March 20, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

GUJRANWALA, March 19: Christian demonstrators blocked GT Road here on Wednesday to protest the alleged desecration of a church and attempt by land grabbers to occupy a community centre adjacent to the church by razing its wall and disgracing their pastor in Garjakh area on Tuesday.

The demonstrators demanded that assailants should immediately be arrested otherwise they would besiege the offices of senior police and administration officials.

Some land grabbers tried to occupy the community centre in Garjakh late on Tuesday. When some local Christians led by their pastor Sharif Bhatti tried to resist them, the mafia men allegedly manhandled the pastor and his fellows and desecrated the church by pelting stones. Later, the grabbers fled when a large number of Christians turned up there to frustrate their designs.

The Christians’ of other areas of the city came to know about the incident on Wednesday and several people including women and children reached Garjakh while sanitary workers of the city district government also joined them.

They took out a protest procession and later blocked the GT Road at Gondlanwala Chowk after parking tractor-trolleys laden with garbage while chanting slogans against the land grabbers for around two hours, throwing traffic substantially out of gear. Pastor Sharif Bhatti, Pastor Sabir and other Christian and labour union leaders threatened that they would demonstrate outside the offices of senior government functionaries if the police did not arrest the culprits within next 24 hours. However, the protesters dispersed peacefully when the police assured them that stern action would be taken against the alleged land grabbers.

COMPOUNDING: A local anti-terrorism court (ATC) stopped the execution of a murder convict scheduled to be held on Thursday (today) after heirs of the victim appeared before the court on Wednesday and informed the judge that they have compounded the offence.Latif of Garjakh wanted marrying Shabana Kausar by choice but her parents did not accept the proposal. Frustrated Latif later sprinkled kerosene oil on Shabana and set her ablaze on May 5, 2003. She later succumbed her burns.

The ATC gave Latif death sentence, which was upheld by the Lahore High Court as well as the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The president also turned down his clemency petition and later his black warrants were issued for Thursday.

On Wednesday, the victim’s heirs informed the court that they had pardoned the convict on which the court immediately stopped the execution till further orders.