Pakistani media are boasting of reaching into understanding with Norway to “jointly work to prevent growing incidents of Islamophobia in the world”, the New International said, Christian community is forced to bury five to 10 bodies in a single grave that is already filled with skeletons and bones as there are four graveyards for more than 70,000 Christians living in Peshawar and other cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to Pakistani media, its Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his Norwegian counterpart Anniken Huitfeldt on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference in Germany “reiterated to promote bilateral cooperation” and “jointly work to prevent incidents of Islamophobia in the world”. It may be mentioned here that, Bilawal Bhutto, who had hit news headlines in 2011 when his secret romance with Hina Rabbani Khar, now his junior minister is putting more emphasis on Islamophobia and anti-India propaganda during each of his foreign tours instead of helping Pakistan from saving its fate from an inevitable bankruptcy.
Islamabad is already offering its oil refineries and few more large business and industrial establishments to potential foreign buyers, while it is advancing negotiations with the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, mass people who are badly hit by the ongoing acute economic crises are demanding selling amusement facilities, such as polo grounds, which are used by the members of Pakistan Army, wealthy politicians and businessmen. People also are demanding slicing the ongoing defense budget and stopping members of the Pakistan Army from “living kingly lives”, while the country has already gone bankrupt.
Meanwhile, talking to CNBC, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari openly admitted that his country was in “perfect storm” and Pakistan is currently facing “harsh economic times”.
Answering a question about the perception that Pakistan’s military is the final decision maker in what happens in the country, Bilawal admitted the possibility of Pakistan once again going under military rule stating, “at the moment the country is in a period of transition and it could either way. It could mean a success and strengthening of democratic forces or it could mean the success and strengthening of unconstitutional and undemocratic forces”.
Pakistan denies burial spaces to Christians
As Pakistan is an Islamic republic, under its state policy, non-Muslims are referred to as kaffirs (infidels), while it does not guarantee any rights to religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis. Because of the step-motherly attitude of the state machinery, the Christian and Hindu community in Pakistan already face serious human rights abuses including forced conversions and bogus accusations of blasphemy. Now comes news that the Christians in Pakistan are allotted so little burial space that they are forced to bury five to 10 bodies in a single grave that is already filled with skeletons and bones – in other words, mass graves.
According to media reports, Christian community is forced to burry five to 10 bodies in a single grave that is already filled with skeletons and bones as there are four graveyards for more than 70,000 Christians living in Peshawar and other cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, The News International reported citing members.
Augustin Jacob, a representative of the Christian community in Peshawar, said that old graves are being dug up and used for burying the dead.
He said that no attention has been paid to this aspect due to the increased population rate, as per the news report. He said that there have been discussions with the government, however, the authority’s talk of giving land outside the city for graveyards could cause more issues for the Christian community. “If the administration gives us space, it is outside of Peshawar. It is difficult for people to survive in these economic conditions and it is also difficult to bear the expenses incurred on the burial of a dead”, Augustin Jacob said.
Jacob said that the Christian community needs a place in the city where people can reach easily. He said most of the Christians living in the region belong to the working class and cannot afford to purchase land for the new graveyard. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa allocated Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 75 million for the construction of five cremation grounds for the Hindu community and the creation of seven graveyards for Christians in March 2019, as per the news report.
However, the local Muslim community is not allowing them to construct a graveyard for Christians.
