24 Christian families demand allotment of plots

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Twenty-four Christian families have requested the prime minister and the chief justice of Pakistan to help them procure three-marla plots that had been promised to them after their homes were demolished in 1992.

They added that despite four court orders passed by the Lahore High Court (LHC), they were not allotted plots.

In a petition addressed to the prime minister and the chief justice of Pakistan, their representative Dr Yaqoob Bhatti said the 24 affected families were the old residents of Christian Colony, Bhekeywal, Nizam Block and Link Wahdat Road.

“Certain elements made the LDA demolish their houses and a church without any notice in 1992. The families were manhandled for putting up resistance,” he added.

He added that the Christian community had protested in front of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat in GOR-I and the then members of the provincial assembly, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Adil Sharif, conveyed the injustice to chief minister Mian Manzoor Wattoo. Upon his orders, the LDA director general had allotted three-marla plots to the 24 families in Khyber Block, Nadeem Shaheed Road and Allama Iqbal Town as a compensation.

He added that the families had paid the price of these plots to the LDA on Jan 24 1998, but the LDA did not hand over possession of the plots to them.

He stressed that the constitution had granted them equal rights which were being denied the Christian families and their community had time and again appealed to former chief minister Shahbaz Sharif to grant them their legal right.