ISLAMABAD, April 16: The All-Pakistan Alliance for Katchi Abadis has demanded that the government should fulfil its promises made with Christian and Muslim katchi abadi residents in the federal capital.

Speaking at a function organized in F-6/2 100-Quarters katchi abadi on the occasion of Easter, alliance chairperson Aasim Sajjad Akhtar said katchi abadis continued to be considered a blot on Islamabad’s map by the elite, while the housing shortage for the working class intensified without any meaningful response from the state.

He said as the government started its preparations for the 2007 general elections, katchi abadis in the capital had once again become a major hunting ground for the ruling PML leaders. “All sorts of promises and commitments are being made even though longstanding commitments have yet to be fulfilled,” he added.

He cited the examples of Christian settlements in the city centre where the residents had yet to be given ownership rights and provided with basic amenities even though it has been many months since the federal cabinet’s decision to grant these settlements these rights.

Similarly, the CDA’s resettlement scheme at Alipur Farash is still without electricity even though it has been over three years since the residents of katchi abadis in I sector and Nurpur Shahan were shifted there with the promise that they would be provided electricity along with other basic facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, alliance representatives Nazir Masih, Amanat Masih and Saleem Masih said the Christian community in Islamabad continued to suffer from discrimination, especially at the hands of the police.

They said even on the occasion of Easter, policemen had been threatening of lodging criminal cases against residents of 100- Quarters in order to obtain bribes.

They also complained against the CDA’s katchi abadi cell officials for treating them as second-class citizens.