ICC Note:

According to Christians in the town of Gujrat in Pakistan, actions taken by their local government have allowed a 130-year-old church to be flooded with sewerage. Local Christians were forced to battle with a flood of sewerage after the flow of sewerage in Gujrat was diverted from another neighborhood at the church by local government workers. Christians in Pakistan face both open discrimination and outright persecution because of their religious identity. Diverting sewerage at their place of worship by a local government is unfortunately not entirely surprising or unprecedented. 

8/3/2016 Pakistan (Christians in Pakistan) – Sewerage gushed in a local church at Gujrat as a result of negligence of the Town Municipal Administration. Local Christians managed to cut the flow of sewerage after hours of skirmish efforts. The flooding incensed Christians who claimed that flow of sewerage water was deliberately maneuvered towards the church.

Agitated Christians claimed that the flow of the sewerage was maneuvered towards the church in order to prevent it from flooding neighboring Gujrat Gymkhana. The waste water swamped the flooring and carpets of the church which caused great nuisance to the church administration.

As a consequence, church administration was unable to conduct weekly prayer service. Local Christian leaders including Mistry Jallal Javaid, Ehsan Masih Sindhu and Pastor Irfan urged Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to make sure that churches are not defiled in future.

They urged the Chief Minister of Punjab to make immediate arrangements for drainage of waste water from the church. Christian leaders further urged the CM to take abrupt steps in order to facilitate the Christians to continue their prayer services in the church.

…