Christian leader going to UK to meet Altaf

By Shahid Husain

KARACHI: After getting reaffirmation from the Archbishop of Canterbury he was the Bishop of Karachi in the Church of Pakistan, the Rt Rev Sadiq Daniel is leaving for London in a couple of days where he will meet The Archbishop of Canterbury and Muthahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain, Micheal Javed, a former MPA and a leader of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance told Daily Times on Monday.

A letter sent by the Archbishop of Canterbury to Altaf Hussain says: “I have been asked to write to you to concerning the Bishop of Karachi in the Church of Pakistan. “I am therefore enclosing a copy of a letter sent on February 27, 2002 by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, recognizing the election and consecration of Sadiq Daniel as the Bishop of Karachi and offering his congratulations. The current Archbishop of Canerbury, the Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams, sees no reason to depart from the views of his predecessor on this.

“I am copying this letter to the Rt Revd Sadiq Daniel and trust that this will help to clarify any misunderstandings there may be about his externally-recognised status as Bishop of Karachi.”

The forthcoming meeting between Rt. Revd Sadiq Daniel and the current Archbishop of Centerbury and Altaf Hussain is seen as being of utmost importance, especially in the backdrop of allegations that a certain group was bent upon disposing extremely valuable property belonging to Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the heart of Karachi.

“The YMCA is an international and national institution with a glorious history and was established in 1913,” Micheal Javed said. He further said that it was registered according to Companies Act 1860 and in Pakistan it was the oldest YMCA, with its own constitution according to which it has to run by an elected president and 25 members of the Board of Directors. He said the vested interest was bent upon selling this valuable property and the catholic and protestant church was worried about such developments.

In a letter dated September 11, 2003, and addressed to the Sindh chief minister, Rev. Father Joseph Paul, principal St. Patrick’s High School, Karachi, said: “I am writing this letter to bring to your kind notice some serious facts about Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), which is an international Christian organization. It requires an immediate attention to save it from the clutches of corrupt persons, who, with the connivance of an MPA of a political party, want to convert the YMCA’s plot into a commercial complex.”

He further said: “Sir, in light of above-mentioned facts we request your kind honour to please intervene in the matter urgently to save YMCA as it is an international body and a very bad message will be conveyed among the international community that a Christian organization has been treated illegally with ulterior motives.”

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