The canteen under the church building poses a security risk for worshippers. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID/EXPRESS
The Holy Family Hospital (HFH) administration has not been able to fulfill promises made to Catholic Church authorities. Among the promises was the shifting of a canteen beneath the church sanctuary to another area within hospital premises.
“Taking into account the present day security situation in Pakistan, a canteen right under the sanctuary where Father Anwar Pastras — a priest of the Diocese of Rawalpindi — sits to preach, is a threat to people coming to the church as a terrorist can come through the canteen to disrupt the church’s peaceful environment. It is the height of indifference on the hospital’s part that we cannot remain safe even inside a church,” said Babu Sajid Amin Khokhar, catechist in-charge of the Holy Family Catholic Church.
“It is really sad that despite making major contributions to the city`s health and education needs, Christian community itself is still suffering today,” adds Khokhar.
Pastras recalled that in the past, “the tandoor (clay oven) of the canteen was also right under the sanctuary, which used to make the floor so hot it was difficult to sit there. Finally, church authorities bore the expenses of shifting the tandoor outside the church building.”
“A canteen had been built in the basement of the new hospital building. God knows why it was closed down. The former Medical Superintendent (MS) of the hospital had also pledged to shift the canteen from its present location, but he was transferred before he could fulfill that promise. The present MS was also contacted in this regard, but he claimed they lacked funds,” he added.
Pastras and Khokhar found it paradoxical that “on one hand, the hospital’s MS claimed lack of funds was the reason the canteen could not be shifted, while on the other hand, precious land from a compound adjacent to the church has been given on a Rs4.2 million contract to run a canteen and shops. Who will ask the hospital administration where all that contract money went?”
“We also offered to bear the expenses of shifting the canteen elsewhere as we did in the case of the tandoor, for which we are still awaiting the MS’s response,” they say.
The HFH medical superintendent told The Express Tribune that under an agreement signed between the two parties, the hall on the upper floor of the church belonged to the hospital and not the church. But the church authorities denied this, and when the hospital was asked for proof by the church, they could not produce any such agreement.
The canteen dispute is not the only bone of contention. The handing over of the hall on the upper floor of the church is also an issue.
In the mid-1990’s, priest John William first demanded the return of the upper story hall because of a considerable increase in the local Christian population.
“Our community is growing and there are a considerable number of Christian workers in the hospital, so we need the hall to accommodate them,” explains Mukhtar Masih, who works at HFH.
I just can’t understand why the hall is not being returned as the hospital administration has several halls in the new block built in front of the church building and many more in the new building. The training institute also has several halls where conferences are held. They can also be used by the hospital administration,” says Khokhar.
The demand for the return of the hall was also made by the Christian community on August 11, 2011 during a programme in connection with Independence Day celebrations, where MNA Shakeel Awan was the chief guest. Exactly a year later on August 11, 2012, MPAs Ziaullah Shah, Raja Hanif and Malik Iftikhar also promised to get in touch with the Punjab chief minister on the issue, but with no results.
British citizens purchased 22 acres in 1969 and handed over the property — designated solely for a church — to church authorities through a trustee deed. According to the deed, the property can only be used for the welfare of the Christian community.
A mosque, several shops and a number of illegal houses built on land grabbed from the property would suggest otherwise.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2013.
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The presence of canteen, shops, tandoor and grabbed church compound in close proximity to the sanctuary has disrupted the spiritual environment for the church-goers. They feel intimidated by the canteen visitors and the noise pollution nearby. Let the justice prevail.
It seems the HFH church premises have become open for grabs. It was the HFH administration who had a taste for that piece of land for giving benefit to canteen and the church hall for holding seminars. It constitutes an assault on what is a church property and is a highly selfish act.
As a medical doctor myself, I regret to learn that a famous hospital administration was in fact in the center of this crisis as it tried to grab land for canteen expansion that is clearly a church compound regardless of all its good intentions. Hospital development is good; however it should not be done at the expense of equally important institution like a church.
Thousands have been educated in Christian schools. Thousands have been healed in Christian hospitals. Perhaps we have nothing more to do with this minority. We have not benefited from our beautiful religion as we continue to oppress and humiliate our own citizens through land grabbing, and that too by a hospital administration. It's very unfortunate scenario.
There is dire need to protect one of our basic rights,the legal ownership of land should be protected always; the basics of a just society should always be protected using every legal avenue available.
Every time I hear of something like this happening in a Muslim country I am disappointed. It is a long established principle in Islam that property rights are to be protected by the state. All methods we can think of should be taken to right this great injustice
Until the government rejects patronizing certain religious sects, until it allows a long overdue reformation in its religious policy, the hazards of dominating desire of certain groups and the inviolability of their views will remain an ominous threat to the people’ freedoms, democracy and tolerance.
Sans communal harmony, tolerance and equal rights it is really impossible to continue to contribute to the progress of the country.
The legal ownership of land should be protected always; the basics of a just society should always be protected using every legal avenue available. Our government is abysmally slow to act.
Let's be honest with ourselves, we must admit that living life is not a pleasant experience for all minorities in our society. Just like Joseph Colony case evil of land grabbing seems to be the main culprit in Holy Family Hospital story as well..
"Peaceful Encroachments" is a wisely coined term to fit in the present case. It unmasks the gravity of the crime of the authorities running the affairs of the hospital. They do qualify as News if they infringe upon the rights of others, especially the minorities' rights.
After Gulabi Bagh, do 'peaceful encroachments' even qualify as News?