Pakistan: 3 of 4 churches along Karachi's Gujjar Nullah demolished

The St Joseph’s Catholic Church is the only church that is still standing, of the four churches of Sadiq Nagar, the part of Gujjar Nullah that comes under Gulberg.

Three Philadelphia Pentecostal Churches of the protestant Christian community have already been razed, reports Dawn News.

Across the nullah there is Kausar Niazi Colony, which comes under North Nazimabad. The nullah connects both areas from where worshippers would come to pray at these churches. But as one of them, Rehana Sohail, told Dawn News they have very few people attending services at the remaining church now.

“There used to be over 150 people gathered here every Sunday and it would get difficult to accommodate them all. But now there are barely 20 or 30. It is more than just losing faith. The elderly are afraid of the remaining structure falling on them and most women don’t come anymore due to lack of privacy after the facade was broken two weeks ago,” she said.

Zahid Farooq of URC told Dawn that the St Joseph’s Catholic Church also used to be a space for meetings of area residents, most of whom are Christians.

Social activist Sunila Anwar, who lives nearby, told Dawn News that when the anti-encroachment people first surveyed the area and took measurements, they had said that they would have to break around 11 per cent of the church’s building that was encroaching on the 30 feet that they wanted to clear around the nullah.