Government bulldozes a Catholic institution and expropriates the land in Lahore, Pakistan

(January 12, 2012) Thousands of Christians demonstrated in Lahore, Pakistan on Wednesday against the demolition of a chapel and a sewing centre, claiming the government had seized the property and land illegally. “Many copies of the Bible and other religious items were also destroyed during the demolition,” said Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, national director of the Catholic Bishops National Commission for Justice and Peace, as he and three other priests struggled to keep the protest peaceful. The Lahore Development Authority seized possession of the 8,093 sq m property on Tuesday. The Catholic Church had been running the centre for 50 years and had previously used the building as a home for the elderly, a girl’s school and a convent. The property, built in 1887, was registered in the name of the Lahore Charitable Association. During the protest Fr Mani presented legal documents to media. “We had a court stay for three years”, he said, adding that three Catholic families had been living in the building. “I called the priest Fr Mani when they came. The authorities pushed us out and cut off the water, gas and electricity; we were helpless,” said Augustine George, a teacher trainer who had been living at the centre. “I could only salvage some furniture and a few clothes. Even a laptop, belonging to the Catholic Board of Education, was taken by police.” The Catholic Church condemned what it called the unlawful demolition of its property in a press statement. “It is a criminal example of land grabbing by government servants,” it said. “The District Coordinating Officer, the highest civil servant in the district, demolished the centre without showing any legal documentation supporting the government’s claim to it.