Pakistani threat: ‘Become Muslim or die’

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Christians and Hindus in northern Pakistan have received dozens of letters threatening them with death if they refuse to become Muslims, church sources and a police official said. Police continued to provide security around churches and temples even as Christians received new deadlines for converting to Islam.

Though the original Aug. 10 deadline for conversion has passed, Peshawar’s minorities continue to live in fear, canceling church activities and skipping services, a Catholic priest said. A spokesman for the Church of Pakistan said some of the threatening letters had been thrown into the courtyards of Christian and Hindu homes Aug. 7 in Peshawar’s Kohati, Interior City and Cantonment districts. Peshawar Catholic priest Yousaf Amanat said he had received a letter by mail telling him to convert to Islam by Aug. 14. “I was away from the parish, and when I came [home later], the post was on my desk,” Amanat said. “It was written that if we don’t become Muslim we will be killed.”