In Karachi, Christians are offering special prayers to mark the first anniversary of the deadly suicide attack of the All Saints Church in the city of Peshawar.
A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up amid hundreds of worshippers outside a historic church last year.
Over 80 worshippers were killed and more than 100 wounded in the attack.
Shazia Naeem lost her three extended family members.
“Jesus Christ has not taught his followers to ever take revenge. He has taught us to forgive. Although we’re facing difficult times but as Christians we should not take avenge and forgive.”
The Taliban has been fighting the Pakistani government since 2001.
In hundreds of terrorist attacks, more than 40 thousand Pakistanis have lost their lives.
Shazia Naeem says she’s ready to forgive the murderers.
“We are ready to forgive the Taliban, if they stop shedding blood of the innocent people anymore. We’ve heard that the government is engaged in dialogue with the Taliban. But, the negotiations must be meaningful and yield fruits.”
But after a decade of fighting, the Pakistani government initiated talks with the Taliban to bring peace.
Last month, the government stopped military operations against the Taliban – and in return, the Taliban gave a month of ceasefire, that expired on April the 10th.
Moulana Samiul Haq is a religious scholar and politician who brokered talks with the Taliban in the past.
“The government should make efforts to ensure that this process is kept sustainable in the future. And meet the demands of the Taliban to release their innocent children, women and aged persons, end their extrajudicial killings declare some areas as ‘peace zone’ to push dialogue forward in secure environment.”
But many families disagree. “No dialogue should be held with the Taliban. They are not only the enemy of the Shias, Sunnis or Christians. They’re the enemy of the country!”
Matthew Robert, not his real name, has lost many friends and families in a deadly bomb blast in Karachi in March last year.
He says it’s the families who should be allowed to punish the terrorists.
“It’s not the government, who can pardon, but the legal heirs of the victims are the only party to pardon or not the killers. This is what Islamic Shariah says, but the legal heirs are against this dialogue. We want them to be punished as our relatives were killed in painful manner.”
But sociologist Dr Fateh Muhammad Burfat says the government should act according to the law. “The government is failing to ensure peace and the Taliban failing in their fight. The government may make efforts to achieve peace, but those involved in heinous crimes must be presented before the courts and let the court decide their fate.”
Mukhtaran Bibi lost her husband in a deadly bomb blast… the only breadwinner for the family of seven.
She says peace talks will not make any difference…
“Our family has been ruined. Those who died could never come back. They won’t return even after the government punishes the murderers. God may guide those misguided people but it cannot compensate for our losses.”
