Delhi Church Demolition: Parish Priest condemns act; says Christians have contributed immensely

NEW DELHI:  In a viral video, a parish priest can be seen expressing disappointment over the demolition of the Little Flower Church, in Lado Sarai, in South Delhi that existed for '10 years'.

He said that the Christian community has made an immense contribution to the building of the nation.  "We belong to the country as much as anyone else", he added.

The demolition of the church by the Block Development Officer on July 9 has spread nationwide outrage.

In the video, the priest said, “This has been our church for the past 10 years. We have a congregation of 460 families here. Almost 500 students are studying here. They promised me that they would not demolish the church, and they wanted to demolish only the shed. I was not given any notice or prior information regarding the demolition.”

Reportedly, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was in Goa on the day of demolition, said that the church was demolished under the instructions of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) which comes under the centre.

Also, Delhi Congress Chief Ch. Anil Kumar wrote to Kejriwal and accused him of making a false statement about the demolition.

“It is very unfortunate that you made a false statement in Goa that the DDA demolished the church, whereas the land on which the church existed was Gram Sabha land and was under the Delhi government", he said as stated in a report.