Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - The Federal Ministry for Harmony intends to undertake programs of education and formation to improve the condition of women in the Christian community in Pakistan. This is what Paul Bhatti, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, for harmony and religious minorities, with the rank of Federal Minister told Fides. Bhatti, brother of the Catholic minister Shahbaz Bhatti, killed a year ago in Islamabad, said: "starting to work, access to education, the opportunity to learn a profession, are crucial to give dignity and develop the status of women belonging to religious minorities in Pakistan." In particular, in the city of Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, there are at least twelve district ghettos (called "colonies") in which Christian communities live in abject poverty and lacking in services such as electricity, water, toilets. One of the most famous is the "France Colony" where more than 600 Christian families have been living for over 30 years. Minister Shahbaz, to improve the lives of the faithful in the colony, which they occupied illegally 30 years ago, had managed to get Christians to the legal title of ownership of houses, built without permits. Today, the final solution would be "to move them to another equipped area, providing them more organized and decent housing," notes Paul Bhatti, called to continue his brother’s work. But the inhabitants of the France Colony reject this solution, because the area where they have been living for decades is within the city and many do not want to move. Special Adviser Bhatti expressed "all his personal commitment to improving the lives of Christians, particularly women, forced into situations of poverty and marginalization, in the respect for the memory of my brother Shahbaz". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 13/4/2012)
