Christians in a small north-western Pakistan town have received an unsigned, hand-written note warning them to shut their churches and convert to “the true Muslim faith” by 17 May.

Copies of handwritten letter with a May 17 ultimatum were reportedly delivered to two churches and several Christians' homes in Charsadda, a northwestern Pakistan town where the federal interior minister last month escaped a homicide attack that apparently killed 28 people.

"The ultimatum has further aggravated the sense of insecurity and fear among the Christians of Charsada," of Taliban style social structures imposed by militants, said Shahbaz Bhatti, the chairman of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), a major advocacy group here. Christians are "spending their day and night in fear and many are thinking to vacate the area due to threats and possible attacks," Bhatti told BosNewsLife.

Charsadda's 600 Christians are anxious but defiant.  They say that no one will convert and no one will leave town.

The letter comes as Pakistan’s Parliament rejected a proposal to soften penalties for violating the country’s infamous blasphemy laws.

As the law currently stands, anyone convicted of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad faces life imprisonment or the death penalty. The bid this week to amend the law, by a minority party MP, would have changed this to five years’ imprisonment and a fine. It was also proposed to extend the blasphemy law to other religions.

However, it was opposed by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister as un-Islamic. “Islam is our religion and such bills hurt our feelings. This is not a secular state but the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the Minister said.

The government also plans to introduce a new anti-apostasy bill, under which a man leaving Islam could be sentenced to death, while a woman would face life imprisonment.  Those convicted would have 30 days to return to Islam.  The proposed bill also provides that that children and property of those found guilty of apostasy would be given to Muslim relatives.

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