Special to ASSIST News Service
LAHORE, PAKISTAN (ANS) -- A charitable institution has been demolished by the Lahore Development Authority in the presence of government officials.
The Catholic Church lodged an appeal at the Lahore High Court stating the case was pending at the LHC, there was a stay on the property, and that it was illegally demolished. They did not, however, mention anything about the desecration of the Church and the Bibles which apparently occurred.
One of the displaced, 61-year-old Zenobia Richards, took a firm stand against the atrocity and filed an appeal at the LHC that her house was illegally demolished and her Bible, Rosary and the Statue of Mother Mary were desecrated.
The Church authorities and other pressure groups tried to ask Richards to take the case back and let the Church deal with the matter, but she was firm on her stand.
Richards stated: "I am not afraid of anyone, the Minority representative Kamran Micheal is involved, the clergy is making a deal with the Punjab government and is taking the case back.
Richards added: “Micheal had announced that the land will be handed back, nothing has happened, there have been late night meetings between the clergy and the government officials to take back the case. They have made a deal and have sold the land, they have stopped fearing God and have kept silent about the desecration, they are acting as if nothing happened.”
Richards went on to say: “I can proudly say that I have fought against the corrupt system and will continue my struggle. In the central Punjab, many innocent Christians are falsely charged with blasphemy, but here there was a clear desecration, but everyone kept quiet. How long will we be persecuted ? How long will we be silenced? This is our silence, which has become their strength and has brought us to the state we are in. It is time to wake up or we will lose everything. "
On the application filed by Zenobia Richards, Station House Officer, Senior Superintendent Police, City Police Officer and Lahore Development Authority officials were summoned by the Lahore High Court and questioned regarding the matter, and were asked why they allowed an illegal demolishing and desecration to occur.
They maintained they were following orders from the government. They stated the Church representatives are in constant touch with the government, and they are making some settlement regarding the matter. The court rejected the appeal to register an FIR for 295 and 295 A, due to the pressure from the Punjab government, ignoring the fact that an institution was illegally demolished and the Church and Bibles were desecrated.
Advocate Yousaf Diyal, Zenobia Richard`s lawyer said: "Richards was provided shelter and legal assistance by a humanitarian organization. It is a shame that a woman alone took a stand against the desecration, no one else stood by her. The Christian community has forgotten Gosh-e-Aman, the role of the Catholic Clergy has been very suspicious in this incident, they have been having late night meetings with Kamran Micheal and other government officials and never spoke against them, nor have they ever spoken about the desecration. If they would have wanted, they could have made history by taking a firm stand. Unfortunately the Church has become weak due to their internal affairs, and this weakness is clearly visible now."
A Senior Catholic Church official, on the condition of anonymity, said:" We have been instructed by the Church not to comment on the matter and stay silent. This is a clear matter of contempt of court for violating a stay, illegally demolishing a charitable institution and desecration of the Church, but the Church is silent. This silence is making the Christians weaker. I praise Zenobia Richards for her bold stand against the government for their atrocity and lawlessness.
“It is time to break the silence and stand for our rights, this is for our next generations, if we don’t speak up, our next generations will never forgive us."
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Rodrick Samson is a freelance journalist living in Pakistan.
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