Overcrowded cemeteries and rising encroachments are forcing families to bury their dead in reused graves
PESHAWAR:
While for many, death brings the certainty of a final resting place, for the Christian community, even securing a grave becomes another ordeal, raising not only serious ethical concerns but also about the value of minority life in the country.
According to Imran Yousaf Masih, a college lecturer, families sometimes have no choice but to quietly bury their dead in overcrowded areas or reopen old graves. This is so because “Some cemeteries have been encroached upon by land grabbers, reducing the already scarce space available for burials, while in the graveyards that remain intact, the available plots have long been filled,” he said.
The city’s Christian graveyards date back to before 1947. Among the few burial sites that exist are the Gora Graveyard, Wazir Bagh Graveyard, Kohati Graveyard, and Nauthia Graveyard. These historic cemeteries were established during the colonial period and were designed to serve much smaller populations, Yousaf added.
In certain cases, bones from older graves are removed so that new burials can take place in the same plot, making the situation painful and humiliating, he expressed. “The process can also lead to conflict, as relatives of those previously buried in the graves may object if they learn their loved one’s resting place has been disturbed. Despite these risks, many families feel they have no alternative,” he said.
Zulfiqar Masih, who lives in the University Town area and works as a Class-IV employee in a government institution, said, “We are tired of protesting and repeatedly asking the government for a graveyard.” He added, “We are also Pakistanis and civilized citizens of this country, yet we are still struggling to obtain what should be a basic right.”
Zulfiqar pointed out that the problem is not limited to the Christian community alone. Members of other minority faiths, including Hindus and Sikhs, also face similar challenges due to the lack of dedicated burial spaces. He noted, “The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) multiple times and has made announcements regarding facilities for minorities, but the promises have yet to be fully implemented.”
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According to the country’s 2023 digital census, religious minorities make up about 3.3% of the national population. The largest number of minorities live in Punjab, with approximately 2.46 million people, followed by Sindh with around 547,000. In K-P, the minority population stands at about 134,900, while Islamabad has approximately 97,300, and Balochistan has around 62,700 residents belonging to minority faiths.
Reflecting on unfulfilled promises, Haroon Sarabdyal, a social worker advocating for the rights of the Hindu community, shared, “The provincial government had previously pledged approximately 1.13 billion rupees for the development of minority graveyards. However, nothing concrete has materialised.”
Sarabdyal also raised concerns about the location of land that has been proposed for minority burial grounds. “In some cases,” he said, “authorities have offered land far outside Peshawar, making it difficult and potentially unsafe for minority families to visit the graves of their loved ones.” He warned that such arrangements could create security risks for communities that already feel vulnerable.
He urged the provincial government and the Auqaf Department to take immediate action and ensure proper burial facilities for all minority communities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs. Without meaningful steps, he warned, minority groups may be forced to take their protests to the streets to demand their rights.
One of the main problems, according to Sarabdyal, is that no minority member currently holds a ministerial position in the K-P government, leaving communities without a direct voice to present their grievances. “If there is no representative in the government to hear our concerns, then who are we supposed to turn to?” he asked.
Despite repeated efforts to contact provincial government spokesperson Shafi Jan, no response was received regarding the concerns raised by minority communities.
