Christians hold demo: Pindi MNA accused of grabbing church, hospital land

BB Road blocked for three hours; Malik Abrar Ahmed denies charges, makes counter allegations.


Mudassir Raja July 20, 2012

RAWALPINDI:


Members of a Christian organisation here on Thursday staged a protest against a parliamentarian of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for allegedly occupying a land reserved for a church and a community hospital on IJ Principal Road.


Over 200 members of the Joint Christian Action Committee (JCAC) blocked the busiest Benazir Bhutto Road near Liaqat Bagh for over three hours and chanted slogans against member of the National Assembly (MNA) Malik Abrar Ahmed and revenue officials for occupying the land for a church and Saint Joseph Hospital.

They were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the MNA, accusing him of land grabbing and demanding the land’s evacuation and removal of an assistant commissioner as well as a tehsildar (revenue officer).

The enraged protesters, including women, and elderly men blocked the main artery of the city at around 3:30pm, creating a traffic mess.

The protesters also chanted slogans against PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Rawalpindi District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar and revenue officials.

Addressing the protesters, JCAC Rawalpindi-Islamabad chief Akram Waqar Gill said that the land mafia has made their lives a “hell” and now they are occupying their worship places and hospitals without any fear.

He threatened to commit suicide by immolating himself if the land was not evacuated from the grabs of the MNA.

The representative of the protesters alleged that the MNA was enjoying the support of the DCO, City Police Officer and officials of the provincial land and revenue department.

They demanded of the provincial chief minister to take action against the MNA on an immediate basis.

When contacted, the MNA denied all the charges levelled against him, saying, “All office bearers of JCAC are fraudsters and falsely implicating him in the case.”

Talking to media persons, the MNA said that a person named Zaman Cheema, along with JCAC President Akram Gill, purchased documents of a five-kanal land from some party in Misrial and later approached him to help occupy it.

Ahmed said the purchasers only possessed documents for a piece of land that existed nowhere in the area.

“I turned down their proposal, which is why they are on roads and levelling baseless allegations against me. I have nothing to do with the case.”

Ahmed alleged that Cheema was “a notorious land grabber as he had also grabbed the land of a church in Gordon College and later used his [MNA’s] name.

“Now again Gill and Cheema are on roads for damaging my credibility. By doing so, JCAC wanted to grab the land which neither exists anywhere nor in their name. I will file a defamation suit against JCAC soon,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20th, 2012.

COMMENTS (11)

Khalid Pathan | 11 years ago | Reply

The point here is not what Islam teaches or does not teach. It is a simple matter of land grab by Malik Abrar, an MNA of Nawaz League. It is a game between powerful and powerless, in which the winner is always the powerful. Minorities either religious, linguistic or sectarian are always the looser. Don't people remember that the head of this party tried to become constitutional monarch of Pakistan in disguise as Ameer-ul-momanin. No point bringing in religion in this discussion.

kaalchakra | 11 years ago | Reply

"why the true teaching are not being followed?"

Now, you are being naive. From the first day of Islam, enemies of Islam have been conspiring against it, doing everything to make sure true Islam was never followed after Prophet Muhmmad (PBUH) and Khulfa-e-Rashideen. Had Muslims been allowed to follow true Islam, kufr and shirk would have been destroyed by now.

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