Paging Office of Religious Freedom, Canada .... Muslims in Pakistan on a vampiric rampage against Christians

Dear ORF ... Severe persecution of Christians in Pakistan is a daily occurrence.  Why does Canada continue sending taxpayer money to a country that abuses religious freedom of minorities on an hourly basis.  In 2010, Canada allocated almost 50 M of our money  because of a flooding situation in parts of that country.... I wonder how much of it actually went towards elevating the hardship of the people affected and how much went to the Swiss bank accounts of the politicians there.

Over and besides, why would the CIDA seek to forgive    449.5 Million that Pakistan owed Canada for loans extended to a country that cares so little for human rights and religious freedom of minorities?  WHY????

According to Minutes of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance dated March 2010:

Forgiveness of Debt to Pakistan

There was much interest by senators on the $449.5 million being sought by CIDA to forgive a debt due by Pakistan. These Supplementary Estimates explain that the funds represent the total value of the Official Development Assistance loans owed by Pakistan, according to the Bilateral Rescheduling Agreement signed by Canada and Pakistan in April 2003. Under the Pakistan Debt to Education Conversion (DEC) project, this debt is being converted into investments by Pakistan to strengthen Pakistan’s teacher education institutions and improve the quality of the programs they deliver to primary and middle school teachers. These efforts are expected to result in strengthened classroom teaching and increased quality of education for students in Pakistan’s public school system (p. 13).

In December 2001, the Paris Club agreed to allow countries to swap outstanding loans with Pakistan.3 At that time, CIDA had 43 outstanding loans with Pakistan valued at $447.5 million. These loans had been issued at various times with terms of 50 years with a 10-year grace period and a 40-year repayment period.Canada and Pakistan signed an agreement in April 2003 to consolidate the 43 loans into one loan with repayments starting in 2017.

Canada and Pakistan subsequently negotiated a debt swap where Pakistan agreed to invest the local currency equivalent of the present value of the debt in its education sector over a five year period.

This agreement was signed in April 2006.Ms. Biggs confirmed for the senators that there were accountability mechanisms in place to ensure that Pakistan follows through on its commitments to reinvest the forgiven debt amounts. She committed to provide the committee with the criteria used by CIDA to audit Pakistan’s performance in this area. Mr. Quinn noted that Pakistan’s debt will only be forgiven when it actually invests funding in the education sector.

Some senators were concerned about the process by which a voted non-budgetary loan can be forgiven without that funding being transferred to a budgetary item. Non-budgetary items do not affect the fiscal bottom line of the government whereas budgetary items do affect the bottom line. Senators noted that a loan is voted on by Parliament with the expectation that the loan will be repaid. Mr. Smith explained that there is a provision against non-payments of debt and that as allowances are made for the non-payment of debts, these provisions cancel out any budgetary effect.

Dear ORF .... Please explain to our government why it is totally useless to send further foreign aid to Pakistan and why it is a gross mistake and an injustice to all us hardworking taxpayers to forgive loans made to Pakistan.  Our elected officers are not doing right by us.

From Fides Agency:
A fight between young Christians and Muslims,   a Muslim mob that attacked the Christian area, burned shops, cars and motorcycles, stopped only by the intervention of the police, with a toll of six wounded, including an agent: is what happened yesterday, April 3, in Gujranwala, a town 80 km from Lahore, Punjab. As reported to Fides Agency by the Commission "Justice and Peace" of the Episcopal Conference, the area experienced hours of high tension, and Muslims threw stones and damaged the Catholic Church in Fracisabad, generating fears of mass attacks against Christians. The town of Gujranwala is known, in fact, for a serious episode of indiscriminate attack against the Christian neighborhood which welcomes more than 2,000 faithful families, which occurred in 2011, following a case of alleged blasphemy (see Fides 05/02/2011).

According to local sources of Fides, today the situation is calm in Gujranwala but in the Christian community fears have not appeased, also due to the incidents of 2011. Muslim and Christians religious leaders today held meetings with the heads of the police and the civil authorities, to avoid the risk of a social mass clash. In the meeting security measures were adopted to avoid the explosion of unrest and maintain peace. Najam Sethi, head of the civil administration of the district, promised "severe action against those responsible for the clashes."

The spark that ignited the violence was a dispute between young Muslims and Christians which degenerated into a fight. Also, the day before the accident, a Muslim man, entered the church in a neighboring village and set fire to Christian religious texts. In a note sent to Fides, Samson Salamat, director of the "Centre for Human Rights Education", notes that even in this case, as in the recent attack on the "Joseph colony" in Lahore and in many others, "an imam of the mosque instigated the Muslims to attack Christians." "The vulnerability of religious minorities, especially Christians – explains Salamat - is increasing day by day for the increasing level of intolerance in society. Intolerance can be controlled only with a clear political action which intends to eliminate the mindset that promotes hatred."