Gypsy Communities in Lahore

“Life and Misery of Gypsies in Lahore”

Date:

24th November 2010

SUMMARY

Gypsies are a social group of nomads that mostly suffer discrimination from the rest of the society. These gypsy communities in Lahore are living in great misery. They don’t have even the basic facilities of life such as electricity, health, education and clean water for drinking instead there are masses of rubbish and pools of filthy water all around. The children of gypsies run here and there, naked and with dirty hairs and skin, the males are addicted and the ladies move towards the Bazars for begging and prostitution. Government must stop being negligent of these 700,000 people and has to provide them with space for housing, basic facilities of life and provide them with employment to sort out their financial problems.

INTRODUCTION

The Gypsies are one of the most segregated and neglected ethnic groups in all over the world are living a dejected life on the various margins of the globe. In this report the problems and hardships of the gypsies encountered particularly in Lahore will be highlighted. The major issues are improper settlement of gypsies, lack of basic facilities of life for them, lack of education, unemployment and poverty which results in increase in crime rate. The Governments mostly turn their heads from these settlements, regarding them as "lumps" in the body of society. We will discuss different means by which we can over come this problem of the society and help the Gypsies to live a better life.

FINDINGS

❖ There are no exact figures for the number of Gypsies living in Pakistan. The numbers vary from 500,000 to 700,000, as the Gypsies often stay out of the system, failing to register themselves or their children.

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