Running Head: CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 1
Conditions of Christian Minority in Pakistan focusing Youhanabad
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Maqbool
Mehreen Hamza
Nida Nabeel
Samra Zafar
Ms. Rumessa Naqvi
Academic Writing
204
April 12, 2010
Lahore School of Economics
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 2
Acknowledgements
First, we would like to thank the Almighty God for giving us the courage to complete all the
tasks at time. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Rumessa Naqvi, for
motivating us to undertake such a rigorous research project concerning a serious issue of our
country. Further, we would like to offer special thanks to Mr. Amanat John, a resident of
Youhanabad for being our guide on the tours to the vicinity. T. Tariq Javed Tariq deserves a
thank you as he took his time out from his busy schedule to discuss the issues prevailing at
Youhanabad. Mr. Zafar Iqbal, for arranging appointments with Amanat John and the Ex-
Nazim at Youhanabad. A special round of applause for all of us in joining hands together
and helping each other at every corner to make this research a success.
Name Domain
Muhammad Ali Employment discrimination &
Government perspective on
infrastructural problems
Mehreen Hamza Educational Problems
Muhammad Maqbool Crimes and Drug Addiction
Nida Nabeel Infrastructure and Facilites
Samra Zafar Discrimination faced by Christian
citizens
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 3
Abstract
Majority of Christians in Pakistan experience life as nobodies and are de facto second-class
citizens subject to discrimination, depression and violence. This research paper gives an
analysis of the conditions of Christians living in Pakistan in general and Youhanabad in
particular. Unfortunately, the government of Pakistan has never succeeded in providing the
Christian minority with suitable rights they deserve as the citizens of our country.
Youhanabad, one of the largest Christian colonies in Lahore is no exception to this and
encounters an assortment of problems. It faces basic infrastructural problems grouped with
discrimination, lack of healthy education system and unemployment leading to drug addiction
and crimes. With the help of research tools and literature, detailed evaluations of the
problems and recommendations have been presented in this paper.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 4
Conditions of Christian minority in Pakistan focusing Youhanabad and
recommendations for the improvement of this society
Problems are everywhere around us, let it be social, economical, environmental or
financial. Since we need to make our lives easier, we keep on trying to solve many problems
at hand which we are capable of. But sometimes, we are not able to solve our problems
ourselves and we might need some external intervention e.g. the government to come in and
make things better. Having this intuition, we thought of a minority of people living in
Pakistan, which by law enjoys equal rights with the Muslims but perhaps on real grounds
faces different treatment to what is written on papers. Again, it is not us who wish to talk
about Christians and their problems but many researchers have already thrown light on
problems faced by the Christian minority in Pakistan. To further narrow down our research
and bring about desired results and improvements, we are going to research a Christian
populated colony called “Youhanabad.”
This research projects the terrible conditions of majority Christians of Youhanabad
and investigation of causes and effects of these problems on their lives during the periods of
2006-2010.
The Scope of this research was to find out the problems that the Christian minorities
are facing. True that at this time almost all communities in Pakistan are facing
economical tensions but these communities with soaring prices are also facing soaring
discrimination in the society. To cover all aspects of the Christian society we divided the
whole research into five domains discrimination, infrastructure, education, employment,
crimes, and recommendations.
The major importance of this intensive research is to identify the related authorities
about the terrible conditions of the Christian minorities in general and Youhanabad in
particular through the voice of those getting affected at all times. The aim is not to just keep
our work on paper rather make it accessible to authorities and people at large so that they
may know what’s going on with these people and work together for the betterment of this
area and its people.
Literature Review
While carrying out the research, a major chunk of second-hand information was
collected through published articles by various authors giving their perspectives on policies
of the government towards the religious minorities (mainly Christians), discriminatory acts
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 5
done socially and professionally at different levels and also the causes and effects of these
acts towards the society.
From the articles, it was obvious that Christians are discriminated right from the
school level and moving forward in the organizations and society. The act of violence briefly
brought the international attention to the plight of Christian community in Pakistan. One of
them was the Gojra incident and the other was Shazia case. Gregory S. (2009) talks about
Gojra incident that took place on August 3, 2009 was one of the most violent act committed
in the history of Pakistan in which more than 80 Christian men and women were killed and
their properties burned down. All this violence was committed only on the fake accusation
that the Christians had done the acts of blasphemy. It took three days for the law
enforcement authorities to bring conditions to normal. The estimated death toll was above 80
and properties worth millions were left burned down to the ground. Another well-publicized
case that recently came to the light was that of Youhanabad known as Shazia case. Advocate
Muhammad Naeem was accused of murdering and rapping Shazia of Youhanabad, until now
no positive actions was taken on the part of law enforcing bodies and the culprits has not
been punished to the extent of the crime. This shows the helplessness of the Christian
community in Pakistan.
Jacob, P. (2009) talks about non- Muslim students being forced to study the religious
textbooks of other faiths mainly Islam in article “National educational policy 2009 infringes
religious freedom of Non-Muslims Students” which imposes Islamic studies on non-Muslim
students in the country. The author says that if the government fails to provide them religious
freedom then they themselves have to take action against that because their children are
suffering badly from the prevailing scenario. Peter Jacob as the executive secretary of the
National Commission for Peace and Justice (NCJP) hence appeals to Supreme Court to take
suitable action regarding the problem.
Christians in Pakistan who are educated, talented, and willing to work for their
betterment are also discriminated by narrow-minded employers of Pakistan and this situation
has been presented in another article at Christiantoday.com. Mackay M. (2006) mentions in
her article that the US-based human rights group International Christian Concern (ICC) has
learned that Christians in Pakistan continue to experience discrimination from a majority of
employers just as Africans had it from Americans before the Civil Rights Movement.
According to her, being a Christian means he/she is a second-class low waged janitor when it
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 6
comes to get employment in any organization. Being a religious minority, these people
having Christian surnames, deprives them of good jobs even being intellectually wise and fit
for the job. Same argument has been put forward by Gregory in his article where he talks
about Christian citizens being classified as de-facto second-class citizens.
The evidences used by Jacob are quite valid; he refers to the constitution of Pakistan,
which gives complete religious freedom to the minority, but this policy is not in conformity
with Article 20 and 22 of the constitution of Pakistan. The author is giving a logical
argument that the authorities are not paying much attention to the syllabi of religious books
that are being taught in the institutions, which creates further problems for the non-Muslim
students. Secondly, it is the very basic right of every person to practice its own religion. The
Christian minority as well as other minorities should be given liberty to take their religious
subjects in their schools and other religious subjects should not be made compulsory for
them. They should be free to study whatever they want. On the other hand, Mackay’s point
is true at some level, but it cannot be generalized to all the organizations, as with HR laws
properly applied in an organization minimizes the discrimination and encourages living
together as colleagues and not religious fanatics. She is mainly talking about narrow minded,
low profile, and corrupted employers who, due to lack of education are unable to recognize
the talent and look up on these people based on their religion. However, organizations with
strict Human Resource laws enforced have excellent conditions when it comes to interaction
at peer-to-peer level. She also talks about them being discriminated at government level for
they are not allowed to be the speaker of the National Assembly nor the chief of Army staff.
At large, after the critical review of all the articles, it is well assumed that the
Christian minority does face discrimination at local and national level proven by different
acts in the society. It was further explicated by surveys and interactions with many effected
Christian citizens as well as authorities.
Research Questions
Primary Research Question
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 7
Conditions of Christian minority in Pakistan focusing Youhanabad and
recommendations for the improvement of this society.
Subsidiary Research Questions
1) Are the students of Youhanabad studying Islamic studies prescribed by the
government and how they are coping with that?
2) Are their public or private schools in Youhanabad?
3) How well developed the schools are in Youhanabad in contrast to other schools in the
city?
4) What sort of employment do the people of Youhanabad mostly go towards? Do they
face discrimination at employment?
5) Are they able to get good employments? If not, what are the reasons for that?
6) What changes should be brought for these people to enjoy good employment benefits?
7) How is the infrastructure and facilities of Youhanabad in contrast with the
infrastructure and facilities of other areas of Lahore?
8) Does the government or any other officials take any interest in the development of
Youhanabad?
9) Are there any medical facilities in Youhanabad and if so are they good enough?
10) How are the Christian people of this area treated by other people?
11) How is this community generally perceived socially?
12) Do the other communities care for these people’s interests, values and traditions?
13) What is the general review of crime and other illegal activities taking place in
Youhanabad?
14) What is the root cause of such activities originating from Youhanabad?
15) What steps should be taken to control such activities?
Method
The sample size selected, keeping in view the convenience level, was 30.
Questionnaires were distributed comprising 15 questions aiming to identify and improve the
problems prevailing in Youhanabad. All questionnaires were distributed amongst the local
public at Youhanabad.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 8
In the research conducted, five trips were made to Youhanabad in which interviews
were recorded with the local residents, school principal, school children, and the local law
enforcement authorities. For primary research, and to make this research reliable, and
authentic, interviews with the Ex-Nazim of the area, T. Tariq Javed Tariq, School principal,
St.John Model High School, Ms. Jennie Williams, and many other locals from Youhanabad.
Our observation about the area, surroundings, and people around was recorded using video
cameras and notes were jotted down on notebooks to assist in the research. Of course, the
questionnaires were also distributed among the local people of the area and the results of
these questionnaires have been summarized using bar charts, pie charts, and graphs in the
appendix. During the interview, it was made sure to use a video camera (with interviewee’s
permission) and used these videos for better analysis of the situation. These video clips and
recordings have been added in a DVD for the instructor’s further use and analysis.
For secondary research, authentic Christian forums online were utilized for the
articles and various sources from the internet. Besides, the research includes clippings from
articles published in Dawn News.
Tally charts were considered to record the responses from the questionnaires through
which the figures, graphs, and charts were designed to support the arguments presented in the
paper. Microsoft Excel 2007 served the purpose in this regard. Furthermore, videos were
watched carefully while analyzing the situation according to respondents’ point of views. Of
course, human mind supersedes all other analytical tools which was used the most in
observing and evaluating the situation and proposing recommendations.
Analysis of Data and Discussion
Discrimination of Christians in Youhanabad
Man was born free but chained in life. From the start of time discrimination is one
aspect of life that has haunted man. Whether it is from the planes of Africa to the deserts of
Arabia man has suffered at the hands of man. There is no country in the world where the
whole population consists of one social group. It has always been the case that where ever a
person or a group who is weak and low in numbers is most likely to face discrimination.
Islam preaches not to judge people based on cast, color, and religion. Islam is the
religion of peace and teaches equality. It is so shameful to see that our religion, Islam,
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 9
teaches a lot on the issue of treatment with minorities and it is in Islam itself that the rights of
fellow Non-Muslims should be protected more than ones’ own rights, but sadly, the opposite
is happening in our society.
The main ideology of Pakistan was that Muslims were suffering at the hands of the
majority Hindus and demanded a separate nation. Once Muslims of India were considered
minority, they were the ones who were discriminated After Pakistan came into being Quid-e-
Azam wanted to make sure that the minorities in Pakistan did not suffer the way the Muslims
did that is why he said:
Minorities to which communities they may belong, will be fully safeguarded, their
religion or faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind
with their freedom of worship. They will have full protection with regard to their
religion, their faith, their life, and culture. (Pakistan studies Class 8th, 2004)
The flag of Pakistan also indicates what Quid-e-Azam said. The white colored
portion on the left side depicts minorities being a solid part of the nation. That is what the
constitution of Pakistan says as well. The section of Islamic clauses includes a clause that
says that minorities are ensured to have fundamental rights and security.
The Christians are indeed a silent minority of Pakistan and they existed as people who
were stereotyped and taken for granted by the mainstream majority, not to mention, belittled,
and ridiculed at every opportunity. Christians are minority here in Pakistan but that is not the
case in Youhanabad. The Christians residents of Youhanabad are not socially accepted
which is quite evident from that Christian community as they become target of religious
hatred and are dishonored. Their living standards are poor, they don’t get the equal
opportunity of employment and not even the political, civil, and social rights and this is what
has been discussed in this section.
Youhanabad is a poor Christian settlement on the fringes of Lahore. Thousands of
Christians are living in this area. It is a very congested area. The main objective of this
research is to find that whether the Christians are facing discrimination. If yes, then what
causes such discrimination with the Christian minority? To find the answers for these
Questions a visit was paid to Youhanabad. Amanat John, 41, a resident of Youhanabad and a
guide for this visit. He told that his brother-in-law was refused the job even though he was
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 10
fulfilling the requisite criteria and the main reason of refusal was that the part of his name
was” Masih” which reflected he belonged to a Christian community. Therefore, he become
the target of discrimination. Amanat was asked if he had ever tried to stop such
discriminating act. He replied,
“If any discriminating act is taking place we tend not to interfere there because we are
scared that we might also be involved and become the target of the violence that is
already taking place. Thus we tend to stay out of such matters.” (Personal
communication, John A. March 15, 2010)
Apart from the social discrimination Christian women who are working as
housemaids are also highly discriminated by the Muslim families. This can be justified by
the conversation that was held with a girl named Fozia, dressed in dirty shalwar kameez. She
belongs to a poor Christian family. She had four brother and three sisters. Her mother and
one of her sisters do domestic work in the houses on wages. She was 15 year old when she
started working as a house cleaner with her mother and now she is 20. While sharing her
bitter experience she said, “We are looked down upon by our employers and we are
underpaid as compare to the amount of physical labor we do. The behavior towards us is
very harsh. Mostly we are given sweeping and cleaning related jobs which Muslim maids
refuse to do and also we are not offered to do kitchen associated work”
For further research we met a retired Pakistan Air force pilot named Saleem bahadur
to also know his perspective about discrimination and he said:” in my opinion it is only the
state of mind or kind of thoughts that one person have otherwise I never felt discriminated
throughout my 45 years of serve in the Air force due to my religion. I was given the equal
opportunities in my whole career purely on my merit basis”
It was disappointing to know that Muslims engaged in such discriminating act as
Saleem B.H said that religious intolerance is present in our society but he has never being
subjected to it until a while ago when a few Muslims boys come to Youhanabad and
distributed a small book in which they tried to ruin the basic but the most important
Christianity belief which is that Jesus Christ is the son of the Lord and Mary was virgin when
she gave birth to him (see appendix-picture D ). In this book, the author who tried to posed
Christianity as a fake religion. It was shocking to see that a Muslims who was trying to
criticize Christianity, did not even have that basic knowledge of islam which clearly teaches
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 11
that Hazrat Issa’s birth to Hazrat Maryam was a miracle of ALLAH. After seeing such
evidences, we concluded that discrimination was present for discriminate s sake.
Then we visit to a catholic school to find out more facts regarding to our domains.
“Well being an educationist believe that with the increase in literacy rate this social menace
of discrimination is being minimized ,if not, completely eradicated , said Sister Jenny
Williams, the principal of Saint John Model school for boys in Youhanabad. She also said
that even if we are the second citizen of the country but we should serve for our Pakistan.
The statistics of survey conducted and the compiled post survey results are making it
evident that Christians are a victim of discrimination and they are facing it at all levels
including institutional, Government, social level. In addition, 90% of the interviewees
supported the subject that Christians are facing discrimination.
Well after the interview with Saleem Bahadur it was quite evident that there were two
sides of the picture and that one of them was that not all Christians were facing
discriminating acts and that it was more of the perspective of thought that was being followed
rather than the evident truth. But from the interview with Amanat John we got the picture
that all Christians are facing discrimination in all fields and that Muslim majority only gave
preference to fellow Muslims and not to other minority especially Christians. From our
research on the topic the end conclusion that can be made is that Yes, there is discrimination
present in the society and yes, there are people who are facing intense violence on the basis of
their religion at the hands of the Muslim majority. However, there is an educated class
present in the societies who do not judge people based on their cast, color, creed, and religion
but based on their qualities how they tackle various issues in daily life. In reality, there are
more important issues present then the ones that have been “made.” Our country is facing
various Economic and domestic issues and the continuation of these discriminating acts is not
helping solve the problem.
Educational Problems in Youhanabad
Education is considered as one of the most important things in today’s world. History
has witnessed how the educated nations had reached the heights of success whereas the
uneducated nations were crushed to their decline. A country can only expect a good future if
its people are educated enough to meet the severe challenges. To produce an educated and
successful future generation it is very important to have the present generation educated as
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 12
well. “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and
world better than you found it” (Marian Wright Edelman, 1939). American activist for the
rights of children). But in Pakistan we have unfortunately a very low literacy rate and the
situation is even worse in the minorities. So the most important question is this regard is, are
the minorities living in Pakistan have the same chances to get their children educated
properly?
Youhanabad as considered the largest Christian settlement, with a population more
than 0.1 million and has 35 to 40 schools with not even a single college. Yet one should be
very impressed by just looking at the quantity of schools but the reality is quite different.
Yes, schools are present there but without proper school buildings, without other educational
facilities and most important without the quality education the children need. The shocking
thing is that all the schools operating there are private schools without a single public school,
which shows clearly the ignorant attitude of government towards the Christian sector. On the
other hand, it was so encouraging to see that the people of Youhanabad are so willing to send
their children to schools. Within Youhanabad there are both English and Urdu medium
schools. Sister Jennie Williams, a principal of St. Cathedral School in Youhanabad told that
on the demand of the parents they made the school English medium at the nursery level. She
further said that now the government has ordered to end the Urdu medium system so they
have to make the school English medium at all levels (personal communication, March 15,
2010.)
Particularly talking about the teachers who are teaching in Youhanabad, the situation
does not seem very satisfactory. In some schools, the qualification of the teachers is just
matric or intermediate. Moreover, there are only handfuls of teachers who are bachelors.
The reason behind is, that most of the teachers who are teaching in Youhanabad are residents
of Youhanabad, in fact they are the alumni of the schools they are teaching in and because
they at their times had the same educational conditions that’s why today majority of them are
unable to get jobs out of youhanabad at any renowned institutions. According to ex-nazim of
Youhanabad Tariq Javed Tariq it is sad to see that the teachers who are teaching the
matricular classes are themselves matric and intermediate qualified (personal communication,
April 7, 2010.) The salary scale of the teachers is quite shocking. Most of them are getting
from Rs.3000 to Rs.3500 monthly. But the conditions are not same everywhere, Sister Jennie
Williams told that they take good care of their school staff. They pay them increments and
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 13
even the provident funds. Her schools is 35 to 40 years old and they have some teachers who
are working there are for 25 years (personal communication, March 15, 2010.) But again
there are some matric and F.A passed teachers to whom Sister Jennie William does not want
to fire on the basis of their qualification as they have a good experience now. But I do not
find it a well justified point because though experience counts a lot but the students of
Youhanabad need an effective guidance of educated people rather the guidance of those
people who are working there for the sake of working.
Students of the schools of Youhanabad comprise both boys and girls. As there are no
colleges in Youhanabad so, the students have to go out of Youhanabad to get into colleges.
The students are quite bold and friendly. The strangest thing to see was a boy of class seven
who could use English words like “yeah” (which he frequently was using) but that boy was
unable to spell the name of his school. On the other hand, it was encouraging to see in some
schools that the students do participate in the extra curricular activities that are held inside
and outside Youhanabad and such competitions mainly include letter writing and art
competitions. And according to the school authorities their students do an incredible job
(personal communication, March 15, 2010.) Although the facilities present in the schools are
not enough. T. Tariq Javed Tariq, the ex- nazim of Youhanabad mentioned that there are no
proper facilities in schools: No playgrounds, no labs and no libraries (personal
communication, April 7, 2010.) He was actually right because the lack of facilities in most of
the schools is a big hindrance in the provision of effective education to students.
As most of the schools of Youhanabad are affiliated with Punjab Board, so the
curriculum, which is being used, is in accordance with it. According to residents of
Youhanabad, the syllabus of different schools varies from one another (personal
communication, March 15, 2010.) Overall, the subjects being taught are English, social
studies and science subjects. When asked from the group of school children in Youhanabad
whether they like to study Islamic Studies/Arabic, their answer was “No.” (Personal
communication, March 15, 2010.) Their reply is completely justified because it completely
depends on the choice of individuals if they want to study the books on other religion or not.
Also Islamic studies are not being compelled on the students by the authorities, it has been
proved with the help of the questionnaire filled by the people in Youhanabad.( See appendix
A, Figure B). According to Sister Jennie William, they have to hire a Muslim Teacher for the
subjects of Islamic Studies and Arabic as they have some muslim students in the schools as
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 14
well. She also told that they (The Christians) want their separate religious syllabus and they
did contact the government official in this regard but their demand was rejected on the basis
that such kind of system cannot be adopted in Islamic Republic of Pakistan (personal
communication, March 15, 2010.) This act by the government is completely unethical. The
Christian people hold their separate identity so they have the complete right to practice their
religion in Pakistan.
It is disappointing to see that the government is playing a nil role in promoting
education in Youhanabad. It is quite evident from the fact that there is not even a single
public school in Youhanabad. Schools operating there are either helped by the missionaries
or they are being operated privately. Even if the government does not own a public place in
Youhanabad but they can buy it from the residents. But such steps have not been taken yet
which clearly shows the negligence of the government towards this sector. Tariq Javed Tariq
the ex-nazim of Youhanabad told us that during his tenure he several times applied to open at
least one public school and one Government College but it was of no use (personal
communication, April 7, 2010.)
The residents of Youhanabad do not seem satisfied with the educational conditions of
Youhanabad, as it is quite evident from the results of questionnaire. They are of the view that
despite of the fact that there are many schools in Youhanabad, there is not quality of
education given to students. In fact, according to Mr. Saleem Bahadur the teachers are not
well qualified and they are teaching because they believe that it is better to teach than to stay
at home. He further told us that there is a big fraud, which is going on in some of the schools
and that is, when students go to schools the girls are asked to clean the classrooms first and
the boys are asked to do the dusting. And after that children play for hours without any
proper check from the school authorities (personal communication, March 15, 2010.) it was
quite evident that the owners of these schools are doing nothing but making money.
Whatever they are getting from government and NGO’s is not spent on schools but for
personal motives. Mr. S.M.Bahadur told an interesting story regarding this that once a
foreign team visited the schools of Youhanabad. On the day of their visit, the school
authorities moved the whole furniture of the school to some other place and presented their
school in a miserable condition in order to gain funds from them (personal communication,
March15, 2010.) The unfortunate thing in this regard is that the funds these schools are
getting are not properly being utilized. For instance, one of the schools got an amount of
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 15
rupees 8 million from a NGO (which is quite a generous amount if allocated properly) but the
condition of the school was making it hard to believe that this school ever got such an
immense amount. In addition, whatsoever assets the school authorities are getting free from
the government are being sold to the students and these things mainly include uniform,
books, and notebooks. Therefore, the dishonesty that is being conducted by the school
authorities is contributing a lot to the poor educational conditions in Youhanabad. The ex-
nazim of Youhanabad T. Tariq Javed Tariq told that there are 3 to 4 schools, which are
actually making a good effort in promoting quality education out of which he specifically
mentioned the name of St. John Cathedral School (personal communication, April 7, 2010.)
By looking the overall conditions of education in Youhanabad, the situation seems
quite displeasing. Whenever we go outside Pakistan, we generally say that we are treated as
second-class citizens there. But we do not realize that we are making the minorities living in
Pakistan as second-class citizens too which shows that we are not against oppression but yes
we are against it when it comes to us. The areas like Youhanabad are lacking educational
facilities and the children living there are lacking quality education. However, we do not
realize this loss because we are having all kinds of educational facilities. Muhammad Ali
Jinnah said
You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to mosques or to
any places of worship in the state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or cast
or creed -that has nothing to do with the business of the state…we are starting with
this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one state….
(Gregory, 2008)
We, as Pakistanis are not following the rules of our leader and hence today Pakistan is facing
uncertain conditions. It is because in Pakistan the affiliation to the religion is more important
than the nation. Therefore, the basic question, which arises in this regard, is how we can
expect the Christian children to give Pakistan a bright future when Pakistan is not giving
anything to them in return. In addition, it is so embarrassing for us when the Christian people
in Youhanabad asked us that their ancestors have given equal sacrifices for Pakistan so now
why are they not getting equal rights.
Infrastructural problems at Youhanabad
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 16
Infrastructure are the basic structures necessary for an economy to function it brings
to mind the technical structures such as roads, water supply system, sewages,
telecommunication and so forth, which are the rights of citizens n a country no matter what
cast or reed they belong to. The area that is discussed in this section is “Infrastructure and
facilities of Youhanabad.”
Infrastructure of any community can give you deep insight into the lives of the people
living there, it tells us about the problems they face, the struggles they make, the advantages
they have, the benefits they enjoy.
Pakistan is a developing country and its infrastructure is still in the developing stages
but the conditions in Youhanabad are much worse not only they are facing economical crisis
with the rest of the country but these people are also privileged with a total lack of
infrastructure and basic facilities such as roads and drainage system.
Pakistan is an Islamic country and most of its citizens are Muslim. There are people
who belong to other religions such as Hinduism, Christianity and so forth. Our religion Islam
teaches us equality.
Do not treat people based on cast, creed, or color. All human beings are the off
springs of Hazarat Adam. No Arab has precedence over a non -Arab, no non-Arab
has precedence over an Arab, and no white has any precedence over a black and no
black has precedence over a white (Pakistan studies, 2004).
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said these words on hajatuyal-wida, the last sermon.
He declared that no human is superior to another or better than another in any way. Allah
and his prophet have made it very clear that all are equal in the eyes of the Lord.
Unfortunately, that is not the case when it comes to the people of the Lord.
Infrastructure of any community can tell us a lot about the lives of the public and this
was proven true in case of Youhanabad. From roads to market areas, from market areas to
houses it would not be wrong to say that Youhanabad is a very inadequate community.
Youhanabad is the largest Christian colony in Lahore. Even with so many people
living there the infrastructure and facilities available to the people of Youhanabad are not
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 17
even up to mark. Moreover, because of lack of infrastructure and facilities people of
Youhanabad encounter many problems while going about their daily routine.
When one visits Youhanabad he/she gets to experience firsthand what a lack of infrastructure
really means. As soon as a car enters the premises of Youhanabad it bounces high and makes
one hit his/her head on the roof of the car. Because where there should have be roads there
are only a wide enough path so the cars could pass (See appendix, picture A). However, of
the residences of the Youhanabad seem to think that the conditions of the roads are
satisfactory. (See appendix A, figure J)
A few of people standing around the market areas at the time of the visit were
interviewed and those interviews yielded a combination of different results. It is a known
fact that everyone has a different opinion but it was disappointing that people of Youhanabad
did not consider the lack of infrastructure and facilities as a big problem. They wanted to
discuss the bigger problems they face on the daily basis such as unemployment, religious
intolerance, education, crime rate. The only thing the people talked about with great zeal,
which came under the infrastructural problems was the water problem which according to
them was the biggest problem.
Door to door, survey revealed that in addition to the load shedding of electricity and
the load shedding of natural gas, load shedding of water is a common occurrence these days
in Youhanabad. Interviews also revealed that the shortage of water is not the only problem;
the problem is that whenever the water is coming it is not clean enough to drink. People with
resources have dealt with the water problem by privately installing small tube wells in their
homes. Sister Jenny Williams, Principal of Saint John Model School for boys in
Youhanabad, was the first one to bring forward this problem. She said that educating the
next generation is very important to her and for making children stay at school little more
comfortable she has also collected funds and used them to install a small hand pump so the
children can have access to clean water in the upcoming summer months. (Personal
communication, March 15, 2010) Saleem B.M, a retired air force officer, age 75, was
dressed in shalwar kamiz, welcomed us in our home and treated us to a cup of tea while he
explained to us how he had dealt with the water problem in the same way. (Personal
communication, March 15, 2010)
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 18
Health care is another basic facility. At first, it was believed that Youhanabad’s
people are well cared for. Because after every few stores there was a clinic, which promised
good health to, whoever stepped into their clinics.
“Not all the doctors are unqualified. The doctors that I take the elder sisters to are
very much qualified and seem to know what they our doing. But that cannot be said about all
the doctors offered by Youhanabad.” (J. Williams, personal communication, March 15,
2010).
All of the people replied in the same manner to the following question. Where do you take
the patients in case of emergencies? In addition, the answer was the same: General hospital.
Mr.Kamram Saleem, age 41, owner of private business, revealed that whenever there is any
major medical emergence people do not trust their or their families’ health to the doctors
available in Youhanabad. About 87% of the people in our sample agree that those emergency
cases are taken to the closest government hospital which is General hospital. (See appendix
A, figure J)
Most of the people living in Youhanabad are not what we term as being well of. They
do not have luxurious cars to take them from place to place in matter of seconds. In addition,
if the roads and the lack of better transportation are taken into account then General hospital
is too far away the best option for the people is that they take care of their health as to avoid
going to doctors at all. That is: Precaution is better than cure.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with the people of Youhanabad. After the
uncomfortable ride on our first visit to Youhanabad, the next thing we noticed was that
Youhanabad could not be called a clean community. After a few houses, there was an empty
plot, which was dumped with rubbish. It was not like the areas full of garbage was the only
place where one found the garbage. Youhanabad was littered with plastic bags, household
waste and so much more. There was a faint odor in the air, it was not unbearable, and not
something, which will make one cover ones nose, and it was just there indicating that there
was waste lying around. What do people do about all this junk that is lying around? “They
do not do anything about it. Why should they when it is the most convenient way for them to
get rid of their rubbish.” Replied Mr.Amanat John, age 41(Personal communication, March
15, 2010). Sister Jenny William said that the people throw their waste like this because it is
convenient, there is no one there to stop them from doing it, and there is no proper waste
disposal system (See appendix B, picture B).
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 19
There is not only the problem of rubbish lying around where there are children
playing but the sanitation system is to up to mark at all either. The drainage pipes seem to be
an alien concept when it comes to Youhanabad. The sewage pipes rather drains run along
the roads sides full of dirty water and garbage (See appendix, picture C). The most horrifying
thought was, what if the children fall into these drains while playing? Are not the citizens
aware that these open sewage drains full of dirty water house in them many diseases: such as
malaria, dengue fever? People do not seem to care. Sister Jenny William said that is not the
case. She said that she, Father Yaqub and Father Ashiq along with other few sisters
organized a small movement called “Green and Clean Youhanabad” which was to create
awareness among the people that it is their responsibility to keep Youhanabad clean, the
movement turned out to be quite a success because everyone participated in it women and
children alike. However, the things return to the way they were before the movement just
after a few days.
So are the basis goods like flour, rice, sugar, vegetables and so forth available on the
numerous general stores doing business in the vicinity? Yes. Every basis commodities for
daily use are readily available. This was confirmed with the help of the survey that was
carried out by all the members of the group. After splitting up, we took a sample of five
stores and asked them for a few household items. 67% of the people in our sample say yes
basis commodities are available in the general store (See appendix A, figure A).
It is the responsibility of the government to take care about the infrastructure
and basic facilities provided at residential area. Recently, Nazimship has been terminated
and there is no immediate incharge of this area currently. Therefore, the provincial minister
for minorities Mr. Kamran Michael was tried to approach several times but it turned out to be
mission impossible for due to his busy schedule, a meeting could not be arranged. Kamran
Michael had also been an immediate incharge of this colony some time before; nevertheless,
the Ex-Nazim or the last Nazim at Youhanabad; T. Tariq Javed Tariq, was approached, and
interviewed as a last resort that turned out to reveal the inside story of what steps were taken
by the government to uplift this area.
Tariq J. Tariq was elected as the Nazim for Youhanabad and surrounding towns in
2004. He continued to be the Nazim for 4 years and again in 2008, was selected again by the
people. According to him, he was the first Christian Nazim for any colony in the history of
Pakistan.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 20
Upon investigating the reasons for such terrible conditions related to infrastructure
and facilities at Youhanabad and what government had been doing to uplift the area, the
answer was quite political. As before 2004, there used to be a separate election system in
Pakistan, where a handful number of candidates from the Christian minority would be
selected for five minority seats in the provincial assemblies and four in the National
Assembly. Only Christian citizens were allowed to vote them and those five Ministers of
Provincial Assembly were responsible to take care of Christian colonies in the whole
province. Now, for instance, if a Muslim MPA from one these areas’ unions was selected as
an MPA(Member of Provincial Assembly) or MNA (Member of National Assembly), then he
would not do any constructive work for Christian societies since Christians would not have
voted him rather just Christian representatives. However, the system was changed during
President Musharaf’s reign and a Joint Election system was selected where regardless of
religion, any citizen, whether Christian or Muslim, was able to vote any representative from
that area, again regardless of religion. For instance, Ch. Mansha Sandhu was the MPA from
the union including Youhanabad, and this time he had Christian voters too, which encouraged
him to work for Christian colonies such as Youhanabad. Therefore, according to his answer,
from 1955, with the efforts of the catholic church called, Karitaas, this society was formed
and till then, due to separate election system, no constructive work was done for this area till
2004, when joint election system was introduced. (T. Tariq, personal communication April 7,
2010)
The main sewage system in Youhanabad was established in 2004, when the former
Nazim Tariq J. Tariq requested the former Governor, Mr. Khalid Maqbool, for the
development of a main sewage system in Youhanabad. During the interview, when the
former Nazim heard us calling the current sewage system as pathetic, said that it is better than
before. “If you had visited Youhanabad in 2004 or before, even this sewage system was
unavailable and it was because of his team’s efforts that we could see at least an average
sewage system there,” said the former Nazim. (T. Tariq, personal communication, April 7,
2010). Although, it was clearly observed that there was an open sewage system going along
the road creating diseases amongst the people around.
The roads are already uneven in Youhanabad, and further to worsen the condition,
houses are build in a very irregular way creating hurdles on the way along the road. Here, a
weak perspective was given by the representative of the government. According to him,
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 21
there were many private estate agencies working in Youhanabad, and due to their corruption,
a very irregular infrastructure was observed in the area. “We, being part of the government
are also people’s elected representatives, hence we cannot force them to leave their homes
and construct the infrastructure all over again” said the former Nazim. Once again, if this
place were visited before 2004, the roads would not allow a car to enter the area from the
main side.
All the respondents of this research expressed that the water coming from WASA was
not fit for human consumption. Therefore, while helping themselves, the residents of the
community have made a “Consumer Usage Community” which has installed five tube wells
for this area, which is used by the majority of the residents. Again, its water was not fit for
human consumption. Again, a lame answer was given in this regard from the authority. (T.
Tariq, personal communication, April 7, 2010)
Government’s steps for this area were not plausible at all. Likewise, Youhanabad is
not the only area with terrible conditions but there is big list of those areas. It is not only the
Christian community that is suffering but also majority of Muslim population encounters the
same problems in Pakistan in many areas. This was the reason given by the former Nazim
where he mentioned that he would request the government many times but government could
not meet their expectation due to improper allocation of funds and attention to all the areas.
Here, he did not consider his Christian community the only one suffering and it was true
since many other colonies in Lahore and all over Pakistan is under-developed.
Employment Discrimination
While researching on several domains on the problems of Christian minority in
Lahore, and particularly in Youhanabad, another area of study was found relating to
employment of this minority in organizations and home. Being employed is the best way to
make one’s life better. Employment gives the opportunity to a person to live a respectful and
a healthier life. It elates the status of a working individual in the society and makes him/her
able to feed his family. Unfortunately, it has been observed that based on religion, the
Christian minority of Pakistan, has to face discrimination at work place in many respects.
They are called by different other names rather their very own names. Muslim employees do
not eat with them based on their religion while it is very acceptable in terms of Islam. This
situation is more prevalent in Government institutions as there is weak enforcement of
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 22
Human Resources and human rights’ laws, while in multi-nationals and other private
organizations where rights of employees are taken special care of , this situation is minimal.
According to the constitution of Pakistan, minorities are not allowed to be promoted as the
Prime minister, president, and chief of army staff, which is the greatest example of
discrimination at the government level. Religious fanatics deny jobs to the deserving
Christians and thus, the discrimination results in a dark future for this minority and they have
no other ways but to resort to evil. Employment discrimination at many different places has
been taken into consideration to analyze the causes, affects and of course possible solutions
to bring about prosperity within the rejected communities of our nation.
A considerable number of women are seen working in middle, upper middle and
upper class homes. An investigation to figure out the reasons for these women to work in
homes as janitors was carried out. One such woman at one of the group member’s home was
interviewed to reveal the tragedy urging them to work at low wages in homes. Rani Yousuf
or Rani Aunty (as she was called at home), 42, a janitor, revealed the truth about her husband
completing his days in the jail for her husband was not able to find a healthy employment and
was arrested in a robbery case. The prime reason for him, as she further expressed, resorting
to robbery was not to be able to find the suitable employment that could feed him and his
family of five children. “No body listens to us, we are treated in the society as untouchables,
what else we should do then,” she maintained. (R. Yousuf, personal communication, March
20, 2010). Consequently, she had no other option but to find a low waged job and work as a
janitor at a few homes during the daytime.
It was further proven true when a locale from the area, crude by face, living there for
more than 25 years now, explained the reasons for such a high unemployment rate at
Youhanabad. He did not have to reveal one reason only but many of them. When
individuals from this area go ahead and apply for jobs, and because of Christian surnames,
are denied because these employers do not want a Christian at their work place for which, as
he sarcastically exploded, they might have to arrange separate teacups, glasses, plates and
even seats, said Mr. John (personal communication, March 15, 2010). This intense social
discrimination at workplace is the cause of this religious minority left alone at their homes
doing nothing constructive about their lives. Mackay, M. (2006) mentions the same situation
in her article,
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 23
The reason Pakistani Christians do not obtain dignified jobs is not their inability to
measure up to the criteria laid down for the jobs. Rather, in most cases, it is the
hardened and intolerant mindsets of employers that thwart their upward social
mobility.
70% respondents from the sample survey also supported this argument when they
were questioned about the first reason for them to be discriminated and it was religion. (See
Appendix A, figure F).
While visiting the locality, Youhanabad, it was observed that a considerable number
of young boys had gathered at snooker clubs, video game centers, and internet cafés.
Apparently, they were college going young boys. The time at which the visit was made, they
should have been studying at colleges or universities, but they were found involved in useless
activities. On investigating from a locale, John A., it was explained that these boys could not
find any job in the market and therefore were playing around in those areas while their sisters
and mothers would have to take the charge and find any way of earning money; let it be a job
or prostitution (John A., personal communication, March 15, 2010).
Moreover, due to them being not provided with the rights they deserve, Christian
citizens face a mental trauma of being totally neglected in the society. Due to this fact, they
have lost the spirit and are mentally discouraged to struggle, which ends landing on a janitor
job or a brick maker. The authority, who was interviewed, had to make it another reason for
the young boys who should have been at colleges or universities at the time of the visit; but
were just roaming around snooker clubs and video game centers having the psyche that they
had no future at all. Therefore, despite social discrimination, mentally not focused to struggle
was another major reason for their failure. (Ex-Nazim Youhanabad, Tariq J.T, personal
communication, April 7, 2010)
Again, while discussing the issues at Youhanabad with Amanat John, he established
that due to these people not getting proper employment rights, resulting into unemployment
and drug addiction, it has been engraved in their minds that they will not be able to prosper in
the society and thus engage in permanent inferiority complex. Nevertheless, success stories
tell us that to succeed in life; one has to keep on trying until they make it to their destination.
The spirit lacks in most of these people, which makes their lives miserable.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 24
Enough has been said about Christians not getting into organizations because of their
religion. However, it cannot be interpreted that none of them land any jobs. The research
team also tried to investigate how are these people treated once they are a part of some
organization. There were different answers based on the respondents’ experiences, for some
had not been provided with the rights they deserved as an employee and some had to face
discrimination amongst their colleagues while others were disappointed for they were never
promoted to higher positions. It was not as if everyone was just disappointed, 6% of
respondents were happy, as they were highly educated and working with multi-nationals
where the situation is a lot better than the rest. It is important to note that a comparatively
higher percentage (56%) of respondents shared the fact that they were discriminated amongst
their fellow colleagues (See, Appendix A, figure L). For instance, they would be called by
the name “Churra” by the people working there and it is enough to humiliate any one
regardless of faith and creed in Pakistani Culture. (Ex-Nazim Youhanabad Tariq T.J,
personal communication, April 7, 2010)
Crimes and Drugs in Youhanabad
Through ages man has been the cause of his own destruction, whether it be war or
other such related disasters, it initiation was conducted by man himself. The area that is
covered in this section is “Crimes and Drugs in Youhanabad”.
The first impression of the area of Youhanabad is that it’s an area with Christian
majority present on the outskirts of Lahore, but it is not only home to half a million Christians
but also a very important spot for most of the drug dealings taking place in the city.
Consequently numerous trips were made to find and research on the happenings in the area
but to no effort the desired results were obtained. So in the end it was decided to visit the
place when most action took place, night. At night Youhanabad is a very different place,
unlike the mornings when the streets are bustling with schoolchildren and people going about
their routine work, night is dark and quite. The same streets that are filled with noise of
children playing in the daylight are now silenced as men perform their dark arts by selling
powder that brings only destruction. Opium, available in almost all its forms, with prices
starting from just Rs.6 and going up to Rs.10000. But this is not the horrifying part, what is
more shocking is to observe such a large crowd of men , old and young gathered around the
vendors of death to buy this powder of destruction.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 25
So now the major question the popped up was, why? , what were the reasons that
such a mass number of people in a locality were indulged in such vices , to find the
answers ,meeting with the authority regarding the matter had to be made. The first try was to
meet the in charge of the district police station(Nishtar Colony Station) which lies on the
Kasur road, but to utter dismay, every time the visit was made to the station the same answer
came, “Sir is on duty he won’t be returning early”. After this unsuccessful feat the major
objective was now to investigate the local authorities and residents. Amanat John, 41, a
resident of youhanabad had this to say,
“You must have observed all these young boys standing by the road sides doing
nothing when they should be in colleges or doing jobs at this time of the day, well let
me tell you one thing, it’s not their fault they are here right now, they are here because
of the society. It’s not like this that these people are not educated, more than half will
understand and reply in English but every day when they leave there house to find
employment they end up becoming targets of discrimination and returning home
without any jobs or money, empty handed. So what is left to be done now, either they
try to engulf their daily life misery by taking drugs or resorting to thievery”. (Personal
Communication, February 20, 2010)
This is true. 45% of the people who were interviewed on the matter were unemployed
and almost 63% of families were facing the problem of having a drug addict in their family.
Now to find out the relationship between education, unemployment and, crimes in the
area, a trip was made to the local catholic school:
“Well education will only take you this far (showing a box on her index finger), said
Sister Jenny Williams, the principal of Saint John Model school for boys in
Youhanabad, but to survive and flourish you need a job and that’s what these young
people are deprived from, it is not only these young people who face this
discrimination but Christians of all ages face this. We are referred to as Yahood-o-
Nisara and the mullahs teach not to trust us, when such ideas are circulating in the
community how do expect our people to get any success in any field , this is the
reason that then leads these people to resort to crimes and wrongdoings”.(Personal
Communication 7th March 2010)
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 26
It is said, that to achieve success you have to look outside the box. On conducting the
research various unanswered questions popped up; who is and how Youhanabad is being
supplied with drugs and to what level is this web of narcotics spread out. To look into the
matter the first thing that was undertaken was the recording of ideas of willing volunteer
residents, who were not afraid to share or discuss the matter with us, one such popular idea
that circulated was that most of the drugs were brought in from the annual gathering in
Raiwand. Now this was quite an odd piece of thought, to research on as the gathering was
strictly religious, so to get a second opinion on the matter, Jamshed Afzal, a math teacher in
Beaconhouse Garden Town School and regular participant in this gathering was consulted.
On asking the question he replied , “Well it’s not new to hear drugs being associated with
such a prestigious gathering , but I will admit , Yes , drug trafficking might be taking place
there as there is no security check there and people come there from all places and origins”.
(Personal Communication) Now the puzzle was starting to solve itself. It is widely known
that the gathering at Riwand is attended by millions of Muslims coming in from Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan etc. and that no proper check and balance was made on the caravans’ arriving. So
now the source of drug transportation was known. The only major question now that was left
was: Why was Youhanabad made the hot spot for the trafficking of these drugs? The answer
was simple. Non Muslim communities have no legal barriers on them from the constitution
regarding the issue of alcohol or related material, and it is this very law that is raped by these
drug traffickers to get there material into a safe spot where the check and balance of the
government is minimal.
So this is the whole game plan, the innocent Christian community of Youhanabad is
being used and framed by these drug traffickers. True that discrimination is present there, but
the drug lords involved here have promoted the negative image of these people. Of course
when there is no bread to feed the family and every day the whole family suffers because of a
few responsible members there are only two ways left either to resort to illegal way of
fulfilling the family’s needs or to kill oneself by either committing suicide or slowly; by
taking drugs.
Another related problem that came up during this research was that many people complained
during interview sessions about the presence of land mafia. Now this was another very
interesting issue; the land mafia like the drug mafia is operating very cleanly in the area
without any check from the authorities. Saleem Bahdur, 62, a retired Pakistan Air force pilot
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 27
in an interview said,”I served the country for 45years, and it took me all my life’s saving to
build this house here in Youhanabad, but there are smugglers and thieves here who have
occupied hundreds of houses here and they use them as bases of their loot and dirty work and
many of these occupied house are bases of prostitution in this area. Its outrageous how they
operate, first they loan the poor people with money to be repaid in a short time period, when
these poor souls can’t repay these animals, and they just come and empty their houses and
drag the families to the street.”
At this point, it was realized that there was no point continuing the research without
getting the view of the authority. The Nishtar Colony police station on kasur road was the
only station in the locality and Youhanabad fell under its responsibility and as the authority
had been reluctant before to give any views on the matter, so it was decided to request some
senior officials and have the meeting arranged. Finally the meeting was arranged on the
evening of 24th March 2010 with special help from Brigadier Naeem Butt. The main reason of
this meeting was to ask the police in charge there, that what they were doing for the well
being of people of Youhanabad. The terms of this meeting were on the basis of keeping the
source anonymity and that no electronic gadgets were to be used to record the interview.
These terms and conditions were agreed upon and finally after a long wait, the meeting took
place with the one law enforcement authority who could be questioned on the issue of crimes
and drugs in Youhanabad. On asking what was being done in the area for the people of
Youhanabad, the overweight officer replied “you should not ask that question, what you
should ask is what have we not done for the people of Youhanabad. My men are always
patrolling the streets undercover and wherever we sense mischief we arrest those people”. On
asking the situation of drugs and land mafia he replied “what mafia are you talking about? In
8 years of my duty here I have not seen a single drug case in Youhanabad except for the
occasional homemade wine issues which pop out once in a blue moon, but mind you, we take
strict action on that issue too”. (Personal Communication) The interview with the senior
official took almost an hour, and the one authority who could have given breakthroughs in
this research, looped out. It would be appropriate to say after meeting the official that this
interview had been a total waste of time.
Who are these authorities trying to befool? Such white lies over facts that even a blind
man could distinguish. Just 1 hour later at 8:15pm on the same date after conducting the
interview of the police official a trip was again made to Youhanabad to find the streets loaded
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 28
with sales men for drugs of your choice. Now to get some solid answers from local
authorities, the Ex-nazim of Youhanabad Tariq Javed Tariq was contacted and after a lot of
problems the interview was finally arranged. On asking his view on the matter of drugs in
Youhanabad he replied:
“Well yes, I am aware of the fact that many drug dealers are operating in
Youhanabad, but what can I do? We tried to convince the local authorities to take
action on the matter but they do not budge, and to be honest this is not my job. I
informed the police and that is the maximum I can do. I can’t take any personal
actions because to be very frank I can’t distort my image because at the end of the day
I became nazim from their votes.” (Personal Communication, April 7, 2010)
This was pathetic; there is no law and order in the area. The one authority that the
people can trust to be un-biased and helpful in curbing their misery is itself involved in
helping the drug mafia in continuing its dirty work. After the meeting with the police official
and the Ex-nazim it was now starting to become clear that, the rumors that kept coming up
about police official being involved in this drug business were true. This also meant that the
fact outlined by the people regarding the police accepting bribery from these drug sellers, and
then faking innocent people as mischief-makers, arresting them, and then asking their
families for large amount to bail them out, were true. In addition, what do the poor who have
no money do? They borrow it, and later end up losing their properties and valuables to the
land mafia and rewinding the whole cycle. In simpler terms, the whole game revolves around
the looting and plundering of the poor Christian minority of Youhanabad who cannot even
fight freely for their own basic rights in the society.
The Christian minority in Pakistan is under constant pressure at all times. Not only
are they facing acts of discrimination and constant fake accusations of blasphemy against
Islam but also they are facing high inflation rates with the rest of the country. Such problems
are the major reason that crimes such as drugs, theft, and prostitution are very high in their
community. No laws enforcement authorities are acting properly in large Christian societies
such as Youhanabad. It is the job of the Pakistan government that they should look into the
matter and take serious action on such problems taking place within the minorities.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 29
Conclusion
The purpose of this intensive research paper was to investigate the conditions of the
said area, Youhanabad, which was fulfilled to its maximum capacity undertaking all the
limitations on hand. Youhanabad happened to be a volatile community having people with
great talent and latent spirit to count towards their own betterment and society. However,
they are not able to accomplish their endeavors; thanks to the discrimination and facilities
provided to them. While carrying out this research, it was concluded that discrimination,
unavailability of proper education, leading to unemployment were the primary causes for the
individuals of this community to resort to illegal acts like robbery and drug addiction. The
infrastructure is much ruptured as there are no proper roads, houses and buildings in this area,
which is doing nothing but adding misery to the lives of people of Youhanabad.
Furthermore, the constant negligence by the authorities and discrimination from the society’s
part have caused these Christians of Youhanabad lose hope and motivation for a better future.
Recommendations
Currently there is only 3% representation of religious minority in the parliament it
should be increased to at least 5-10%.
Awareness campaigns should be run for the awareness that all people have equal
rights.
The negative image promotes by Mulahs is absurd and should be banned by the
Government.
It came to our notice that the people of Youhanabad are not unwilling to work for the
betterment of their community. Lack of leadership is the main problem and this can
be solved by promoting educated figures in the minority so that they might set
examples from within their communities.
It would be much better if the MPA of the area is someone who lives in the vicinity
and coming from the same level so that he has the picture of the problems in
Youhanabad, only than would he be able to understand and try to solve the problem
that people encounter in their daily life due to the lack of infrastructure.
The dirty water that is in the open sewages and flows on to the streets, whenever it
rains and makes it difficult for the people to walk on the streets, so sewages should be
covered up in order to avoid dangerous diseases which result from the dirty water.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 30
In order to improve the educational conditions in Youhanabad the government has to
play its effective part. It should open public schools there as they are the citizens of
Pakistan too and deserve a lot better than what they are now getting.
The government has to make a proper check to those schools in Youhanabad who
are exploiting the Christian children and their parents. Also it’s the responsibility of
the government to help those institutions that are making an effort to promote
education but are unable to do so because of lack of funds. As the results of
questionnaire shows that the major problem behind the poor educational conditions
are the lack of funds. (See appendix A, figure K). In order to hearten the teachers
they should be given salaries according to their qualifications. All the above
measures have to be taken to provide equal opportunities to Christian people so that
they can secure their future as well as the future of Pakistan.
Strict HR laws in the organizations should be implemented to protect the
discrimination against any religious minorities.
Awareness campaigns in the organizations should be inducted in order to bring people
of all religions together.
There should be tighter law enforcement implementation by the government in these
minority-inhabited areas so that the rights of these people are not misused.
Law enforcement authorities like Police should properly perform their duties in these
areas.
People should be educated on the use and abuse of drugs and NGOs along with
government should open rehabilitation programs that not only help the already present
drug addicts return to normal life but also help promote the eradication of these drugs.
CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN CITIZENS FOCUSING YOUHANABAD 31
References
Christian minority in Pakistan, Issues and Options, (2008). In PSRU. Retrieved 05 March, 2010 from spaces.brad.ac.uk:8080/download/attachments/748/Brief+37.pdf
Ahmed, B., Iftikhar, S. [Eds], (2004).Pakistan Studies: for Class 10th. (p. 17) Lahore; Punjab text board.
Ahmed, B., Iftikhar, S. [Eds], (2004).Pakistan Studies. : for Class 10th (p. 28) Lahore; Punjab text board.
Employment Discrimination against Christians Remains Chronic in Pakistan, (2006). In Christian Today. Retrieved 05 March, 2010 from http://www.christiantoday.com/article/employment.discrimination.against.christians.remains.chronic.in.pakistan/8433.htm
National Education Policy 2009 infringes religious freedom of non- Muslims students - NCJP by Peter Jacob, (2009). In Pakistan Christian Post. Retrieved 05 March, 2010 from http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/morenewsviews.php
Shazia case accused remanded in custody, (2010). In Dawn. Retrieved 05 March, 2010 from http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/16-shazia-case-accused-remanded-in-custody-hs-06