Christians are calling for Scottish Parliamentarians to engage in dialogue with the government of Pakistan to seek improvement in the current human rights
of minorities living there. In the wake of the latest suicide bomb attack at Gulshan Park on Easter Sunday, the twin suicide bomb attacks carried out
by the Taliban last March in Youhanabad, and the devastation caused by a similar attack on a church in Peshawar they are demanding that the Scottish
Parliament take Pakistan to task on this issue.
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) in collaboration with the Scottish Asian Christian Fellowship will be staging a protest this Saturday, 9th April 2016, outside the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP from 3pm – 5pm.
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, said:
“Pakistani Christians are in the midst of a genocide but their plight has been ignored by western nations, most of whom believe they are severely discriminated against, not persecuted. this flawed position has culminated in a less then 40% success rate for Pak-Christian asylum seekers in the UK and other countries. During a meeting with a Senior Protection Officer at the UNHCR Bangkok I was advised that the UNHCR mirror the position of the UK, many countries also defer to Britain’s position as they are considered an authority on Foreign Policy. Yet evidence would suggest that Britain are grossly out of synchronisation with the reality of the plight of Pakistani Christians. Britain’s largest foreign aid recipient is Pakistan a country with a worsening record for human rights – now considered the 6th worst place in the world to live as a Christian (Open Doors Watchlist). The naivety of British politicians is making our nation complicit in the genocide that is threatening to overwhelm Christians in Pakistan.
He added:
“The Gulshan Park bomb attack evidences the targeting of Pakistani Christians by the Taliban. A chilling statement by the leader of Jamat ul Ahrar Ehsan
Ulla Ehsan clearly sets this premise, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. 700 Christian girls are kidnapped, raped and forced into Islamic marriage every year. 15% of blasphemy allegations are laid against Christians yet they make up just 1.6% of the population. 86% of Christians are working as domestic servants, sewage cleaners, (for which the government promotes Christian only applicants in a twisted sense of positive discrimination), or are in bonded labour which is nothing more than modern slavery. A male family member will have sacrificed his freedom and that of his children and their children for little more than a loan of £50 – usually to pay medical fees. Millions of Christians are locked in bonded labour despite it being outlawed since 1992.”