Stop The Persecution
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Press release: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK welcomes UK
Parliamentarians’ call to end persecution of religious groups in
Pakistan
Date : 15th February 2016
In a two and a half hour debate in Westminster Hall a cross-party group of UK Members of
Parliament (MPs) called on the British Government to take urgent action to press the Pakistan
Government to end the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and other religious groups in Pakistan.
London, United Kingdom (PRWEB UK)15 February 2016
The 11 February debate, called by Siobhain McDonagh MP, featured nearly 20 MPs from across the UK
and across all parties, who unanimously denounced the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims and other
religious minorities in Pakistan. Siobhain McDonagh noted that the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims was
unique in that it was based on Pakistan’s laws that targeted Ahmadis. The MPs were also critical of
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws that carried the death penalty and were used to persecute minority groups with
impunity and called for action to end the hate speech and hate rallies against Ahmadis in Pakistan.
Siobhain McDonagh MP, who is also Chair of UK All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, UK said:
"I was proud to lead this important debate. The stark reality is that for more than 30 years peaceful
Ahmadi Muslims have been targeted explicitly by Pakistan's laws that deny them their right to call
themselves Muslims or to practise their Islamic faith - a crime punishable by 3 years
Copyright ©imprisonment
2014 - 2016 Ahmadiyya
Muslim
UK. blasphemy
All Rights Reserved
or by death
underCommunity
the country's
laws.
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"The laws result in hundreds being killed and systematic persecution from the cradle to the grave with
Ahmadi Muslims even denied the right to vote.”
MPs also called on the Pakistan Government to release 70-year-old Mr Abdul Shakoor, an Ahmadi
shopkeeper from Rabwah who was jailed in January for 7 years under the country's anti-terror laws and
anti-Ahmadi laws for possessing copies of the Holy Quran and some religious books.
On this issue Ms McDonagh stated,
“Books inciting violence against Ahmadis are freely available in Pakistan. How can the Pakistan
Government justify such injustice? We call on Pakistan to release Mr Shakoor immediately. The
blasphemy laws have also fostered a climate of hostility and intimidation against Christians and
other minorities who also face horrific violence based on spurious and unfounded allegations of
blasphemy. This must end and I hope the UK Government will press upon Pakistan the need to
uphold its international obligations and the rights guaranteed by its constitution to give all citizens
complete freedom of religion. As a friend and ally of Pakistan we must send a clear message that
there is no room for state sponsored persecution and it must act to redress such issues as a matter
of urgency."
They also called for the immediate release of Mr Tahir Mehdi Imtiaz who has been held for 10 months
without charge on spurious allegations of blasphemy.
Margaret Ferrier MP said:
“In Pakistan, the Ahmadi population are systematically subjected to discrimination that is deeply
ingrained in Pakistan’s laws and culture...will the UK Government push the Pakistani
Government to provide protection once and for all to the Ahmadi community, whose banner
reads: Love for all, hatred for none.”
Paul Scully MP said:
“How can it be that in the 21st century we hear examples of people who want to wipe out the
Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan? We cannot stand by in the 21st century and allow a situation
where a simplistic, oppressive set of laws, and the interpretation of those laws, is allowed to affect
a community in such a way.”
Copyright © 2014 - 2016 Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK. All Rights Reserved
MPs also noted the horrific persecution of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan.
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Fiona Bruce MP said,
“...in today’s Pakistan, minorities—including Ahmadis, Sikhs, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists and
Muslims from the Shi’a tradition—face relentless violence, profound discrimination and, in some
cases, outright persecution. Christian women, like other minorities, face persecution and
discrimination simply because of their faith. The real and present dangers faced by women of nonMuslim faith are much direct and substantial.”
Jim Shannon MP, Chair of the APPG for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, said:
“The level of discrimination against religious organisations and individuals in Pakistan, such as
Ahmadis, Christians, Shi’as, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews, is immense... There are many
cases of church bombings, mob attacks on Christian communities and rape against women and
girls...the killing of some 40 Shi’a Muslims in Karachi in May 2015 marked a new low in
sectarian violence that has left Pakistan’s religious minorities fearing for their lives.”
The debate also called for action in Bulgaria, Thailand and in particular Indonesia where this month
Ahmadi families were forcibly evicted from their homes in Bangka-Belitung by the local government
simply on grounds of faith.
Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh MP, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for the Scottish National Party and
Fabian Hamilton MP, Labour Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs noted the dire situation of freedom of
religion in Pakistan and called for urgent action by the Pakistan Government to address this issue. Other
MPs who attended included Steve McCabe MP, Nic Dakin MP, Naz Shah MP, Alison Thewliss MP, Rt
Hon Tom Brake MP, Chris White MP, Gareth Thomas MP, Stephen Timms MP, John Spellar MP, Steve
McCabe MP, Kate Green MP
Foreign Office Minister, Tobias Ellwood MP, noted the UK’s “strong, powerful and important
relationship” with Pakistan and stated that,
“...the Pakistani constitution discriminates against [Ahmadi Muslims]... They struggle to exercise
their right to vote...[and] Ahmadiyya Muslims are denied education for the same reasons. They
face arbitrary detention, their literature is banned, their mosques are attacked and, ... their minarets
are also destroyed."
Assuring action on this issue Mr Ellwood stated that,
“The Government deplores violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief, wherever they occur.
Copyright
© 2014 urge
- 2016the
Ahmadiyya
Muslim
Community
All Rights
Reserved
We regularly
Government
of Pakistan
to UK.
honour
their international
commitments and guarantee
fully the human rights of all Pakistani citizens.”
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Mr Rafiq Hayat, National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK said:
“It was an important and timely debate. The persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan must end
as must the horrific violence against Christians and other minorities. Pakistan must repeal is
discriminatory laws that deny its own citizens their basic human rights. I thank Siobhain
McDonagh MP for calling the debate and all who contributed – it sent a loud and clear message
that such persecution will not be accepted and Pakistan must be held to account. We pray for
peace in Pakistan and for the success of the country based on justice and equality for all.”
ENDS
Note:
A full transcript of the debate can be read at
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm160211/halltext/160211h0001.htm and
at http://www.StopThePersecution.org
Media contacts
Basharat Nazir media@ahmadiyya.org.uk
Tel +447703 483 384
Mahmood Rafiq Tel +447971 060 962
http://www.LoveForAllHatredForNone.org
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