Faith Under Fire........
Pakistan relief organizations 'discriminating against Christian flood
victims'
Relief organizations in Pakistan are discriminating against Christians
when they distribute flood aid, as one million more people were
displaced by fresh floods.
By Rob Crilly in Islamabad
Published: 5:31PM BST 27 Aug 2010
On Friday officials warned that the death toll was expected to rise
significantly as many people remained missing
Christians and members of other minority religions are being treated as
second-class citizens, said Pastor Mario Rodrigues, the Lahore-based
director of a Christian Mission.
"They often receive little assistance or are excluded altogether," he
said
Aid is being delivered by "government officials sympathetic to Islamic
fundamentalism or by Muslim relief organizations", mission claimed in
its report, citing other unnamed aid workers.
About 200,000 Christians in Punjab province and about 600,000
Christians and Hindus in Sindh province have been affected by weeks of
monsoon rain.
At least 1,600 people have been killed in the country's worst natural
disaster, and on Friday, officials warned that the death toll was
expected to rise significantly as many people remained missing.
Over the past two days, fresh floods from the surging river Indus
smashed through levees in two places, forcing one million people from
their homes.
Ahmad Kamal, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority,
denied the accusations of prejudice.
"We have no discrimination, no requirements, no checklist. Aid goes to
everyone," he said.
However, Nazir Bhatti, President of the Pakistan Christian Congress,
urged donors to make special provisions for Christians.
"I appeal to organisations and countries which are giving aid to
government of Pakistan for flood victims to allocate separate or
special funds for Christian flood victims and transfer it to the
Christian Missions Conference of Pakistan for food, tents and medical
facilities," he said in a statement.
In all, some eight million people need emergency help and the monsoon
season is due to last another three weeks.