Adnan William, son of the slain Pakistani Christian pastor William Siraj, has been knocking on the doors of Peshawar government offices for more than a quarter of the year.

But, no one would answer the young man's call.

Discrimination, Lack of Help, Absence of Justice

According to an ANI News report, Adnan had knocked on practically every government agency's doors to seek financial help but has not received anything after four months.

The Peshawar native told Kross Konnection that not only has the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government failed to help his family, but it has also failed to bring them justice.

"It has been seven months since my father, Church of Pakistan Pastor William Siraj was martyred by unidentified terrorists when he and two other priests were driving home from a worship service in Peshawar, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has neither provided us any relief nor has it arrested the assailants," ANI News quoted Adnan's statement to Kross Konnection.

Aside from these issues, Adnan also lamented how some local officials seemed to have forgotten their promise to help them when the fanfare surrounding his father's death lost steam.

Adnan recounted how the Peshawar police chief and deputy commissioner promised to give them Rs 500,000 during their home visit immediately after the incident.

The promised relief amount never materialized.

Adnan likewise explained that there was an element of discrimination in classifying his father's death and the corresponding type of relief fund due to their family.

He said that his father's death was classified as accidental death when the facts of the case showed that the slain pastor died in the hands of terrorists.

Under such consideration, Adnan insisted that his father's death should have been tagged under the Martyrs Package (Shuhada).

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Confusion About the Relief Package

There seems to be confusion on the appropriate relief package, processing procedures, and release on different fronts.

The ANI News report revealed that the deputy commissioner's office of Peshawar expressed their surprise when Adnan told them in March that they had yet to receive the Rs 500,000 promised relief.

Adnan lamented how the Peshawar Diocese of the Church of Pakistan failed to tackle the relief package question from the beginning.

He explained that had the diocese done so, his family would not have experienced financial hardship following his father's death.

At the heart of Adnan's misgivings about the Peshawar government is how he believes they were being discriminated against as part of the Christian minority.

Adnan explained that the victims of the 2013 attack on Peshawar's All Saints Church were promised relief packages, Muslim or Christian.

The news article bared that the government initially set up Rs 200,000 as an endowment fund for terrorism victims in Peshawar who are non-Muslims.

He said that in eight years since, Christian victims and their families have yet to receive any amount as compensation from the government. 

"I don't think we have any chance of getting relief from that fund," Adnan exclaimed.

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