ASIA/PAKISTAN - Civil authorities: "Get rid of the Christians to cleanse Islamabad"

Tuesday, 15 December 2015 religious minorities discrimination islam human rights

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Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) – The recent declaration of "Capital Development Authority" (CDA) in Islamabad, the Authority that represents the mayor and the city government in the urban development of the capital of Pakistan has aroused indignation and protest. As Fides learns, the Authority stated before the Supreme Court that "the Christian slums in Islamabad threaten the Muslim majority", presenting an order for the demolition of the suburbs of Islamabad occupied by shacks. We are talking about "colonies", the ghetto neighborhoods built over the years by poor families who arrived from rural areas or from the villages of Punjab, to settle in the suburbs of the capital.
"The most disturbing element of the CDA report is the implication that the religion of the slum residents makes the issue more problematic", explains to Fides the organization "Life for All" (LFA), committed to the defense of Christians in Pakistan .
The report analyzes the situation in the slums where thousands of Christian families who arrived from neighboring districts, illegally occupying the land, live without public services and no toilets.
The concern expressed by the CDA is not so much organizing and regularizing these settlements, but the fact that "Christians, with time, could make Muslims lose the majority in the district of the capital".
The majority of Christians work as domestic workers, health and environmental professionals, engaged in menial jobs such as cleaning the streets. Often they left their native lands due to increasing anti-Christian hostility. The settlements are quite old, some were born in the early 80s, and now they are completely incorporated into the city.
The organization "Life for All" together with religious leaders and other organizations, submitted a petition to the Supreme Court against the demolition of slums, recalling that the CDA not only assigned a temporary permit to the settlers in the 80's, but gave them work.
Civil society calls for the immediate resignation of the President of the CDA for a position which is "totally discriminatory, and photographs the current conception on religious minorities". LFA told Fides: "They are human beings and citizens who do not have a place where to go. They do not like living in slums, but they are obliged to stay due to the lack of urban planning and strategy on behalf of the CDA". (XW-PA) (Agenzia Fides 15/12/2015)