On Monday, December 24, Christians demonstrated in Lahore in front of Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool’s residence against the demolition and the apparent refusal by local authorities to intervene. "This [Muslim] land mafia consists of men of power and influence" with ties to the local government, said Patras Ghani, an official of the Pakistan Christian National Party, who participated in the protest.
Ghani said "the Muslim land mafia" attacked the church in the night of December 15-December 16. They "struck and demolished the church completely and started to construct their own building," he told BosNewsLife. "The land grabbers have wiped out the church completely from the face of the earth," Ghani added.
Local police officials made clear however they are providing security around the former church premises pending a court decision on the future status of the property. In addition Governor Maqbool reportedly told Ghani during a brief private meeting that "justice would prevail" but he did not came out of his home to talk to the slogan-chanting demonstrators directly.
EASING TENSIONS
In an attempt to ease tensions between Muslims and Christians in the region, advocacy group Rays of Development (ROD) organized a program aimed at children with a Muslim and Christian background outside Lahore, in the city of Sargodha.
Speaker Shahid Kamal, who leads Christian mission group Pakistan Campus Crusade for Christ (PCCC), told his audience that "Pakistan is our home, and we, regardless of our faith or sect should create unity" and " co-exist peacefully and work for the prosperity and development of the nation."
He distributed prizes among children who participated in a quiz competition and a Christmas drama that portrayed the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. ROD Chief Ferhan Mazher said he hopes Christians and Muslims would work together to overcome tensions, pay "more attention to the education of children" and fight against "child labor and child abuse and build interfaith peace and harmony."
Christians comprise less than three percent of Pakistan’s mainly Muslim population of 165 million people, according to estimates.
