last month, a 130-year-old All Saints Church in Pakistan’s Peshawar was attacked by a pair of suicide bombers. The attack on Christian minority in the neibouring country resulted into death of more than 80 people of the minority community and serious injuries to 140 others. Contradictory to the incident, a village having all its inhabitants from the minority Christian community in bordering Gujarat State, has set a perfect example of communal harmony and peaceful co-existence.
A small hamlet Wallacepur situated near Bhavnagar looks like any other Indian village where economy revolves around agriculture and allied activities. Though the village is surrounded by majority Hindu dominated villages, the inhabitants have never felt a sense of fear.
As name of the parish suggest, it was established by an English pastor Reverend Wallace way back in 1840. He was instrumental to bring the ancestors of the villagers from different parts of Gujarat.
He donated land to them and taught scientific way of doing farming and related activities. The settlers subsequently adopted Christianity and now sixth generation of the original migrants is residing in the village.
Cleanliness and planned constructions of the houses differentiate the village from nearby hamlets. A well maintained heritage charge would impress anyone entering the village. All its 600-odd dwellers are literate.
“Most of the houses were constructed by the founder of the village in planned manner. New houses are constructed on his theory where space for the cattle is being kept on the rear side. The village already few cleanliness awards too its credit,” says Alfred Patel, a Wallacepur dweller.
Interestingly, women of Wallacepur are more educated than the men. Men of the village are engaged in agriculture, while women are working as teachers, nurses, clerks etc in surrounding villages including Bhavnagar.
Talking about their relations with neibouring villages, Sylvan Patel, a Wallacepur inhabitant says that Hindus as well as Muslims invariably visit our village during Christmas and celebrate festival with us. “We also become part of their festivals like Diwali, Holi, Uttarayan, Eid etc,” he added.
