Pakistan: some provide food aid on condition that people convert to Islam

Some people are exploiting the lockdown due to Covid-19. The panic that the health emergency has caused, especially among the poor, is being exploited by some, who insist that those less fortunate convert to Islam in exchange for aid, is nothing less than blackmail.
“If you want food, you must become a Muslim”. This is what some Muslim food aid providers say when non-Muslim people (most of them are Hindus and Christians) ask for food amid shortages due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking to Agenzia Fides, Professor Anjum James Paul, a Pakistani Catholic and president of the “Pakistan Minorities Teachers’ Association” denounced the heinous account of conditional “charities”.
“We ask all Muslim religious to avoid this shameful form of violence and proselytism, for which religious conversion is requested in exchange for food, particularly the marginalised and poorest of the poor. We appreciate all those who serve humanity without such ulterior motives.
In this period of universal suffering, it is everybody’s task to love, respect and serve humanity without discrimination or other reasons. Let us recall that many non-Islamic countries are helping Pakistan today.”
In Pakistan, a video went viral in which an Islamic religious expressed joy at the conversion to Islam of some non-Muslims who had asked for food aid due to the economic impact of the coronavirus emergency.
The religious openly urges all Muslims committed to distributing food aid to ask beneficiaries to embrace Islam, adding that “we should not help non-Muslims.” The appeal sparked outrage and outcry among the community of religious minorities, especially among Christians and Hindus.
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