International Christian Concern (ICC) reports Pakistani Christians were denied food aid amid the COVID-19 crisis in the fourth incident ICC has documented since Pakistan was placed on lockdown by authorities seeking to combat the pandemic.
According to a video post on Facebook, Christians were denied food aid on April 2 in a village situated on the Raiwind road, near Lahore. A local pastor confirmed the incident to ICC.
In the Facebook video, a young Christian man claims that a local mosque committee distributed food on April 2, however, village Christians were told to leave the mosque compound because the food aid was meant for only Muslims.
“If this is the situation, then what are the arrangements for Christians?” the Christian asked in the Facebook video. “Who is going to feed them? Are we not citizens of the same country?”
“Denying food aid and discriminating among citizens is a crime,” Aftab Hayat, a Pakistani NGO leader, told ICC. “Christians often face discrimination and are victims of religious hatred. However, the situation for Christians in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis is alarming and becoming worse. Therefore, the authorities must take note of the developing situation.”
Jihad Watch previously reported on two other such incidents, one on April 1st and one on April 7th, as well as on April 11th an incident in which Christians were forced to make the Islamic profession of faith to get food aid.
