Servant of God in February 2022, marking the first step toward sainthood—potentially making him Pakistan’s first saint in history.
Following a devastating terrorist attack on the Anglican All Saints Church in Peshawar in September 2013, which claimed 127 lives and left 250 injured, Pakistani churches began recruiting volunteer security personnel. Akash was determined to serve, his mother recalled in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Catholic charity. She shared that her son had insisted for three months that he wanted to protect the church, saying he was “ready to sacrifice his life if God gave him the chance to protect others.”
On the day of the attack, Akash successfully blocked the suicide bomber from entering the church, forcing the assailant to detonate his vest outside. Although two others were killed in the blast, the loss of life could have been far greater had the terrorist reached the congregation inside.
His mother vividly remembers the events of that day. “I was washing clothes in the house,” she recounted, when Akash, dressed in white, left for church. “Moments later, I heard gunfire outside. Then, explosions shook our street… He was a simple boy who died in the path of the Lord.”
Pastor Samuel Ashan Khokharassisted in the morgue where the bodies were taken after the attack. He was deeply moved by what he saw. “When I looked at Akash’s face, although lifeless, there was an undeniable beauty. His smile and serenity touched me profoundly. He radiated a luminous, sacred presence, reminiscent of the first Christian martyrs,” he said.
Just minutes after Akash’s selfless act, a second suicide bomber targeted the nearby Christ Church, a Protestant place of worship. That blast resulted in more than 10 deaths and injured dozens of others.
Christianity’s Deep Roots in Pakistan
Christianity has had a presence in the region for nearly two millennia. St. Thomas the Apostle is believed to have arrived in Kerala in 52 AD before traveling north to what is now Pakistan’s Punjab province, where most of the country’s Christians live today. He was later martyred in Chennai, India, in 72 AD.
Today, Pakistan’s Christian population is estimated at three million, making up less than two percent of the total population. Despite constitutional promises of religious freedom, Christians often face systemic discrimination, economic hardships, and social marginalization. Pakistan was originally envisioned as a refuge for religious minorities fleeing India’s caste system, yet today, many Christians are treated as second-class citizens.
Persecution and Violence Against Christians
Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws are frequently misused against Christians, often as a tool for settling personal disputes. A prominent example is Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five, who was sentenced to death in 2010 after being accused of blasphemy by co-workers. She spent eight years on death row before being acquitted in 2018, but only after global outcry.
More recently, on August 16, 2023, an outbreak of religious violence rocked the city of Jaranwala in Punjab. Pakistan’s Catholic bishops described it as the worst tragedy against Christians in the country’s history. Allegations that two Christian brothers had desecrated a Qur’an—an offense punishable by life imprisonment—sparked a mob attack.
Nearly a thousand Christians were forced to flee, as rioters torched dozens of churches and hundreds of Christian homes. Families lost all their belongings, and even Christian cemeteries were desecrated. Despite the scale of the violence, the police failed to intervene in time to prevent the destruction.
Authorities arrested fewer than 400 people, despite at least 5,000 individuals being involved in the attacks. Many of those detained were later released—228 were granted bail, while 77 had their charges dropped altogether.
Christian Women and Children at Risk
In addition to targeted violence, Pakistan’s Christian minority faces severe educational and employment discrimination. Many Christian children are pushed into dangerous, low-paying jobs, while Christian women and girls are particularly vulnerable to forced conversions and marriages.
One shocking case was that of Maira Shahbaz, a 14-year-old Catholic girl from Faisalabad, who was abducted in April 2020 by three armed men. She was drugged, repeatedly raped, and blackmailed with a video of her assault before being forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her captors.
Despite CCTV footage proving her kidnapping and her mother presenting official documents confirming her age, the Lahore High Court ruled against her family, claiming she was of legal age for marriage. Maira eventually managed to escape but continues to live in hiding with her family due to death threats from extremists accusing her of apostasy—a crime punishable by death.
This is not an isolated incident. Every year, up to 1,000 girls from religious minority backgrounds suffer a similar fate, many of them as young as 12 or 13 years old.
ACN’s Support for Pakistani Christians
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been actively involved in supporting Christian communities in Pakistan, providing:
- Scholarships and pastoral programs for underprivileged Christian children
- Mass stipends and seminary training for priests
- Emergency relief following anti-Christian attacks
- Funding for the construction of churches
The organization also advocates internationally for the rights of persecuted Christians in Pakistan and around the world, ensuring their voices are heard.
The Enduring Legacy of Akash Bashir
As Pakistan marks the tenth anniversary of Akash Bashir’s martyrdom, his story stands as a powerful reminder of the harsh reality faced by many Christians worldwide. He is a symbol of unwavering faith, courage, and selflessness in the face of immense danger.
Today, Christians remain the most persecuted religious group globally, yet they continue to persevere despite oppression and violence. Akash’s sacrifice challenges people everywhere to reflect on the price of faith and the strength of those who risk their lives simply to worship freely.
His journey toward sainthood, now officially recognized by the Vatican, offers a glimmer of hope and recognition for persecuted Christians in Pakistan and beyond.