ICC Note: A Christian neighborhood in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Peshawar has complained their community is being used as the city’s trash dump. Christian residents, who are often related to working as street sweepers due to widespread discrimination, complain that their community is left littered with garbage by local authorities who dump the trash there in large heaps. Will the local authorities take notice of this difficult situation faced by these Christians?
05/24/2018 Pakistan (Christians in Pakistan) – Residents of Peshawar’s Christian Colony wallow in the municipality’s neglect. The garbage from the entire city is dumped in their neighborhood. The unsanitary and foul conditions are causing trouble for the occupants of the Christian Colony. In this regard, Christian activist Yasir Bhatti said that, “Christian community who cleans the entire city is forced to live [in] a place which is a garbage disposal site.”
Christian Colony nestled on the Ring Road, is a predominantly Christian neighborhood, where heaps of garbage can be seen everywhere. The residents complain of the negligence from the concerned authorities as the municipality dumps waste in the colony.
The roads and other parts of the colony remain littered; the neighborhood has severe garbage disposal problem. The problem is not limited to just dumping of the waste; soon after the waste is disposed of, cows, dogs and birds begin gorging on the trash. As a result, the waste is scattered everywhere.
Christian activists joined the residents in raising their voice against this blatant negligence displayed by the Peshawar administration. They urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa to take notice of their pathetic situation in the Christian Colony.
“Today I urge the Chief Justice of Pakistan and Army Chief to have pity on us… for God’s sake. I request you to visit us once. Spend some time with us… the role of Christians in the establishment of Pakistan is not a hidden from anyone.”
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