Pakistan temporarily halts plan to evict Christians from settlement

Authorities in Pakistani capital Islamabad have temporarily halted plans to evict around 25,000 people, most of whom are Christians, from settlements currently occupying government land.

Last week the inside minister, Mohsin Naqvi said the federal government had “launched an operation against informal settlements and illegal occupants in Islamabad. Wherever there may be government land that has been encroached, it’s going to be vacated.”

The move led to significant protests by Christians affected by the move, who say that attributable to poverty and discrimination, they’ve nowhere else to go.

The situation has also attracted the notice of the British parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Pakistani Minorities.

The chair of the group, the DUP’s Jim Shannon MP, said, “The Christian families living in Islamabad’s informal settlements are among the many country’s most vulnerable communities.

“Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees equality and protection for minorities. Any development initiative must uphold these commitments.

“Authorities should halt demolitions, seek the advice of residents, and be sure that no family is left without shelter or support.”

One of the settlements under threat is the Rimsha Colony, named after a mentally handicapped Christian girl who was falsely accused of burning pages from the Quran, resulting in significant tension.

Many Christians fled their homes and settled at what would grow to be Rimsha Colony. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the federal government were themselves involved in relocating Christians to the colony.

Community leader Imran Shahzad Sahotra told Christian Daily International that many residents had no options attributable to low incomes and discrimination within the housing market.

“Issuing directives to slum dwellers to vacate the land without offering them alternative shelters is a terrific injustice … People are settled here and don’t have any other options,” he said.

Reports suggest that while the protests can have led to the plan being halted, government officials haven’t abandoned the scheme, which has been undertaken not less than partially to construct a latest road linking two sectors of Islamabad.

An official with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) told UCA News on condition of anonymity that the evictions will “definitely proceed”.