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Unlike many Pakistanis, I don’t have the courage to say that I like the architectural poise and spiritual grace with which these churches were built. Nor am I a tweeting-facebooking intellectual and social activist trying to bring together crowds to protest/remonstrate against the destruction of holy places managing only a handful of the usual tweeting-facebooking people to stand outside the Karachi Press Club for a photo session, chanting slogans that are not even heard in the Press Club leave alone in the corridors where voices echo against bullet-proof floors and walls. I fear for my life. And I fear for the lives of the churches in Pakistan.
But can I help it? Can I help it when I see a triple-arched entrance and lancet windows of Christ Church and wonder ‘why don’t they make such gems in the 21st century’? It’s a work of art. Even with such ugliness around it (unruly traffic and sporadic gunfire) the church stands like an unruffled beauty amidst people who are congenitally blind. What a lovely sight it is. And I fear for Christ Church’s life.
But can I help it? Can I help it when I see the wonderfully Gothic exterior of St Andrew’s Church with its pointed arches, lovely spire and a beautiful octagonal porch and salute its designer T G Newnham in my heart? And I fear for St Andrew’s Church’s life.
But can I help it? Can I help it when I see the coupled windows, Romanesque arches and the therapeutic environment of Methodist Church and think, ‘gosh, how has it managed to withstand the test of time, helping Karachi retain its yesteryear glory despite its modern-day hodgepodge cityscape’? And I fear for the Methodist Church’s life.
I fear. I fear for the lives of all those who keep loving these holy places for not only what they stand for but also for what they stand as. So, I won’t be visiting them anymore.
