Home, not any time soon!

When the story of the Badami Bagh incident broke, Joseph Town was described as a war-ravaged little colony on the outskirts of Pakistan’s bustling city, Lahore. Even as our television screens were filled with the horror of what was unfolding before our very eyes and the social media was abuzz with condemnation and anger, Joseph Town remained just that; a burnt locality far-removed from our everyday lives. Life went on. Condolences and support poured in on the media from politicians, activists and human rights groups. But what did that all mean to the families who lost everything in a few short hours?

200 HOMES IN FOUR DAYS?

Four days after mobs burnt down at least 200 Christian homes in Joseph Colony of Badami Bagh, the Christian citizens of the locality are beginning to pick up pieces of what little is left. Among the waiting crowds are the Punjab government construction workers. They seem pessimistic about completing the four-day deadline.

Talking to Pakistan Today, sub engineer Nek Alam said, “It is doubtful that we will be able to complete construction work within the stipulated time. Some houses need to be reconstructed completely. That will obviously take us longer than four days.”

Furthermore, he said that the houses that still remain intact will be reworked completely as citizens had requested to lift the floors to avoid rainwater that collected in their homes every monsoon. “With all the work that we are doing, I don’t see how we will be completing this project anytime soon. Realistically, it will take us at least one to two months.”

PILED HOMELESSNESS:

Meanwhile, little tents erected along the sides of road are filled with women and children. Their big, inquisitive eyes follow the big city people who arrive with food and water. They aren’t fearful of talking to journalists about what happened to them. Their eagerness to talk is not a deliberate attempt to gain sympathy for they seem to be aware of the magnitude of what has happened to them. Instead of making underhanded attempts to seek compassion for their plight, the families seem to be looking forward.

Lying on a charpoy in her tiny yellow tent, Sheila, 56, talking to Pakistan Today, said, “At this point, I don’t really care what anyone says. I lost my house. The government said they will build us another. I will believe their word and wait for the day when I can move back home again.”

‘WHAT WAS OUR FAULT?’

The little community seemed to have resigned themselves to the fact that angry mobs had burned down their homes because of an argument between a Muslim and a Christian. It is as if they had failed to register the sheer injustice of their plight.

Everyone in the community had the same version of the story. On Thursday night, two men, one Christian, one Muslim, had gotten drunk and ended up arguing. The next thing they knew, the local police was ordering the Christian citizens to evacuate the area. But what was the reason the police gave for the immediate evacuation?

“They said that we should get out of here as soon as possible if we wanted to save our women,” said Imran, while talking to Pakistan Today.

Panic ensued in the wake of the terrifying warning and scared families packed hastily packed their bags, locked their homes and left. Perhaps they thought that the evacuation was temporary, that they would come back home after the matter was resolved. They were wrong. The matter did not die overnight. Instead, mobs showed up the next day and burned down everything within sight. The families literally came back to nothing.

REMNANTS OF LIFE:

Now, as Punjab government hastens to rebuild their homes, remnants of that tragic day are still present in the tiny streets of Joseph Town. Shattered glass bangles, broken medicine bottles, aged photographs and blackened toys litter the tiny passages. On one side of the street is a burnt rickshaw, charred beyond repair. Big chunks of wood of what was once a bed is lined up outside one house.

THE ROLE OF A POSSIBLE MAFIA:

While no one dared to express anger at the growing religious intolerance prevailing in the country, there were grumblings within the community of the role of factory owners nearby.

“They asked us to sell our land to them 3 years ago,” Asif said, while talking to Pakistan Today. “We refused to sell, but they made repeated several offers over the years.”

This raises the question of the presence of a powerful land mafia in the area. It paints an alarming picture of how the powerful industrialist could bank on the religious sentiment in the country to forcibly evacuate people from their homes. By hook, or by crook.

OF BROTHERHOOD AND PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE:

“We never had any problems before this, and certainly never at this scale,” said Anita. “I’ve been living here for 30 years, my parents even longer than that. There were Christians and there were Muslims and we lived in harmony.”

Other citizens voiced the same idea of communal piece in the area. However, in the wake of Badami Bagh tragedy, the Muslim citizens of the area remained absent from rehabilitation efforts – a fact that did not go by unnoticed by their Christian neighbors.

When asked what the Muslim community of the area had done to provide relief, Azeem, Monika and Shagufta shifted their feet uneasily and admitted, “They haven’t done anything.” They seemed to harbor no grudge.

STILL HOPEFUL?:

They were also hopeful about the construction efforts in their area. They were satisfied with the efforts of the Punjab government, even though they admitted that the cheques distributed to them by the chief minister had not yet been cleared. Imran said that the chief minister’s office had told him that it would take a month for clearance.

When asked whether his community would still vote for Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the upcoming general elections, Sadiq shrugged and said, “It is too soon to tell. Yes, they failed to protect our properties when we really needed them, but they acted swiftly in the aftermath. Once this settles down, the elders of our community will sit together and decide where our votes will go.”