A Pakistan Christian church based in Sardar town in Bhopatian was bulldozed by Muslim gangers on Monday, November 15, 2010, about 13:00 hours (Pakistan time), reports Jawad Mazhar, Special Correspondent for ANS, reporting from Pakistan.

The King of the Kings Tabernacle’ Church which belongs to the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), which sits off the Lahore-Raiwind road, was bulldozed under cover of aerial shooting by Muslim gangsters on Nov 15th at about 1300 hours (Pakistan Time).

The attack left behind a child with head injury and dozens of injured woman who dared to resist the attackers which comes within the police checkpoint of the precincts of Chohang Police Station’s Sher Shah.

ANS was apprised of the sad incident much after it took place by Rev. Sarwar Masih, the pastor in charge and his assistant pastor, Rev. Zafar Iqbal.

Pastor Masih said that it took place when a majority of members, who are poor laborers, were at their workplaces.

“An armed gang of Muslim men arrived and were accompanied by three police constables, a crane operator, and forced their way towards the church and began shooting in the air with their files to terrorize the unarmed 400 families of Sardar town,” he said.

He went on to say that while church women and children vainly tried to stop them, a five-year-old called Nabill Masih, sustained a head wound and many of the women were manhandled and injured by these Muslim land mafia. As this was going on the crane operator kept demolishing the church right down to its foundations.

The Rev Sarwar Masih also said that two crosses, ten Bibles, numbers hymnals, and all the musical instruments were destroyed by the attackers.

Meantime, in the Police Station, the assistant pastor was making hectic efforts to persuade the local Police Chief, Afzal Sindhu, to frame a case against the Muslim assailants, but all his efforts went in vain until the Provincial Minister for Minorities Affairs of Punjab province, Kamran Michael, heads of several Christian rights groups including Joseph Francis of CLAAS (Center for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement), Napoleon Qayyum of CDI (Community Development Initiative) and Advocate Sharafat Qasim Gill of Legal Aid and Settlement, Khalid Gill of Christian Legal Fellowshio, Imran Mazher of Rays of Development (ROD) and counsel of the Church arrived at the Chohang Police Station.

Rev Zafar Iqbal said under the immense pressure of these Christian rights bodies, Christian politicians and Christian Minister of Punjab Kamran Michael, Station House Officer of the Chohang Police Station Inspector, Afzal Sindhu ordered his registrar to litigate and he framed a case against the Muslim suspects.

News of the attack spread like jungle fire and whole Christian population of the Sardar town and adjoining areas flocked up at the crime scene and the fiery Christians blocked the Raiwind-Jati-Umra highway at Bhopatian Chowk (Square) for almost four consecutive hours from 1600hrs to 2000hrs by staging a sit-in on the road, shouting anti-government slogans, police and Muslim land mafia slogans and by torching tires.

They dispersed peacefully after Kamran Michael assured them that a case was being built against the attackers and Church would be renovated to its actual form.

Christian advocate, Sharafat Qasim Gill, head of the LA&S (Legal Aid & Settlement) who was pursuing the case pro-bono for the attacked Church said talking to ANS that a First Information Report (FIR) # 1073/10 was filed under the escalating immense pressure as local Christians had blocked the road as well as these Pakistani Christian rights and advocacy watchdogs groups, accompanied by Kamran Michael, the Provincial Minister for Minorities’ Affairs of Punjab had thronged the office of SHO Inspector, Afzal Sindhu.

Finally at about 0130 hrs on November 16, 2010, an FIR # 1073/10 under sections 506 (bid to kill), 337-H2 (to terrorize by horrible ways such as aerial shooting), 148 & 149 (to attack in the form of a mob) and 295-A (desecration of a sacred, holy or worship place of a creed) after hectic efforts and immense pressure was lodged against many of the assailants.

“However, they all still at large and the police have not conducted any raid so far,” said the church’s attorney advocate Sharafat Qasim Gill in an exclusive interview to ANS.

When ANS contacted the SHO at Chohang Police Station, Inspector Afzal Sindhu. and inquired why Muslim attackers named in the FIR were still at large, he apprised ANS, due to the three consecutive Eid-Ul-Azha (Muslim festival of sacrificing animals) holidays, most of his officers were at their homes therefore he could not arrest any of the accused nor he could raid to take suspects into custody.

Inspector Sindhu avowed and pledged to conduct raids and bring the criminals to the book, after the Eid-Ul-Azha holidays.

Despite the violent attack on the church building, a healing crusade that had been due to start on November 17, 2010, with its British chief guest speaker, still went ahead at another location and, he delivered his sermon to more than 400 individuals amidst threats to kill and dire consequences by the same land mafia who now were threatening Christian clergymen and their counsel to retract their FIR.

Punjab’s Provincial Minister for Minorities’ Affairs Kamran Michael pledged to renovate the demolished Church.

Local Christian told ANS that Police was not cooperative and was lenient towards Muslim.

The land on which King of the Kings Tabernacle sits was purchased from a Muslim man and previously it was owned by a Christian man Maqbool Masih who frequently received threats from a Muslim man to evict or face the dire consequences.

After the Eid-Ul-Azha when ANS contacted Chohang Police Chief Abdullah Sindhu and inquired about the arrest of Muslim men he said that main accused has secured pre-arrest bail and other attackers were still at large as they could not be identified yet,

CLAAS lawyers are also know pursuing the case of the church. Some sources also said that the church was demolished partially and not to the foundations on the orders of Lahore Development Authority (LDA), but Rev Zafar Iqbal reacted to this saying then this even bigger persecution and discrimination of Christians as government departments were also involved in the said Church attack and using local gangsters.