Christian minority of Lahore: Socio-political challenges and options (2001-2014)

Abstract

The Christian Minority living in Lahore is marginalized, facing socio-economic and political issues in day today life and is excluded from main stream. They have been deprived of the fundamental rights in public and private sectors and are often humiliated by the strange behavior of society, although the Muslims and the Christians have been living side by side in sub-continent for the last many hundred years in complete peaceful and hormonal environment. Some of the proportion of the Christians is of the view that they have been victimized by extremist element among the Muslims. The main objective of the research is to investigate the real nature of the socio-political and economic issues facing by the Christian community of Lahore. It is very imperative to look deep into the genuine reasons behind the problems of the Christians in daily life. Whether it is the state, society or they themselves are responsible for their miserable plight and gloomy conditions. This research will also analyze the role of the Christian leadership towards the uplift and prosperity of its community. In this research mixed method approaches i.e. qualitative and quantitative have been applied. Both primary and secondary sources have been applied in collecting data about the socio-economic and political problems of the Christians and their possible solution. Interviews of prominent personalities have been conducted and the opinion of the common people among Christians was assessed through a comprehensive questionnaire. The Christian leadership and the majority of common people are somewhat satisfied with the sincere efforts made by the Government for their betterment but on the other hand they have some genuine apprehensions that 5% quota in public sector is insufficient keeping in view the present circumstances. They are also of the view that the data about their census is not based on facts because their population is always shown less than their original numbers. Moreover overwhelming majority demands to reinstate the separate electorate system instead of joint electorate system. They find themselves marginalized in decision making process in political scenario of Pakistan.