PESHAWAR, Jan 20: Reconstruction of a church, which is situated on the Peshawar University campus, has sparked a controversy between a group of students and the Christian community dwelling there.

Most of the people living on the campus are least bothered about the reconstruction of the United Church, which is in a dilapidated condition. However, a group of students has been opposing the move.

While the reconstruction work is yet to start, some students have challenged it in the Peshawar High Court. Two demonstrations were held near the Peshawar Press Club recently against the proposed reconstruction work.

A grant worth Rs5 million has been allocated by the provincial government for the project. The NWFP Chief Minister, Akram Khan Durrani, laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction work on Dec 19.

The church in question is the only one for 1,500 families residing on the university campus and was built in 1970. Its building was damaged by the activists of an Islamic organisation.

The Christian community has welcomed the chief minister’s move and said it was high time that the church building was repaired otherwise a mishap would take place.

A Councillor of the Christian Community Dilawar Maseeh stated: "We don't want to create any controversy and our only desire is to live peacefully and freely observe religious obligations. He questioned that if they have been using the church for so long and now want to renovate it then why some people have made a serious issue out of it?

Some members of the community also raised the point that if there were 38 mosques in the campus for Muslims then what was the harm in having one church.

Apart from the Christian community, Muslims living in the area too, support them and want to get the building renovated. Some of them told Dawn that they had no objection over the reconstruction work.

Two students, Salahuddin and Murtaza Ali of the NWFP Agriculture University have recently filed a writ petition challenging the reconstruction work. The court has yet to take up the petition for preliminary hearing.

It was mentioned in the petition that the decision of the university administration to reconstruct church was in violation of the university rules.

The students claimed that the reconstruction of the church would result in demands by other minority communities for construction of their places of worship, as well.