British Asian Christian Association (BACA) coordinated a meeting between Tamil Christian leaders and the Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka Mr Sugeeshwara Gunaratna on 8th May 2019. This followed on from an earlier memorial event at the Wilson Room, House of Commons on 29th April, organised by the All Parliamentary Party Group for Tamils at which Hannah Chowdhry a BACA volunteer shared a message of solidarity and presented flowers in remembrance of those who had lost their lives in the brutal Easter day attacks. It was noticeable that the High Commission were absent at the memorial due to having no…
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Pakistan’s most famous blasphemy law victim Asia Bibi was finally released from her homeland where she has become the most hated figure in the country despite law courts exonerating her from the false charges that had kept her incarcerated in solitary confinement for almost 10 years. In the early hours of the morning today(1am) BPCA received confirmation from a British diplomat that Asia Bibi had safely exited Pakistan. Asia Bibi bravely held on to her faith through the most brutal of incarcerations that involved her having access to sunlight for two hours per month. Now she finally travels to Canada…
The celebration of Easter Sunday was made even more sweeter when a Christian family in Pakistan learnt their school fee debts of their murdered son was wiped out. A donation by VOVTV led by Pastor Teerth Sond in Wolverhampton to the British Pakistani Christian Association ensured the £1200 debt incurred by the Masih family following the tragic death of their gifted son, has been fully paid Nearly two years on from the horrific classroom attack of top Pakistani Christian Student Sharoon Masih by fellow pupils, BPCA representative Mehwish Bhatti, went to revisit his family following his tragic death. Two days…
In the wake of the devastating bomb attacks on churches in Sri Lanka the global mourning amongst people of good conscience from all walks of life has been palpable. Events have sprung up across the UK as well as across the globe starting with a memorial service on Thursday 25th April, at Beulah Family Church, Thornton Heath, at which Pastor Ceaser led the event and involved several other Tamil Pastors. Before the short service which featured on BBC’s Songs of Praise a candlelight vigil was held in rememberance of the dead invited guests Wilson and Juliet Chowdhry of the British…
Several migrant groups in Sri Lanka have been seeking protection in the police stations of Negombo after a series of attacks. Afghan and Pakistani asylum seekers have complained about threats to their lives from the local community after the series of bomb attacks. See Reuters News story (here) We spoke to one of the frightened asylum seekers, he described events of the past few days and explained how dangerous the situation is, he said: “For the last 4 days large groups of local Sri Lankans have been threatening to kill us if we stay in our homes. “Some homes have been…
BPCA volunteer Anton Kyanq (centre) meets victims at Zion Church Batticaloa More than 100 families were affected by the bomb attack in Batticaloa and out of 19 of the families attending the church 29 members were killed. We met the wife of Pastor Thirukkumaran’s whose son Thirukkumaran Shalom Malkiya (11 yrs) was killed in the attack. She said: “I agonise over the loss of my young son who never even had the chance to experience much life in this world. “he was a happy, contented son who never said bad who had many friends and few enemies if any. “These…
A multi-cultural and multi faith peace vigil is to be held outside Ilford Town Hall tomorrow at 6.30pm. The event which is organised by British Pakistani Christian Association and both Ilford and Newham branches of Emmanuel Christian Centre (Tamil Churches. At the event a bagpiper will be playing a lament before and after a one minute silence to the 300+ innocent people who were killed in the attack. We are urging people of all faiths shocked by the attack to come and join us in solidarity for the victims of this latest devastating attack. Event: Together Stronger (vigil for Sri…
As Easter celebrations were taking place across Sri Lanka in particular within the cities of Colombo and Negombo – where the largest Christian communities exist – a depraved series of bomb attacks on churches and exclusive hotels brought terror to revellers and tourists. Early reports focused on 8 explosions but by the end of the day the final count was 10 in which over 200 people were killed and at least a further 400 injured. In the early hours of Easter Day (21st April 2019) at approximately 8.30am (3am GMT) while churches were in the midst of celebrations of the…
Image: BPCA Friend Cllr Sham Lal, met with the family of the kidnapped girls on our behalf. L-R Clr Sham Lall (46 yrs), Abji Mother of the sisters (48 yrs), Father Hari Das (60 yrs) and brother Shamaan Das (30 yrs) Two Hindu sisters who converted to Islam and their alleged rapist husbands will be provided security by the federal government, the Islamabad High Court ruled on Tuesday. Please sign our petition (click here) Holi is an ancient festival popularly known as the “festival of love”, or the “festival of colours”. It is a celebration steeped in ancient beliefs and customs,…
Escapee Shalet has boldly spoken about her ordeal in court. A 15 year old Christian victim of the latest forced Islamic marriage incident to rock Pakistan has been rescued from her captor and has given testimony to her ordeal. This morning (10th April 2019) at 3am a ‘planned’ police raid at an undisclosed home in Faisalabad enabled young Shalet Javed to escape the clutches of Muslim rapist Zafar Iqbal. Due to a police bungle Zafar managed to escape arrest by fleeing the scene of the crime before their arrival. On March 25th of this year Shalet Javed left her family…