Illegal occupation: Christian community protests construction at Mission Hospital

Mission Hospital’s deteriorating condition is the result of the administration’s incompetency to maintain it.

PESHAWAR:

Representatives of the Christian community have asked the provincial government to assist in preventing illegal occupation of the premises of the historic Mission Hospital (MH).

The former elected minority counselor and member of the Church of Pakistan, Josemeen Qudus, led a protest against the construction of a commercial plaza on the hospital space. The participants held placards and banners inscribed with slogans outside Peshawar Press Club on Friday.

“We will not let anyone use trustees’ land for commercial use, it is reserved for humanitarian purposes,” Qudus said demanding the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and police inspector general take necessary action to protect the land of MH, which has served the people of Peshawar for more than a hundred years.

She added that the official of the Diocese of Peshawar has taken millions of rupees from people in advance for booking shops for the commercial plaza. She stated that lease trust property, according to the law, cannot be changed into commercial property. The protestors demanded that the money be returned to the people since construction will not be allowed to commence.

Qudus expressed grief over the deteriorating condition of MH which, according to her, is a result of the incompetency of the hospital administration that has failed to maintain this historic hospital.

The hospital is famous for treating eye afflictions. Patients from all parts of the province have sought its services.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2012.