Larkana’s Christians look for dry ground to bury their dead

City’s only Christian graveyard submerged in drainage water.

LARKANA: Every time a Christian dies in Larkana, his/her family has to look for dry ground as the only graveyard in the city has been submerged in drainage water.

The graveyard, situated between Allahabad and Golimaar residential colonies on Moen jo Daro, was allotted to the Christian community in 2002. “Several graves have been damaged due to stagnant drainage water,” said social worker Hikmat Masih. “It looks like a lake of contaminated water.”

He complained that the government was not taking measures to secure an important graveyard of the minorities. “We don’t know influential people who can resolve this issue, so we are unable to save these graves,” he told daily Sindh Express.

Recently, the family members of deceased journalist Gregory Jarvis had to arrange mud to cover the drainage water before his body was laid to rest. “It is a graveyard not a nullah, but we can’t do anything without the help of the government,” said Hikmat, adding that the people should realise that this is a sacred place for them.



A few residents began encroaching upon the graveyard, so a boundary wall was built and a watchman was hired. Nevertheless, the drainage of the nearby katchi abadis continues to go directly into the graveyard.

Larkana’s former deputy commissioner, Abdul Aleem Lashari, allotted Rs0.7 million to fix the drainage system and rehabilitate the graveyard. The project did not, however, go through once Lashari was transferred.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th, 2012.