THE Christian cemetery in Karachi, popularly known as Gora Qabristan, was formally sanctified in 1845 in Abyssinia Lines. However, it existed prior to that, as a tombstone set in the wall near the main gate of the cemetery bears an inscription from 1843. Among the buried were the British and the Polish.

Until World War II, the cemetery was in a barren area as there were no buildings between Napier Barracks and Drigh Road Cantonment. The area was quite clean and tidy and had trees around.

After partition, it faced a lot of disruption, theft and disarray. The grants from the government in Delhi ceased and the cemetery rapidly disintegrated. Subsequently, the British high commission in Karachi took interest in its repairs and an endowment fund was set aside.

The white domed tomb of Phyllis Louise Lawrence was among those that had disintegrated with time. Phyllis was the first wife of Sir Henry Lawrence, the Collector of Karachi. She died on June 30, 1912, at the age of 43, following a carriage accident. She brought medical help to the common people of Sindh and was particularly committed to the welfare of Sindhi women.

She knew that many women suffered during childbirth due to lack of adequate trained help, so she worked to improve the level of maternal care. Later, funds were raised to establish the Louise Lawrence Institute as part of the Lady Dufferin Hospital, which trained local midwives and gave maternity care to the poor.

The British Council had done some renovations to her grave. It seems disintegrated yet again, and is crying for help.

Dr Sohail Ansari
Essex, UK

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2021