The New Apostolic church in Batth village, 80 km away from Lahore on the Multan road, was set on fire after a New Year celebration Wednesday 6th January
in an incident that has created great suspicion and fear amongst the local Christian community. The local pastor, Yaqoob Saraoya, described how he
had shut the church at around 12:30 and received a call only an hour later that the building was ablaze. He arrived back there within minutes and with
local Christian villagers was able to put out the fire within an hour with no assistance from the fire service.
Believing it was an act of arson in response to the exuberance of their worship and celebrations, Pastor Yaqoob called the local Manga Police Station.
Station Head officer Afzal Sindu arrived with other officers within a few minutes and undertook a very short investigation and suggested the fire was
initiated by a short circuit rather than arson attack. They refused to lodge a First Incident Report for a crime stating it must have been an accident.
However Kasur, a nearby town, was the location of the attack of Shama and Shahzad who were burnt alive by a mob of in excess of 3000 in November 2014
(click here) ,
moreover a nearby church had already been subjected to an arson attack, the Victory Church of Kasur on the day of Epiphany on 6th January (click here).
Dildar Bhatti a local resident living next to the church building said:
“I showed police officials suspicious marks on the wall of the church that illustrated someone had climbed the church wall to gain entry to our church, but the police officers just ignored my evidence and did not add the detail to their reports. Local police officials do not cooperate with villagers.”
Karamat Masih, a local resident said:
Pastor Yaqoob is concerned about the loss of tents and other utensils that were hired for the celebration. The church has also lost much of their furniture
and upholstery, including two sofas, chairs and carpets that were burnt. He has estimated that the church will face a bill of up to 100,000 rupees
the equivalent of £654.67.
Shamim Masih our lead reporter said:
“When I went there, local residents had heaped the burnt items in a pile and many parishioners were praying there. They have re-painted the outside wall of the church coming together as a community to restore their place of worship. There are more than 1000 Christians living in the village and in this particular colony there are more than fifty families. Most of the Christians are bonded labourers and earn their living through modern day slavery in different sectors including local brick kilns and carpet making factories. This recent attack has caused great fear in all the local Christians.”
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, said:
“Despite promises of reform and change the situation for Christians living in Pakistan only worsens. Inculcation of hatred towards minorities in national Curriculum text books that demonise and caricature people outside of Islam, have only served to polarise society creating great schism. There are protections for minorities in both the constitution and legal frameworks yet these are often obviated by officials seeped in the same hatred. Failure by the west to improve this situation for minorities through accountable use of foreign aid budget, has only exacerbated the situation. This has culminated in the quality of life for Christians in Pakistan reaching a nadir.”
The BPCA has initiated a fund to help restore the church and would like to raise the £654.47 required to satisfy the costs of damage at the church during the recent blaze.
To make this possible we need your help. If you would like to contribute to this work, please give what you can afford, no matter how small, and join with us in making a difference in the lives of Pakistani Christians.
Thank you.
Your gift can be sent using these bank details:
Payee: BPCA
Sort Code: 20-44-22
Account number: 43163318
Bank: Barclays
Ref: Lahore Blaze
For international donations please use these details:
IBAN: GB62 BARC 20442243163318
SWIFTBIC: BARCGB22
Alternatively you can give via PayPal, our email address is info@britishpakistanichristians.org.
Cheques should be made payable to the BPCA to our address: 57 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex, IG1 1XG.
BRITISH PAKISTANI CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION is a trading name for BRITISH PAKISTANI CHRISTIANS LTD which is a charity entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1163363
With your support we hope to change the lives of millions of Pakistani Christians.
Parishioners pray for the safety of the church
Some of the parishioners for restoring the facade of the church.
Our officer Shamim Masih at New Apostolic Church
Pastor Yaqoob
The re-painted facade
Damaged Chairs