The Lawspeaker
09-07-2010, 04:48 AM
Westerners Urged to Earmark Aid for Pakistan’s Marginalized Christians (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/72113)
(CNSNews.com) – Christians in Pakistan’s flood-hit regions are doubly affected by the disaster as a result of anti-Christian discrimination by government relief workers and Muslim aid agencies, according to representatives of the embattled minority.
They are urging Christians to send assistance to organizations that will either help stricken Christians specifically, or at least ensure that Christians are not sidelined in the aid distribution.
As flood waters begin to recede, thousands of Christians are among millions of Pakistanis left homeless. Aid agencies are delivering food, clothing, building supplies and hygiene kits in a bid to prevent outbreaks of water-borne diseases.
Many have lost not only their homes but also their source of livelihood as their crops and subsistence fields have been washed away along with seed for next season’s planting.
According to the Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC), Muslim relief organizations and government agencies have been denying assistance to Christians affected by the flooding in Punjab province.
The PCC organ Pakistan Christian Post described the southern Punjab was a “hotbed” of extremist organizations which view Christians as “infidels.” It said local officials in fear of the radical elements were barring Christians from tent camps for flood victims.
PCC president Nazir Bhatti appealed to donor governments and organizations to earmark some of their aid for Christians, and distribute it through organizations such as the Catholic aid agency Caritas or the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Western Christian organizations working in Pakistan also are calling for help for Christian flood victims specifically, concerned that they will otherwise lose out, or face intolerable pressures.
“The only place with aid for many is their local mosque, which places Christians in an extremely vulnerable situation,” Open Doors USA president Carl Moeller says in a video appeal.
“Some are flatly denied assistance while others are told to vacate the region or convert to Islam. Imagine, giving up your faith in order to feed your starving children – what a horrible choice. The church in Pakistan needs another way to take care of their families. They’re looking to you and to me.”
Barnabas Fund, an international charity focusing on Christian minorities in the Islamic world, is another conduit for assistance for Christian individuals and families affected by the flood.
“Christians, who are marginalized and discriminated against in Pakistan, are likely to be neglected by the government and mainstream aid agencies, so desperately need the help of fellow believers around the world,” it said Wednesday.
“Barnabas Fund channels money exclusively from Christians through Christians to Christians who desperately need our help,” the organization’s international director, Patrick Sookhdeo, said in an earlier statement.
“They urgently need our assistance now and, looking to the future, will require long-term help to rebuild their homes and shattered lives.”
Last month Anglican Bishop Humphrey Peters of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly the North-West Frontier Province), told Barnabas Fund that as the crisis moves from the emergency phase to longer term rehabilitation. “we are sure that some countries will come forward with aid packages, but hardly anything will reach the minority Christians.”
On Thursday, Peters said that almost a month into the crisis, those fears have been borne out, with little support from international Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“We feel the Barnabas Fund and Open Doors have taken up a brave challenge,” he said. “They must continue with their mission.”
Peters recalled similar difficulties in the past.
“The local church had a bad experience during the [2005 South Asian] earthquake when not a single church-based international NGO except for Barnabas Fund came forward to support the local church and the Christians.”
Again, when people were forced to leave their homes during “war on terrorism” operations, Christians struggled without outside support.
Peters’ Peshawar diocese is carrying out relief operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where some 100,000 Christians live among more than 17 million Muslims.
The diocese has set up four relief camps where hundreds of flood-affected Christians, as well as members of the Hindu minority, are being sheltered.
Complaints about discrimination against non-Muslim Pakistanis are not just coming from minority sources.
“Reports about systematic discrimination in aid distribution are utterly disgraceful, the Lahore-based Daily Times newspaper said in an editorial at the weekend.
“If we want to progress as a nation, we need to close the doors on our prejudices. For far too long we have let religious bigots call the shots; now is the time to stand up to them and say no to religious exclusivism.”
The Dawn newspaper of Karachi also tackled the issue in an editorial Wednesday.
“Discrimination on ethnic and religious grounds is deeply entrenched in Pakistan and will not change overnight,” it said. “Yet that it is being used as an excuse to strip people of their rights as equal citizens even during a time of calamity is abhorrent.”
“Whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian, high caste or low caste, the flood victims are all equally deserving of the attention of official and non-official aid channels.”
Security fears
Christians comprise an estimated 1.7-2.5 percent of Pakistan’s 175 million people, and members of the small community have periodically come under attack from Islamic extremists, stirred up over allegations of blasphemy (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/51957) or associating local Christians with unpopular Western policies relating to the Islamic world.
The State Department reported last week that militants in Pakistan had threatened to target foreign aid workers as well as government ministries involved in the relief effort.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which earlier urged the government to reject U.S. aid, called the presence of foreign aid workers in the country “unacceptable.”
Barnabas Fund said the security threats against foreigners were a matter of grave concern, but that it was channeling its support through Pakistani churches and Christian organizations, “which should not be blocked or targeted by the militants’ disruptive agenda.”
There have been no confirmed reports of attacks on foreign aid workers, although rumors have circulated about the killing by the TTP of three Western Christian relief workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (see related story (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/72117)).
In a teleconference briefing last week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata, who is attached to the U.S. Embassy’s Office of the Defense Representative, said for the second time in a fortnight that U.S. forces carrying out relief missions had seen no evidence of a security threat.
He praised the Pakistani army for what he called a “highly effective job in providing our force protection and security.”
(CNSNews.com) – Christians in Pakistan’s flood-hit regions are doubly affected by the disaster as a result of anti-Christian discrimination by government relief workers and Muslim aid agencies, according to representatives of the embattled minority.
They are urging Christians to send assistance to organizations that will either help stricken Christians specifically, or at least ensure that Christians are not sidelined in the aid distribution.
As flood waters begin to recede, thousands of Christians are among millions of Pakistanis left homeless. Aid agencies are delivering food, clothing, building supplies and hygiene kits in a bid to prevent outbreaks of water-borne diseases.
Many have lost not only their homes but also their source of livelihood as their crops and subsistence fields have been washed away along with seed for next season’s planting.
According to the Pakistan Christian Congress (PCC), Muslim relief organizations and government agencies have been denying assistance to Christians affected by the flooding in Punjab province.
The PCC organ Pakistan Christian Post described the southern Punjab was a “hotbed” of extremist organizations which view Christians as “infidels.” It said local officials in fear of the radical elements were barring Christians from tent camps for flood victims.
PCC president Nazir Bhatti appealed to donor governments and organizations to earmark some of their aid for Christians, and distribute it through organizations such as the Catholic aid agency Caritas or the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Western Christian organizations working in Pakistan also are calling for help for Christian flood victims specifically, concerned that they will otherwise lose out, or face intolerable pressures.
“The only place with aid for many is their local mosque, which places Christians in an extremely vulnerable situation,” Open Doors USA president Carl Moeller says in a video appeal.
“Some are flatly denied assistance while others are told to vacate the region or convert to Islam. Imagine, giving up your faith in order to feed your starving children – what a horrible choice. The church in Pakistan needs another way to take care of their families. They’re looking to you and to me.”
Barnabas Fund, an international charity focusing on Christian minorities in the Islamic world, is another conduit for assistance for Christian individuals and families affected by the flood.
“Christians, who are marginalized and discriminated against in Pakistan, are likely to be neglected by the government and mainstream aid agencies, so desperately need the help of fellow believers around the world,” it said Wednesday.
“Barnabas Fund channels money exclusively from Christians through Christians to Christians who desperately need our help,” the organization’s international director, Patrick Sookhdeo, said in an earlier statement.
“They urgently need our assistance now and, looking to the future, will require long-term help to rebuild their homes and shattered lives.”
Last month Anglican Bishop Humphrey Peters of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly the North-West Frontier Province), told Barnabas Fund that as the crisis moves from the emergency phase to longer term rehabilitation. “we are sure that some countries will come forward with aid packages, but hardly anything will reach the minority Christians.”
On Thursday, Peters said that almost a month into the crisis, those fears have been borne out, with little support from international Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“We feel the Barnabas Fund and Open Doors have taken up a brave challenge,” he said. “They must continue with their mission.”
Peters recalled similar difficulties in the past.
“The local church had a bad experience during the [2005 South Asian] earthquake when not a single church-based international NGO except for Barnabas Fund came forward to support the local church and the Christians.”
Again, when people were forced to leave their homes during “war on terrorism” operations, Christians struggled without outside support.
Peters’ Peshawar diocese is carrying out relief operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where some 100,000 Christians live among more than 17 million Muslims.
The diocese has set up four relief camps where hundreds of flood-affected Christians, as well as members of the Hindu minority, are being sheltered.
Complaints about discrimination against non-Muslim Pakistanis are not just coming from minority sources.
“Reports about systematic discrimination in aid distribution are utterly disgraceful, the Lahore-based Daily Times newspaper said in an editorial at the weekend.
“If we want to progress as a nation, we need to close the doors on our prejudices. For far too long we have let religious bigots call the shots; now is the time to stand up to them and say no to religious exclusivism.”
The Dawn newspaper of Karachi also tackled the issue in an editorial Wednesday.
“Discrimination on ethnic and religious grounds is deeply entrenched in Pakistan and will not change overnight,” it said. “Yet that it is being used as an excuse to strip people of their rights as equal citizens even during a time of calamity is abhorrent.”
“Whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian, high caste or low caste, the flood victims are all equally deserving of the attention of official and non-official aid channels.”
Security fears
Christians comprise an estimated 1.7-2.5 percent of Pakistan’s 175 million people, and members of the small community have periodically come under attack from Islamic extremists, stirred up over allegations of blasphemy (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/51957) or associating local Christians with unpopular Western policies relating to the Islamic world.
The State Department reported last week that militants in Pakistan had threatened to target foreign aid workers as well as government ministries involved in the relief effort.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which earlier urged the government to reject U.S. aid, called the presence of foreign aid workers in the country “unacceptable.”
Barnabas Fund said the security threats against foreigners were a matter of grave concern, but that it was channeling its support through Pakistani churches and Christian organizations, “which should not be blocked or targeted by the militants’ disruptive agenda.”
There have been no confirmed reports of attacks on foreign aid workers, although rumors have circulated about the killing by the TTP of three Western Christian relief workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (see related story (http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/72117)).
In a teleconference briefing last week, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Michael Nagata, who is attached to the U.S. Embassy’s Office of the Defense Representative, said for the second time in a fortnight that U.S. forces carrying out relief missions had seen no evidence of a security threat.
He praised the Pakistani army for what he called a “highly effective job in providing our force protection and security.”