LAHORE: Funeral service for 10 victims of the suicide attacks on churches was held at the St Jones Girls High School amid tight security and even neighbouring areas of Youhanabad were sealed on Tuesday.

The coffins were brought to the school where a large number of relatives and friends of the victims were present. Gloom seemed to have prevailed over anger as the victims’ families, including children, were sobbing. Amid the mourning, people gathered there were all praise for the valour shown by those manning the entrances to the churches to stop the suicide bombers.

Three companies of paramilitary force and more than 3,000 policemen were deployed to guard the service. All markets, shops and educational institutions of Youhanabad were closed due to fear of violent protests which had resulted in the death of two people besides damage to public and private property. The paramilitary forces and police also cordoned off the graveyard where the twin blasts victims were to be laid to rest.

The service at St Jones Girls High School ground was conducted by two Roman Catholic bishops, Sabastian Frances and Joseph Arshad of Faisalabad, and Bishop Irfan Jamil of Church of Pakistan.

Naveed Yousaf told Dawn people were still fear-stricken after the alleged attack by a religious group on Monday. He said the families who had come to attend the funeral services started leaving soon after the ceremony concluded. He said that priests, heading different churches, had appealed to the people to remain calm and observe the mourning day without launching any protest and open the markets after 4pm. The security personnel had blocked all the roads leading to the area and no one was permitted to leave the boundaries of the Youhanabad, he said.

It was observed that after the arrival of paramilitary forces on Monday night the Ferozepur Road was opened to all types of traffic and from Tuesday morning metro bus service also resumed its operations. The markets adjacent to Youhanabad opened.

Chaudhry Babar, a shopkeeper, said that he had come to the area to judge the situation after violent protests. People seemed to be terrified after the twin suicide attacks on the churches and dared not open their businesses, he said. He hoped that on Wednesday (today) a majority of the shops would open.

The suicide blasts had killed 17 people and injured more than 70 on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2015

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