THE Christian cemetery in Karachi, popularly known as Gora Qabristan, was formally sanctified in 1845 in Abyssinia Lines. However, it existed prior to that, as a tombstone set in the wall near the main gate of the cemetery bears an inscription from 1843. Among the buried were the British and the Polish.
Until World War II, the cemetery was in a barren area as there were no buildings between Napier Barracks and Drigh Road Cantonment. The area was quite clean and tidy and had trees around.
After partition, it faced a lot of disruption, theft and disarray. The grants from the government in Delhi ceased and the cemetery rapidly disintegrated. Subsequently, the British high commission in Karachi took interest in its repairs and an endowment fund was set aside.