KARACHI (UCAN): St. Joseph Church, which served more than 300 Christian families in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi was demolished on August 24 despite resistance from a civil society group and warnings from UN human rights experts. Parishioners cried when the cross and tabernacle were removed ahead of the building’s demolition.
“It was a painful experience. They described it as worse than losing their homes,” Father Benjamin Shehzad, a former parish priest.
The Save Karachi Movement said the anti-encroachment squad of the Sindh provincial government tore down the building, despite protests from the Christian community. Government officials insisted that it was part of a larger demolition plan to prevent flooding.
The Save Karachi Movement, a group of lawyers, human rights defenders, journalists and minority activists, confirmed the demolition on its Twitter account.
“This is how we treat our minorities. This is how we destroy what they built, their church … Watch and be ashamed, Pakistan! Government of Sindh, you will have to pay,” said Abira Ashfaq, a member of the Save Karachi Movement, while sharing a video of the demolition.
Mustafa Mehran, a lawyer, said that two nearby churches had already been demolished and this was the last one remaining for the huge Christian population.
Local officials claimed the demolition was launched after a court order to remove encroachments near two narrow streams passing through Karachi, locally known as the Gujjar nullah and the Orangi nullah, in the wake of the 2019 flash floods. The National Disaster Management Authority, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and the Sindh government plan to construct a wide road alongside both banks of the two channels.
The anti-encroachment action along Gujjar nullah, a wastewater stream, may affect up to 12,000 homes housing 96,000 people, according to United Nations experts. According to available data, more than 66,500 people have already been affected, with 4,900 houses demolished in Gujjar nullah and 1,700 in Orangi nullah.
‘The annual flooding was a threat which needed a solution [but the] government should have compensated the people before levelling their settlements. Most of them lived in properties that had been given a lease of 99 years by the former city district government under the Sindh Katchi Abadis Act 1987. Who will take action against this mafia?’
Father Benjamin Shehzad
Father Shehzad aid that two more churches have been warned by the authorities.
“The annual flooding was a threat which needed a solution [but the] government should have compensated the people before levelling their settlements. Most of them lived in properties that had been given a lease of 99 years by the former city district government under the Sindh Katchi Abadis Act 1987. Who will take action against this mafia?” he asked.
In June, UN human rights experts had called on Pakistan to stop the eviction of close to 100,000 people living alongside the waterways.
The demolition of the church sparked nationwide outrage and drew condemnation from all seven Catholic dioceses in Pakistan.
“It was totally wrong. They should have identified an area for replacement before commencing with the bulldozers. The poor are suffering the most. Mosques and churches have been spared in our diocese during similar operations,” Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, said.
Father Shehzad Anwar, of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lora Lai, Balochistan province, urged authorities to respect minority places of worship.
“We live in a Muslim society where demolition of mosques is considered a major sin. Relocated mosques are built bigger and better. Minority places of worship cannot be wiped out,” he said.
Church leaders in Punjab province, home to three dioceses, expressed similar concerns.
Father Francis Gulzar, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Lahore, also condemned the operation. “The house of God should have been spared like mosques,” he said.
According to a statement by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the anti-encroachment drive by city authorities was carried out “without adequate consultation with the affected residents, no relocation plan, and disparate and insufficient compensation for the displaced.”
The statement said, “The legal basis for this mass displacement and the remedies available to those who are affected are unclear. What is clear is the horrid effect on the displaced population, putting many poor families out on the street in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The UN experts have urged Pakistan, which is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, to ensure that its policies and practices are in full compliance with international human rights standards governing relocation, evictions and internal displacement.
