Is there anyone who would offer me and my family a 2 bed portion to live along with our continued faith in Lahore, Pakistan? A question, I have been asking me on daily basis for the last month. I am a social activist, Aroon Arthur, facing an extreme discrimination on the basis of my religion in finding the house to live in the area where we are living for more than 31 years. As few months ago I was living in a flat of two rooms behind the Garhi Shahu police station, Lahore Pakistan for the last 10 years and specifically in this area for the last 31 years.
Being a Christian family, Now, I have no place to live. It all started when in July 2020 I got a sudden notice from the owners of the flat that they have sold the building and we have to evacuate in a period of 1 month. It was not just a notice of evacuation it was like a sky fell upon me and my family as it started haunting me with the expenses to cover the shifting and moving from one place to another during this high inflation period where expenses are out of control.
However, it was not the case for only me and my family in-fact for almost 40 families who were living there for the same period in the same building. Since there was no other option, only to evacuate, I took my chances to argue with the owners to let us stay for some more time but since their decision was final so I had no other choice to start searching for another flat or portion in a home of two or three rooms in which I, along with my wife and 3 young children aged 5, 3 and 2 and my old parents and a young brother could live.
Garhi Shahu, Allama Iqbal road is a densely populated area having all amenities and facilities on footstep as hospital, clinics, restaurants, banks, schools, cinema and bazar is available. It is almost 5 minutes ride from Railway station and 15 minutes’ drive away from Airport. Moreover, it is a center of Lahore City from which you have access to every other facility without a hassle. I along with my family finds it convenient to live there, it is not only convenience it is the closeness and feeling of belonging with this place as every other person knows us.
It is not that we only lived in this flat for these 10 years before this flat we lived for 15 years in just the street behind of this flat, a very famous street called ‘Lal School’ (A government primary school having red bricks) and before of that we lived for more than 16 years right in front of that street.
Now when it comes to shifting the house, since every other person knows me and my family due to living for so long, it should not be a problem to go from one house to any other vacant available house but it all has been in a very strange experience that we started facing.
For almost 3 months that I couldn’t find two or three rooms flat/ House/ Portion in the area and surroundings as it is not that there are no any vacant places but it is due to Our Christian faith. What happens here that when I, go to the vacant house to see, through the help of the local estate advisors, I find the house perfect for us to shift and as soon as I share my name ‘Aroon Arthur’ the owner comes to know that we are Christian and at once they verify by asking in strange tone that if I belongs to Christian family upon which I respond yes, they simply say direct in our face that ‘Sorry they do not wish to share the house with us’ it is not about the rent or about the security deposit it is just and only the issue of belonging to Christian faith.
In those three months I was able to find more than 74 properties in Garhi Shahu, Habibullah road, Tajamal park, Muslim park, Shalimar, Daharampura (Mustafabad), Saddar Cantt, Larex Colony, Muhammad Nagar and Davis Road.
My mother, who is a Lady Health worker (registered from Nursing Council of Pakistan) works in a local two maternity homes, is known to hundreds of females living in Garhi Shahu and these areas. In these difficult timings, my mother with heavy confidence went to her acquaintance ‘Farzana Baji’ to whom she known and friends for almost 25 years since she uses to come for her routine checkups at the clinic where my mother works. She owns a home in Shadab colony of Garhi shahu in which a portion was vacant which was perfect for our family to live.
My mother with full confidence asked her to rent that portion upon hearing that her expressions changed at once and simply refused in face by saying that “I do know you and respect you and indeed we are friends but unfortunately we cannot share the house with you as you are Christians”. My mother who is a patient of blood pressure at once lost her cool and started arguing with her that what is the issue of sharing home with Christians. On which she responded that she knew that ‘Christians are Ahl-e-Kitab’ (belongs to the Holy Quran) but still she cannot share the house with Christians as she doesn’t know the way we live and presumably our living styles are way dirty.
Similarly, my mother and father went to every single property/estate advisor in the area and had to explain in advance that we belong to Christian faith so please show those houses in which the owners do not have issue with the people of this faith and then the option goes to very little even to the none.
Malik Yousaf a famous property dealer from Burni Road, told that it is not easy to find the homes for Christians as people do not wants to give the houses to them. Which in fact disturbs their business a lot, he personally does not believe in that as per his opinion there is no such concept in Islam but what can he do that people have developed so much hatred.
Similarly Abdul Rafay, a property dealer in Habibullah road told that he does have some house and when he was informed that they are Christians then he did tell that from the voice and the way of talking he sees that they are educated people so it should not be problem otherwise he thinks that Christians are very odd people so in his opinion he also does not like to work for them.
Further after this experience I, started visiting property dealer to dealer, house to house with the same point by introducing in advance that I belongs to Christian family and if they are willing to rent out the place to the Christians then I would go further to see it.
When I got refused from place to place I started asking the question to the owners of houses that when they say that Christians are ‘Ahle Kitaab’ what exactly it means as if he knows correctly that ‘Ahle Kitab’ means that this faith belongs to the Holy Book ‘Quran Majeed’ then what is the problem in following it actually then why such hate? Upon which that owner did not answer and in anger he simply asked me to just go.
Now My question to every Muslim is that what does ‘Ahle Kitab’ means and if Christians are ‘Ahle Kitab’ then why such hate with them? Is there anyone who could answer to Us?
However, after three months there came a time which I was feared that flat owners confiscated our household belongings, cut of the electricity, Gas and water connections and forcefully applied their own lock to the flat and we were forced to live in our relative’s places. After another 15 days we involved some highly influential people from politics to whom we did not find necessary to contact before all of this hassle as we were reluctant as to ask politician to help in finding us home. So, he forced a person to give us the flat of 2 bedrooms in Garhi Shahu, who refused us in the very first place two months ago reluctantly allowed us to shift but on the condition of temporary for 2-3 months. Now he has started asking us to vacate us and threatens a forceful eviction and to this very day as of November when Christmas in near he is not allowing us to stay one more month here.
Is there anyone who could literally offer us a house to live??
