ICC Note:

According to reports, Pakistani authorities under pressure from local radical groups have closed down all the house churches in the city of Bahawalpur in Pakistan. The Christians worshiping in house churches have now been ordered to only conduct worship and prayer services in one of the four official churches in the city. The construction of new churches in Pakistan is highly regulated and often blocked because of widespread discrimination. 

10/25/2016 Pakistan (The Christian Times) – Pakistani authorities have ordered the closure of house churches in the city of Bahawalpur in southern Punjab after Muslims complained that they were disturbed by the prayers of Christians.

The city administrators mandated that Christians can only offer Sunday prayers in proper church buildings and not in houses. According to the Pakistani Christian Post, there are only four church buildings in the city.

The government does not grant permission to construct new churches if it is within 200 meters from a mosque or 100 meters away from a Muslim residential area. Churches are also prohibited from using speakers during prayers and the services should not coincide with Muslim prayers in mosques.

Erecting crosses on the gates of new church buildings also requires special permission from the authorities.

House churches became common in the city after the year 2000 when Evangelicals began preaching in Pakistan. Christians held their meetings in the houses of pastors and other members because they were unable to build proper church buildings.

An unnamed source told Pakistani Christian Post that a member of a militant group in Bahawalpur has pressured the city administration to ban Christian prayers.

Dr. Nazir S. Bhatti, president of Pakistan Christian Congress, has raised the issue to the Chief Minister of Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Ch. Nisar Ali.

Bhatti told the ministers that the ban on prayer in house churches is against religious freedom and it violates the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

…