As result of the lethargic attitude of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), the graveyard reserved for Christians decades ago at Sector H/9 in the federal capital is fast turning into a jungle with most of the graves covered by wild weeds and grass.
The graveyard, commonly known as “Maseehi Qabristan” has been closed down for burials for the last ten years as it has no room to accommodate the bodies. The graveyard comprises 12 plots, with a capacity of 128 graves each. Several churches also organise their religious functions at the graveyard but have to face a lot of problems because of poor condition.
The caretaker of the graveyard, Nazir Masih, told Pakistan Today that the graveyard was established 20 years back and he had been serving there since then. “Relatives of the deceased people often visit the graveyard and always blame me and my family for wild weeds and grass,” he said, adding that the reality was totally different and they were facing the brunt of CDA’s negligence.
He said the CDA was responsible to ensure cleanliness in the graveyard and to remove wild weeds from the area. “I am only supposed to dig out the graves or to restructure them as per demands of the relatives,” Nazir said. According to the caretaker, the CDA gardeners visit the graveyard but do not work efficiently. The situation of other three graveyards of minorities in Sector H/9, he said, was also not too much different, adding that another graveyard of Christian community was also in depleted condition and without light for the last four years.
Wild grass has covered all the paths of the graveyard, making it difficult to even to walk from one corner of the graveyard to another. “The CDA has allocated land for the minority graveyard at another place but might forget to prevent the sanctity of the older one,” said Javed Masih, a visitor. The attitude of the city’s prime agency showed its discriminatory attitude towards minorities, he added.
CDA spokesman Ramzan Sajid was not available for his comments despite repeated attempts.
