TOBA TEK SINGH: Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad Vicar General Fr Abid Tanveer says that hundreds of Catholic Christians of Jaranwala waited in Christian Colony for caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi but he visited an area of a small community and ignored the Christian Colony.

He said the biggest church of Jaranwala, Catholic Church, located in Christian Colony, was burnt and demolished in the riots and 200 houses were damaged in the locality while their valuables were also looted.

Mr Tanveer said that by ignoring the locality, the caretaker CM had hurt the sentiments of the Catholics. He condemned this alleged injustice, claiming that Catholic leadership waited there for the CM and staged a protest against his act of ignoring the Christian Colony. He announced that the protest would continue until the CM visited the colony of Catholics.

It is to be mentioned that Faisalabad Catholic Bishop Indrias Rehmat, Fr Khalid Rashid Assi and Fr Khalid Mukhtar led the prayers outside the destroyed church where hundreds of women and men participated. A group of young Christians chanted slogans against the attacks.

The protesters also held a sit-in on the Chak Jhumra Road when the CM visited Essa Nagar.

The locality had the United Presbyterian (UP) Church that was also burnt along with other smaller churches in the locality. Presbyterianism is from the Protestant faith of Christianity different from Roman Catholicism.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2023