Christian slums in Pakistan targeted

Human rights activists slammed Islamabad authorities on Thursday after court documents showed the Pakistani capital’s development body had cracked down on illegal slums because it feared their growing Christian population would threaten the city’s Muslim majority.

In 2014 the capital development authority declared a war against illegal slums in leafy, affluent Islamabad, saying the areas — largely populated by Christians and Afghan refugees — are illegal and havens for militants. The drive rendered hundreds homeless and stirred anger with demonstrations held to try to stop the bulldozers.

The left-wing Awami Workers Party (AWP) launched a Supreme Court bid against the drive, with the court ordering written justification from the CDA for its actions.

In the reply submitted this week - which has also been criticised for its poor English - the CDA states: “It seems this pace of occupation of land by Christian community may increase... Removal of katchi abadies is very urgent to provide better environment to the citizen of Islamabad and to protect the beauty of Islam”. The report sparked a swift backlash, with rights activists holding a rally in the capital against what they call the “discriminatory” stance.

Ammar Rashid of the AWP told AFP the move was “old- fashioned bigotry against minorities and working classes”.

“The administrative body has no right to be making decisions about the religious demography of Islamabad,” he said.