New Delhi – Marking the first death anniversary of a young man who prevented a suicide bomber from entering a crowded church in Lahore, a group of Catholics in Pakistan have called for his canonization. The first anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack on St. John’s Catholic Church in Lahore was on 15th March.
Bashir, the heroic security guard at St. John’s Church was a past pupil of the Don Bosco T
echnical Centre (DBTC) located in Youhannabad.
Two other students of the Salesian school were injured as they passed in front of the Catholic Church. “We regard these two guards as heroes who gave their lives to prevent a worse massacre,” the local Salesians said.
“What happened remains for all of us involved in education in our Christian schools in Pakistan a warning that sooner or later we could easily be the new victims of such barbarity … from Peshawar to Youhannabad,” they said.
The vicar general of the Archdiocese of Lahore has received several poetic tributes and articles for the event, which saw the unveiling of a memorial plaque for “Akash Bashir and his martyred partners.”
The tragedy was marked by lighting candles and a prayer procession on Sunday 13th March 2016.
A booklet of the tragedy was distributed both English and Urdu languages.
Cathedrals at the Vatican and in Scotland also held prayers for the Lahore martyrs.
The booklet is the first step in documenting the life of Bashir, and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan (CBCP) is expected to discuss his sainthood cause, Father Gulzar said.
The process of documentation of a holy person cannot begin until five years after death, but the pope can waive that requirement.
The attacker belonging to a Taliban splinter group detonated the bomb killing himself and Bashir who stopped the man wearing a bomb vest.
“Akash is our hero; his bravery saved more than 2,000 people inside the church. He has inspired local Christian youth and now many are joining the church’s security,” said St John’s parish priest Father Francis Gulzar.
The parish priest told that the first anniversary of the terrorist attack on two churches in the Youhanabad area of Lahore in which 17 people were killed and more than 70 people were wounded.
Akash’s father recalled that his 19-year old son had always aspired to be a great man.
“His mother once asked him to stop standing at the church’s gate. He replied that he wanted to make people safer and did not care for his own life,” the elder Bashir said.
He said that Akash and his sacrifice should be remembered.