Many Christians living in the southern part of Pakistan's Punjab province who lost their houses in last year's floods are still homeless, according to Christians in the area. This is despite plans by the Punjab government to allocate land to residents of the area. Hameed Masih, a resident of Kot Addu in Muzaffargarh district, said that the provincial government has not set a quota for allotting land to members of the minority communities made homeless by the devastating floods that began in late July 2010.
The list of homeless people was compiled by local property tax officials and they did not do it fairly, said another Christian, Sarwar Masih. A Christian identified only by first name, Wasim, who is the minority coordinator in Kot Addu, added that there was an owner of 22 acres of agricultural land who has been allotted more land under the government's rehabilitation plan.
Napoleon Qayyum, a minority rights activist and leader of the minority wing of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said that according to the Constitution of Pakistan, minorities must have a five percent quota in all plans prepared by the government. He added that the Punjab government should also abide by this quota. Officials from the local administration responded to the allegations by saying that they were not directly involved in handling the flood rehabilitation and that the plots were allocated to people through a lottery.
Source: Compass Direct News
