The Christian community has been living without basic education, health unit, water, power and gas facilities at its colony founded over 30 years ago in Tehkal Payan, Peshawar.

The population of the colony has swelled to over 80,000 from just a few hundred during the last few years.

Nasreen Emmanuel and Emmanuel Sylvester was the first ever couple, who acquired the one-room quarter spread over five-marla plot way back in September, 1987 after paying Rs3,000 as total price for their newly-built residence at the colony.

The decades-old Christian Colony in Peshawar, considered the biggest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had no facilities for its residents, said a local.

The local residents said that Father James Kalkhat was a catholic priest, who floated the idea of Christian Colony in the city and acquired a big plot in Yousafabad area of Tehkal Payan.

They said that he built around 500 small houses on the land and allotted them to poor Christians initially at Rs100 monthly installment, which was gradually raised up to Rs200 per month without any down payment. Slowly and gradually, the colony was filled with members of Christian community.

Sikandar Masih, a resident of the colony, told this scribe that one big issue of their community was resolved but new problems set in as nobody gave attention to address the pressing issues related to basic amenities of life.

Two Australian sisters, he said, trained Nasreen Emmanuel to impart primary education and vocational skills to boys and girls. He said that they left in 1990 and since then Ms Emmanuel had been teaching on self-help basis.

Nasreen Emmanuel, 56, said that she had made it her mission to impart primary education at her own residence from where hundreds of boys and girls had been passed. She added that some of them had been even graduated from different professional colleges and universities.

She said that she had taught not only children of Christian Colony but also Afghans working in brick kilns nearby. One day a Muslim cleric brought his boy, now a graduate, to teach him Urdu primer and integers, she said, adding that he passed his fifth grade from there.

Ms Emmanuel said that she also ran a literacy session for Christian women in the age group of 15, 30, 50 and even 70. “I have some genuine demands from the government and list is not long. I am missionary too and impart religious lessons to Christian girls and women but I don’t have enough space at my two-room home,” she said.

Ms Emmanuel said that government should set up a full-fledged school, a state of the art vocational training centre for women, a healthcare unit, a community hall, a water plant and fix the water and gas pipes at the colony. “We pay heavy bills but get no electricity. I remain busy all the daylong teaching children and then go door to door for religious sermons,” she added.

She said that she required 40 chairs, two long mats and drinking water coolers and two pedestal fans on emergency basis for the children. She said that needs of Christian Colony were many and required urgent attention of the authorities concerned. She added that she was also in need of 40 sewing machines for those Christian women, who had been trained but had no sewing machines to earn livelihood for their families.

Rashid Masih while sharing his views with this scribe said that Christian Colony had no boundary wall and no proper road. Its residents had been suffering from different water-borne diseases due to damaged and rusted sewage system, he added.

He said that majority of his community members were jobless because jobs of sweepers in municipalities had also been occupied by members of other communities. “There are no job opportunities for our youth, similarly the residents of the colony are deprived of basic education, sports and healthcare facilities.” he added.

Razia Mushtaq, 55, another resident of the colony, said that the condition of women in the colony was the worst because they had no health centre and other related facilities. She stated that most young girls did not have access to quality education.

“Raising children for women is a real challenge in Christian Colony due to limited space in the houses built over 30 years ago. Being an overpopulated colony, its issues are being piled up every day and affect housewives more than other individuals,” she maintained.

Amin Inayat Masih, former member of district council, when approached, said that he had resolved the issue of electricity to a great extent by installing a solar panel for the entire Christian Colony at a cost of around Rs3.9 million which he had spent from his personal funds while work on rebuilding sewerage system had been started that would cost Rs6 million being spent from the funds of minorities MPA Ravi Kumar.

Mr Inayat Masih said that he took up the issue of gas with the MPA concerned of and also brought it under discussion with provincial ministers but it would take some time to address all those issues pending for the last over three decades.

He said that funds for rebuilding sewerage system and pavement of streets were released. “Minorities Minister Wazir Zada is well aware of our problems and local PTI leaders have even visited our colony on several occasions. I am positive that our issues would soon find a permanent solution,” he added.,

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2020