Sleazy Bishop in Pakistan accused of financial fraud, rape, false office and persecution

An ordained Deaconess of the Church of Pakistan has alleged that she has been persecuted by Bishop Sadiq Daniel of the Diocese of Karachi for having not
helped him with a financial scam.

Ghazala, was appointed as Administrator of the Brenton Carey Girls Hostel, situated at 247 Staff Lines, Fatimah Jinnah Road, Karachi, in 2000, by the
then chairperson of the board, Mrs. B. K. Dass, and Sadiq Daniel who served as the vice chairman of the Diocese.

At the time the premises building was deteriorating rapidly and was in a dilapidated condition. However, through careful budgeting and the professional
efforts of Ghazala the hostel soon improved.

Ghazala Shafique, asserts that Bishop Sadiq in 2005 demanded that she write off a cheque to his personal account under the pretext of a donation to
his offices. Ghazala referred his demands to the administrative board for the diocese who plainly rejected the request.

Upon disapproval Ghazala reports that Bishop Sadiq began pressurizing her to embezzle money for him by any means possible. When Ghazala rejected his
demands he changed his demeanour and attitude towards her, leading to several incidents that she describes as persecution.

At approximately 9:30 pm on April 11th 2005, Ghazala alleges that ‘Bishop Sadiq along with a bunch of thugs and brutes armed with clubs, invaded the hostel premises after breaking down its doors.’

She told BPCA that many residing students of the hostel came to her defence and tried to hide her.  However when they were caught Ghazala and
those who helped were publicly mishandled, stripped, tortured and barbarically beaten.

Ghazala managed to call the police who arrived sometime after the assault.

After some hours of brutality, elders of the community arrived on the chaotic scene and somehow managed to rescue Ghazala from the attackers.

The incident was reported to Saddar police station who initially refused to lodge a satisfactory First Information Report (FIR), This was reported
in Pakistan’s daily newspaper Dawn (click here).

Months later and after some help from NGO’s and articles in Pakstan’s media an FIR was registered C.P. No. 1289/2005.

Sadiq Daniel, Shazer Shamaoun, Zafar Iqbal, George Bhatti, Cleventina Burridge, Pervaiz Barkat, Raj Kumar, Sait Gill, Jawaid Alam, Riaz Boota, Simon
John, Anwer Sardar, Emmanuel Victor, Anwer Lal Din, Irfan Sharif, James Sardar, Sher Gill, Pamela Shakti and 20-25 unknown persons were accused in
FIR No. 169/2005, dated December 6, 2005, the contents of which were verified by 24 eyewitnesses in the police enquiry and investigation. The requirement for local Courts is for only 2 persons to verify an account for it to be deemed authentic, however many people were disgusted by the behaviour of Bishop Sadiq. 

Bishop Sadiq, later, sought to register a false case against Ghazala (https://www.dawn.com/news/389211)
. He succeeded in doing so when he registered Case No. 218/2009 in which Ghazala was falsely accused of beating a police woman with the help of the
students of the hostel and causing her to suffer a miscarriage, on the night of the attack (https://www.dawn.com/news/389075)
.

In 2010 Sadiq and his accomplices had their pre-arrest bails for ‘stripping and dishonouring of Ghazala’ denied by the Supreme Court  (https://www.dawn.com/news/849838).
However after payment of a bribe local police failed to arrest Bishop Sadiq giving him time to flee the country.

Later through another Court, Bishop Sadiq was able to obtain pre-arrest bails and Ghazala tells us that ‘he has been causing mischief ever since’.

Bad publicity follows Bishop Daniel like a magnet and in 2011, he was again caught up in a legal battle after being accused of selling church land
adjacent to St Andrews Church in Saddar for his personal gain (click here)


According to the Daily Tribune in 2011 and named  local Christian residents, Sadiq Daniel and his accomplices have sold off most of the
Sheldon Boys School and Church Mission School and are renting the remaining land for personal commercial gain (click here).

Ghazala has explained that Bishop Sadiq tried again to implicate her under further false criminal allegations in 2014, including a false allegation
of blasphemy section 295-C/B of the Pakistan Penal Code, and an allegation that she had been carrying illegal weapons. These are believed by Ghazala
to be ‘attempts to have Ghazala murdered at the hands of enraged radicals’.

In 2016, Bishop Sadiq had planned to sell off part of Holy Trinity Church compound for the construction of a luxury five star hotel. His illegal actions
were halted when congregants organized a press conference and protested vociferously (click here).

Miraculously all the false charges were dismissed in Sindh High Court later in the year. Moreover the Court put out a restraining order to prevent
Bishop Sadiq and his accomplices from causing further harassment to Ghazala. Ghazala is one of the few Christians to have survived allegations of blasphemy under section 295-C/B.

There is still some confusion over the official status as Bishop of Bishop Sadiq.  On October 1st 1997 Rev. Ijaz Inayat was elected Bishop of
Karachi by the diocesan synod. However shortly before his consecration, a rival faction within the diocese charged the election was unlawful and received
an injunction from a civil court blocking the consecration.

In 2002, the Rev. Sadiq Daniel was elected Bishop of Karachi in an election boycotted by supporters of Bishop-elect Inayat.

Bishop Alexander Malik of Lahore, Bishop Samuel Azraiah of Raiwind and the former Bishop of Multan, the Rt. Rev. John Smart consecrated Mr. Daniel
as Bishop of Karachi.  

In response, Bishop Smart K. Dass of Hyderabad, Bishop John Samuel of Faisalabad, Bishop John Mall of Multan and Bishop Pervaiz Samuel of Sialkot consecrated
Mr. Inayat as Bishop of Karachi. Litigation over who is the true bishop of Karachi is still on-going.

In 2016, Bishop Daniel and his closest cohorts were implicated in a rape allegation, which is still in process. A young woman who was working as a
guide at Holy Trinity Church has alleged Bishop Sadiq’s closest advisor drugged her and then gang-raped her with Bishop Daniel and Zafar Iqbal (click here). 

Ghazala has spoken out against the brutal persecution enacted on innocent Christians who have stood against the corruption of Bishop Daniel. She said:

“Many of those who have raised their voice against Sadiq’s crimes have been abused and manhandled by his accomplices and the police.

“Many congregants have been forcefully restricted from entering the Church and arrested by local police were they have been kept in police prisons for a short term. Others have been publicly mishandled and denied Holy Communion – this willful attempt to use peoples faith against them illustrates his warped perception of Christianity.

“One such family was restrained from entering the Church because they had protested against Sadiq’s Church selling activities. Prof. Inayat filed a civil suit no. 881/2016 against this unlawful and blasphemous restriction. He received the Order in Civil Suit No. 881/16 in the Court of XV Judicial Magistrate/Civil Judge South, restraining Sadiq Daniel and others from stopping the entry of Prof. Inayat and his family into the Church and their participation in Christian prayers and traditions.   

“Many Pastors who opposed him were terminated from their jobs and have remained unemployed for years. These include Rev. Shafique Kanwal (Ghazala’s husband), Rev. Emis Daniel, Rev. Naimat Nirdosh, Rev. Naseem Kaleem, Rev. Fayaz Younus and many others.”

On February 18th 2017 Bishop Sadiq’s accomplice, Waqar Hussain, had his bail denied in FIR No. 345/2016 and was arrested by local police. Bishop Sadiq
along with Zafar Iqbal and Asher Maalik, beat the complainant Aster David and Ghazala in retaliation as they accompanied Asher Maalik for moral support.

Later on the same day, Bishop Sadiqs accomplices illegally disconnected the electricity, water and gas supplies of Ghazala’s house, forcing her to
abandon her home.

FIR No. 22/2017 has been registered at Artillery Maidan Police Station. by Ghazala but police are still reluctant to lay their hands arrest arrest
Bishop Daniel.

Ghazala has also filed Constitutional Petition No. D-429/2017 in the Sindh High Court through Advocate Riaz Abbasi. In her petition she is calling
for reinstatement the electricity, water and gas supplies of her home and restraining the culprits from causing further harassment.

Ghazala has expressed her disappointment with the Church of England who have been hosting Bishop Sadiq Daniel at various events despite many parishioners
voicing their concerns. (click here)

Wilson Chowdhry Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said:

“I am flabbergasted that yet another Bishop is involved in fraudulent land sales to the chagrin of parishioners and that when serious concerns have been expressed to the Church of England (CofE), they wash their hands of the problem, as the Church of Pakistan (CofP) is a separate entity.

“The fact remains that the CofP is in ‘Communion’ with the CofE and by inviting Bishops with blemished reputations to their ‘Bishops parties’ they are ostensibly sanctioning the ongoing corruption within the Church of Pakistan.

“I first raised concerns about illegal church land sales in 2011 when the Bishop of Faisalabad sold land adjoining St Peter’s Church to Muslim developers who built a car showroom and petrol station (click here).  Bishop John Samuel at the time threatened the parishioners with death if they continued their protests that were delaying construction. When I contacted Lambeth Palace they simply gave me contact details for Bishop Alexander Malik, who was implicated in a similar scandal and offered no assistance.

“To date half the parishioners At St Peter’s Church have set up a separate collection and hope to initiate their own church when they have raised enough.

“The insouciance to concerns of parishioners and the illustrated rank and file protection of Bishops, is a blatant failing of the Anglican Church.  This problem will not go away in Pakistan as Bishop Sadiq continues to threaten and harass those who stand in the way of his avaricious grab at Church property.  In doing so he heaps even more shame on the Anglican communion of churches.”

British Pakistani Christian Association is setting up a legal aid fund to support Ghazala and others who have chosen to thwart the devious plans of Bishop Sadiq Daniel.  We also aim to provide a safe house for Ghazala and others in Karachi who are being persecuted for their stance against corruption.  If you  would like to donate towards this work please (click here)

We have written to both Lambeth Palace and Bishop Sammy Azariah of the Church of Pakistan, both parties have not responded.

This image was shot at Lambeth Palace on the 22nd of March 2017 in which a whole host of Pakistani clergy from the Church of Pakistan can be seen including Bishop Daniel.

This Image was taken at the Church of England’s Bishops Retreat on 16th March 2017.  Bishop Sadiq Daniel can be seen on the far left.

In an email a Church Parishioner Luke Victor wrote to Lambeth Palace.  He said:

The response from Lambeth Palace was very non-committal:

Sadiq and his accomplices have been nominated in several FIRs and have a ton of cases registered against them by several other unfortunate victims of their
crimes. Some of them are as follows:

1. FIR No. 215/2003 at Police Station, Quetta.
2. FIR No. 130/2005 at Civil Lines Police Station, Quetta.
3. FIR No. 169/2005 at Frere Police Station by Ghazala Shafique (incident above)
4. FIR No. 160/2008 Police Station, Quetta.
5. FIR No. 99/2008 at Mehmoodabad Police Station whereby the accused are involved in selling/renting Trust property.
6. FIR No. 99/2008 at Mehmoodabad Police Station whereby the accused are involved in selling/renting Trust property.
7. FIR No. 23/2016 by Irfan Bashir at Quaidabad Police Station, Quetta.
8. FIR No. 345/2016 at Gizri Police Station by Aster David whereby the accused are involved in the gang rape of the complainant.
9. FIR No. 23/2016 by Irfan Bashir at Quaidabad Police Station, Quetta.
10. FIR No. 621/2016 at Preedy Police Station by Dr. Jennifer whereby the accused are involved in assaulting the complainant.
11. FIR No. 22/2017 at Artillery Maidan Police Station by Ghazala Shafique whereby the accused are involved in illegally disconnecting the electricity, gas and water supplies of the complainant’s house.

There have been nationwide protests against Sadiq’s crimes including several attempts to sell church land and property or to commercialize them for his
own gain. 

According to a leaflet issued by Rev. Emis Daniel, Bishop House, Holy Trinity Cathedral, dated April 20, 2006, Sadiq is involved in the illegal sale of
the following Church properties:

1. Sheldon Boys School, Bolton Market, Karachi.

2. Saint Johns Church, Kemari, Karachi.

3. Julius Garage property, Quetta.

According to this same leaflet Sadiq is involved in the following cases pending adjudication before various courts of law:

1. Suit No. 1451/1997 in the High court of Sindh
2. HCA No. 61/2002 in the High court of Sindh
3. Suit No. 907/2002 in the Court of II Civil Judge Karachi, South
4. Suit No. 970/2002 in the High court of Sindh
5. Suit No. 996/2002 in the High court of Sindh
6. Suit No. 1163/2002 in the High court of Sindh
7. Suit No. 379/2002 in the High court of Sindh
8. Suit No. 2073/2003 in the Court of III Senior Civil Judge Karachi, South
9. Suit No. 778/2004 in the High court of Sindh
10. CA No. 94/2005 in the Court of III ADJ Karachi, South
11. Suit No. 128/2005 in the Court of IV Civil Judge Karachi, South
12. Suit No. 283/2005 in the Court of IV Civil Judge Karachi, South
13. Suit No. 87/2006 in the High court of Sindh
14. JM No. 37/2006 in the High Court of Sindh