NEW YORK: The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has raised funds to help Hindus impacted by Pakistan’s travel restrictions who have been denied help by Pakistani NGOs.
HAF said that following several media reports that minorities in Pakistan were not being given food assistance by NGOs working in coordination with the government, it partnered with Haray Rama Foundation in Sindh province to help them.
Within 72 hours of making an appeal, HAF raised $6,000 for Hindus denied food aid in Sindh and another $6,000 for Pakistani Hindu refugees living in camps in Jodhpur in India, it said. The Sindhi Hindu American community committed an additional $6,000 in matching funds for the appeal, it added.
HAF Managing Director Samir Kalra said in a statement that the COVID-19 lockdowns have only amplified the “unimaginable difficulties and dangers” the minorities in Pakistan “face as a result of institutional and social discrimination”.