Pakistani Christians refused Covid-19 aid because of faith

Some Christians in Pakistan have reported being refused Covid-19 aid because of their faith.

International Christian Concern (ICC) said it had documented three such incidents since the Muslim-majority country went into lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus.

In once incident, over a hundred Christian families in the village of Sandha Kalan, in Kasur, Punjab, were left out of a food aid distribution.

Shahakeel Ahmed, a local Muslim and human rights activist, told ICC that a cleric at the local mosque had ordered that the food parcels be distributed to Muslim families only.

Ahmed said he complained about the discrimination but his concerns were ignored.

He has since come together with other Muslims to collect food to distribute among Christian families in need.

"I condemn this inhumane and discriminatory act by my Muslim village fellows and stand in solidarity with the poor Christian population of the village," he 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."

Coronavirus is a growing crisis in Pakistan, which has over 5,000 confirmed cases.

Nearly half of the country lives below the poverty line and many low-income workers are labourers who have now lost their jobs because of the outbreak.

Last week, doctors in the country were beaten by police as they protested "deplorable" conditions in hospitals.