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.