Arif-ur-Rehman Alvi, 70, is a Pakistani politician serving as the 13th and current President of Pakistan, in office since 9 September 2018. COURTESY PHOTO.
Pakistan, the second largest Muslim-majority country in terms of population in the world, is being accused of withholding aid to Christians amid the ongoing COVID-19 lock-down.
International Christian Concern (ICC) issued a statement on 7 April,2020 saying instances have been reported in which Pakistani Christians are being turned away from local food distribution centres in the country because of their faith.
According to the non-profit whose concern is the human rights of Christians and religious minorities, more than 100 Christian families from Sandha Kalan village, located in the Kasur district of Pakistan’s Punjab province, were excluded from a distribution of food aid on Sunday, April 5.
Shahakeel Ahmed, a local Muslim and human rights defender, told ICC that Sheikh Abdul Haleem Hamid, a cleric at the local mosque, decided that the food aid would be distributed to only Muslim families.
“The aid, collected by a village management committee and mostly made up of foodstuffs, was reportedly designed to be distributed among all the deserving families of the village. However, when the aid was distributed, Sheikh Hamid did not allow even a single Christian family to receive aid,” ICC wrote.
ICC says Ahmed protested against this discrimination and raised his voice against the decision made by the cleric. However, these protests went unheard.
“I condemn this inhumane and discriminatory act by my Muslim village fellows and stand in solidarity with the poor Christian population of the village,” Ahmed told ICC. “Therefore a group of like-minded individuals are collecting donations from liberal Muslims to extend foodstuff to this vulnerable segment; the Christians of this country.”
In a separate incident, according to a local pastor who spoke to Church in Chains on condition of anonymity, an announcement was made through a mosque’s loudspeaker in the neighbourhood of Sher-Shah inviting citizens to collect the government’s announced food aid.
The pastor stated: “When Christians reached the distribution point and presented their national identity cards, they were asked by staffers to get out of the line, claiming the foodstuff was only for Muslim citizens.”
The pastor said he received multiple phone calls over several days from members of his congregation reporting similar denials of aid. He urged the international community to step in and provide aid to the minority communities of Pakistan.
Farooq Masih, a Christian man from Karachi’s Korongi district, was reported in AsiaNews Catholic media agency as stating that members of the Saylani Welfare International Trust, a charity in the port city, had been handing out food vouchers in his area but when they got to Christian homes they moved on.
There are 4,970 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Pakistan as of 11 April 2020, and 77 deaths. Reports show that approximately 45% of Pakistan’s total population live below the poverty line, hence, the country’s lockdown has cut off many day labourers from earning their wages – and reports of starvation are already circulating, according to Church in Chains, an independent Irish charity organisation.
