Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The board of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has approved a summary to allocate an additional chunk of land measuring 3.5 acres for the burial of the Christian community adjacent to their already available plot for the purpose at H-9/2 in Islamabad.

Earlier, the said minority community was allotted three cemetery plots measuring 8 acres of land in total for the burial of their demised members at sector H-9/2. However, the community had approached the civic body for the allocation of an adjacent piece of land in 2012 keeping in view the expected shortage of space in the available land.

The matter was presented before the CDA board at that time, which allowed to give further space for the burial place of Christians, but recommended to allocate land in H-11/2, where a Muslim graveyard already situated instead of requested addition in the existing Christian cemetery in H-9/2.

Since then the matter has been lingering as the Christian community at that time was reluctant to receive a plot in H-11/2 whereas the District Municipal Administration (DMA) Directorate of CDA was also in favour to allocate the land adjacent to the already available Christian Cemetery in H-9/2. Meanwhile, the civic body had decided to change the status of H-11/2 by amending the Islamabad Master Plan. The authority sought an approval for the change in the status of the said land from Buffer Zone to Mixed use, which is still pending before the Federal Cabinet for a final nod.

The planning wing of the authority is hopeful that it will be successful to get the same approval from the Federal Cabinet so keeping in view, the possible approval, the authority has changed its mind and moved another summary in its board and requested to approve a land measuring 3.5 acres adjacent to the existing Christian Cemetery at H-9/2.

While responding to the issue, the Director Urban Planning Ijaz Ahmad Shaikh has confirmed that a summary is pending before the Federal Cabinet in this regard.

He further said: “The land alongside the Kashmir Highway is a precious state property and if we will get approval to change the master plan then it can be used for multiple purposes, which would provide huge financial benefit to the public exchequer.”

Buffer Zone is a land strip situated between the right of the way of Kashmir Highway and H series to segregate the industrial and institutional area from the residential sectors of G-series. The authority allocates land for graveyards, orchard farms in Buffer Zone as they are unharmful for the original character of the said area, which is mandatory to maintain as per the master plan of Islamabad.

In addition to the Christian Cemetery, the graveyard for other minorities such as Bahi community and Qadiani community is also situated in the same area while recently a cremation place for the Hindu community was also allotted in this area by the civic body.

As per the statistics of 1998’s census, the Christian community is the biggest minority of Pakistan whereas a higher number of this minority is settled in Islamabad as compared to other provinces of the country, which are 4.07 per cent of the capital’s total population. A major portion of which is living in ‘Kachi Abadis’ of the federal capital however they are not allowed to avail the burial facility in CDA’s provided cemetery.

When questioned, the Director DMA, Capitan (R) Tahir Shahbaz in this regard, responded: “it is a question of policy that who is allowed and who is not and I cannot answer it. I am only a manager of these graveyards and any resident of Islamabad having a valid CNIC is allowed to avail the facility.”