THE Church of Christ’s property situated in Garden Town, Lahore, had been used for worship from 1963 to March 2007, and was demolished by some illegal Muslim occupants on Dec 15, 2007. Since then, no action has been taken against the abominable offence of the sacred place.
Due to its demolition, church members were deprived of their place of worship and now have to rent one place or another to do so.
The property under question is owned by an American congregation, Pinellas Park Church of Christ, Florida, USA.
Though continuous efforts were made to the extent of sending letters to the then Musharraf government by its American owners, the church property was not restored to its legitimate owners.
For church members, it has become a continuous problem to perform their fundamental right of worship. Since church members are mostly poor people, it is difficult for them to pay for the rented place.
After demolishing of the church during the regime of former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the provincial government interfered, got the plot back from its illegal claimants, and posted police on the site. Now it is being used as a police chowki.
It is our earnest appeal to the Punjab Government to give the church property back to its real owners, rebuild the demolished church and provide us necessary security as well.
ASGHAR & MEMBERS OF CHURCH OF CHRIST Lahore