Conflict brews at St. Andrews Church

KARACHI: The recent contention between the two groups around St. Andrews Church located right opposite Jehangir Masjid at a prime location in Sadar, has only exacerbated over a span of few months.

The 13723 sq yards church that exudes medieval and picturesque charms was built in 1868 by the Bombay Provincial government and was meant solely to be devoted for the purpose of worship.

A letter written by Lamhert Major, the then collector to Karachi to the then assistant chaplain W. Middleton vouches for the mentioned fact, ‘That they will bind themselves forever not to erect any building on the ground except the Church alone, no parsonage or dwelling house of any sort except, if necessary, a gatehouse, and not the latter until after the plan has been approved by the Managing Committee (of Karachi Municipality)’

According to the members of the church’s Pastorate committee, the Bishop, Sadiq Daniel had been planning to sell the church’s vacant land for commercialization for quite a few years. And so, he had winded up prayers services from the vacant ground for around 4 to 5 years until he finally pronounced his decision to use the land for commercial purposes.

The purport behind this was to generate finances to establish a state-of-the-art grammar school, an estimated 40 billion project in the Trinity Church. The Church’s sources also mentioned that he had even announced to have hired a principal from Britain for the purpose to run the school already.

However, after much protest led by the then Head Reverend, Pervez Sultan who later, allegedly became victim to politics within the church and was then removed, Bishop Sadiq Daniel declared that he wouldn’t sell off the church’s land. However, later the same year in November 2011, in another meeting of the Pastorate committee, attended by 100 members from across the Karachi, held in Trinity Church, he allegedly took an about-face measure by blaming the MPA, Saleem Khokhar and St. Andrews Church representatives to scheme for putting the church’s vacant area for sale. There were reportedly, hails of ‘shame’, ‘shame’ from the rest of the committee on the representatives of St. Andrews Church, Yousuf Fazal (the current Head Reverend), Khursheed (Asst. Reverend), secretary Pastoral committee Albert Dean and Rohail (Supporting member). The Bishop has also been allegedly said to have made the earlier announcement of canceling the church’s sale only to please and satisfy the members.

Later, Saleem Khokhar who is well known for his active support and dedicated work for minority rights, denied any such allegations and drafted and presented a bill to prevent the trade of the church’s land.

Around two weeks back, Sindh assembly has also passed a resolution prohibiting any commercialization on the land. However, owing to the grim circumstances and aggravating antagonism for the past several months, the church’s atmosphere is plagued by politics and growing rivalries. The members have apparently split in two groups, one favoring the bishop and the other favoring the church’s representatives.

To diffuse the elevating tension, a meeting is expected to be held between the church’s members and the Bishop within a couple of days to put an end to this feud that has not only affected the religious enthusiasm in the church’s members but is also a pressing concern for the Christian community in Karachi.