Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Some Poor Pakistani Christians Are Being Deprived Of Free Meals Because Of Their Faith
Another shocking case of discrimination
By Ashfaq Fateh
Special Correspondent in Pakistan for ANS
ANAHEIM, CA (ANS) — The ASSIST News Service (ANS) has discovered that some poor Christians in the city of Toba Tek Singh in the Punjab province of Pakistan, are being deprived of free meals because of their faith.
This has come to light after a special investigation by ANS following the the actions of the government of Punjab to provide a free meals service called “Dastar Khwan” for the poorest of the poor and had called on philanthropists from all over state to join with them in helping to fund it.
As part of the plan, the Punjab government has set up stalls that, from 1 pm to 3 PM, serve an excellent lunch to deprived people who have to purchase a token that costs them ten Pakistani rupees, which is approximately twelve US cents.
This has been working well all over the province except in Toba Tek Singh, where we have discovered that many Christians have been stopped from using one particular stall.
In my investigation, I found that a few Christians were issued with tokens but, when it was discovered that they were believers in Jesus Christ, their money was returned and food was denied to them.
I also found that some of the Christians, who were initially served food, had it then snatched back from them after it was discovered that the person was a Christian believer. Many of them have told me that they were both “angry and disappointed” with this treatment.
After several cases came to light, the local Christian community in the area called a meeting to voice their views about being treated in this way at this one particular stall. Around ten people, including some youths, shared with me their stories how did they were treated and denied the food despite paying the token money.
One was Naqash Gill, 20, a poor Christian youth who said, “I study in college and in the evening, I work in an office. I went with some of my friends to have a meal. There were four of us and we paid the token money and as the food was about to be served, all of a sudden a security guard came out waving his gun and cried, ‘Hey, you Christians, just get lost from here. The meals are not for Christians.’”
Gill added, “We tried to argue with the stall manager but the gunman continued to wave his weapon at us and ordered us to quit the stall.”
Mehboob Masih, 38 a poor sanitary worker said that he went to have lunch at the same stall. “I paid the money for the token and was sitting on the table waiting for the food to be served when the manager came over to me and asked me to return my token. I asked what had happened, and he told me, ‘You are a Christian and Christians are not allowed here.’ I did not want to have any debate. So I returned the token and came home. All my hunger was gone for their bad treatment of me.”
Another who claimed to have been victimized was Ashiq Masih 45, a poor laborer, who is known for his Christian faith amongst many local Muslims. He was also forced to return his token.
He said, “I argued with the manager of the stall, pointing out that there is no such policy by the government to show such a discriminatory attitude towards Christians. I said that if this was their policy, why did they not carry a sign on the stall saying, ‘Only for Muslims.’”
After hearing the various stories, the local community meeting in the city decided to share the situation with Muslim political, social, traders, lawyers, religious leaders and media people, and asked them to speak to the organizer and tell him not to promote hatred and convince him to allow all citizens to eat at this stall without any discrimination.
Local leaders, including Tariq Mehmood of the Labour Party Pakistan, and Main Muhammad Rafique, Member of the Punjab Assembly, have all strongly condemned what has been going on at this one stall in Toba Tek Singh and have since spoken to the district administration to bring the concerns of the Christian community and also that of “liberal Muslims” to the notice of the meal service organizers.
A spokesperson for the District Coordination Office said, “There is no such policy [against Christians] by the government. The citizens must resolve the issue themselves. The government is only giving the subsidized flour.”
Rasheed Jalal, President Minorities Wing for Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, demanded of the District Coordination Officer, “that if the issue is not resolved peacefully, and Christians are still not allowed to eat from this one free meals service, then the Christians should be able to use their right to file an application to stop subsidized flour to the free meals stall where this kind of discrimination and prejudice is promoted. The subsidy is paid by the tax money which is equally collected from all the citizens to use for a common purpose.”
Ch. Muhammad Saeed, District President Kissan Board [Farmers Board], formed by Jamiat Islami [Islamist religio-political party] told ANS, that his party has now planned to start a free meals service where there will be no discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, caste or ethnicity.
“The Muslim leaders will eat with Christian brothers to promote peace and harmony in the city of Toba Tek Singh,” he said.
This news has been welcomed by the local Christian community.
Ashfaq Fateh studied civic and human rights at Pakistan’s leading University, The Aga Khan University, Karachi. He has been working to promote peace, human rights and particularly for Christian’s rights. He has also been working against the discriminatory laws prevailing in Pakistan. His wife, Rafia Salomi, is serving as deputy director for Society for Human Development, popularly known as Human Development Center, an icon of Christian’s rights in Pakistan since 1984. Ashfaq has been principal of St. Peter's Catholic High School in Toba Tek Singh since 2002.