Pakistan Christians demand housing quota for poor

(May 4, 2010) Pakistan’s Christian leaders are demanding a five percent quota in the upcoming provincial government housing schemes for the poor. More than 100 Christian political and social leaders signed a May 2 appeal by the Pakistan Minorities’ Democratic Movement to Shahbaz Sharif, the Punjab province chief minister. The petition appreciated initiatives of the “minority-friendly minister” for poor rural people. “(Religious) minorities comprise the most impoverished segment in the country. Our party demands allocating five percent quota for minorities in the two housing schemes soon to be launched. This will make them feel part of the nation. We are awaiting the good news,” the Christians said in their appeal. About 80 percent of the Christians in Pakistan live in Punjab, the most populous of the country’s four provinces. The Punjab government in late April announced plans to launch two housing schemes. Government sources say plots will be given at subsidized rates. The government has allocated a 20 percent quota for widows and orphans, five percent for the handicap and five percent for families of soldiers who died fighting terrorism. Christians, including 1.3 million Catholics, account for less than 2 percent of Pakistan’s 160 million people, 95 percent of whom are Muslims.