‘Govt should hand back 25 church schools’

The PTI held an Easter celebration at its office.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Minority MPA Shanila Rout on Wednesday urged the government to hand over 25 nationalised educational institutions back to the church. She said one such institution in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been handed back to Christians by the provincial government there.

Rout was addressing a ceremony to celebrate Easter at the Punjab office of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. The ceremony was attended by a large number of party workers.

PTI Punjab general secretary Yasmin Rashid said PTI was the only mainstream party that had made a policy for minorities. She said PTI chairman Imran Khan wanted to turn Quaid-i-Azam’s vision for Pakistan into a reality and to ensure equal rights for minorities in Pakistan. She said Rout had fought for minority rights in the assembly.

Rashid said that 40 years after it was nationalized Edward College in KPK had been handed back to the church on Imran Khan’s request.

PTI Punjab information secretary Andleeb Abbas said the Punjab government had ignored minority rights. She said the Joseph colony case had yet to see closure. She said PTI aimed to ensure that minorities got their rights including access to education and health. She said the KPK government had taken the lead in this regard, which the Punjab government should follow.

MPA Aslam Iqbal said the PTI would do everything to ensure justice and equal rights for minorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2014.