Christians face a new battle as death toll crosses 73,000 in Pak quake

Lahore, Pakistan – As survivors including school children braved the onslaught of the Himalayan winter to reach a devastated town as part of "a solidarity march" organized by a religious rights
organization , Pakistan raised the death toll of last month's earth quake to over 73,000 Wednesday, November 2.

The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA), which fights for the rights of persecuted Christians and other non–Muslim religious minorities in the Asian nation, said the march in Balakot was "a gesture" towards all victims of the October 8 quake.

Balakot,located near the earth quake's epicenter in Pakistan's North–West Frontier Province, had become a symbol of suffering as the town was virtually wiped out from the map by the temblor.

The solidarity march was therefore "a mode to bring [survivors] out of grief and sorrows," APMA Chairman Shahbaz Bhatti told BosNewsLife. "APMA [already] launched a massive rescue and relief operation when the colossal earthquake hit the northern areas of Pakistan, which left thousands dead and wounded, and approximately 3.3 million without shelter," he added in an Internet interview from the region.