Despite a chill breeze, Pakistani Christians and their supporters demonstrated outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Saturday 9th April 2015.
A petition with over 950 signatures was submitted drawing the attention of Scottish MPs to the plight of Christians in Pakistan.
The protest organised by the BPCA in partnership with Scottish Asian Christian Fellowship was triggered by the Easter Day massacre at Gulshan Park.
Gulshan Park has become a popular location for Lahore Christians to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, after their morning devotionals, with this in
mind a Taliban splinter group targeted the park for a terrorist attack. and . After the bomb attack Ehsan Ullah Ehsan, leader of the militant Jamat ul
Ahrar claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 74 people and injured a further 360, of which many were Muslims.
In a chilling statement to Pakistan’s media Mr Ullah Ehsan declared that the attack was targeting Christians on Easter Day under an operation “Saut ul
Raad” which will continue throughout this year. “We claim responsibility for the attack on Christians as they were celebrating Easter. “It was part of our annual martyrdom attacks we have started this year,”he
said.
Ehsan Ullah, added:
“we had been waiting for this occasion and will continue to target Christians in their schools and places of worship.”
Despite this statement Pakistan’s Government denies that Christians are being persecuted in their nation. Drawing on the fact that Muslims have been killed
in this attack Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said the attack was an attack on all Pakistanis and thus far no extra measures have been put in place to
protect the Christian minority of Pakistan.
Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, Wilson Chowdhry has been directly communicating with the Pakistani High Commission for some weeks
on this matter. After the hanging of Mumtaz Qadri by the Pakistan’s judiciary tensions towards Christian living there have increased with several churches
and Christian educational groups raising concerns about threats being made of an attack. Mr Qadri assassinated the former Governor of Pakistan Salmaan
Taseer, a Muslim politician who called for the abrogation of the Blasphemy law of Pakistan that is being used as a tool for discrimination against minorities
and also calling for freedom of Asia Bibi a mother of five who has now served six years imprisonment under false charges. For his egalitarian views Mr
Qadri was killed and 3 months later former Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti a practising Christian was fatally shot 24 times by a semi automatic
gun, the shots to his face left him unrecognisable. Following usual practice the killers of the Christian politician though arrested and in police custody
for a few days, were released and allowed to escape to Saudi Arabia where they were never found. Mr Chowdhry believes the escape of these killers is symptomatic
of the lack of desire to punish those that persecute Christians irrespective of their role or position.
Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA, said:
“I am flabbergasted at the insouciance of the Pakistani Government. In attempting to deflect the truth they have undermined the ongoing genocide that is occurring in their nation a governance failing they choose to ignore. They have since their inception targeted Christians through the National curriculum of Pakistan which demonizes and caricatures Christians and other minorities. The text books even label Christians as spies of the west and uses further anti-Pakistani rhetoric that has served only to alienate the Muslim majority against the vulnerable Christian minority. Decades of inculcation of hatred have engineered a society easily drawn to extremism and ready to enact violence on non-Muslims. This instability however probably serves the Government of Pakistan who can garner further foreign aid from Britain and America as a consequence.”
Protesters also called for better treatment of the thousands of Pakistani Christians who have been stranded in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and
Sri Lanka, all of whom have been re-persecuted. These countries have a very easy protocol for tourist visa’s that is relatively inexpensive a product of
the significant dependency of these nations on tourism for their gross domestic product (GDP). Unfortunately for the asylum seekers who end up in these
countries none of the three have signed the 1951 Convention for Asylum or the 1967 protocol, resulting in widespread abuses including arrest and detainment
of UNHCR registered asylum seekers in extremely harsh conditions (including no access to medical care resulting in seven deaths this year alone). Those
outside fair little better suffering extreme poverty due to inability to work and exploitation through black market employment. Concerns have also been
raised about the bail fines to be paid by detainees in Thailand at the cost of £1000, which is well above the affordability of asylum seekers living there
and is often paid by charities. The extortionate fees are seen as a policy for fiscal gain in which asylum seekers and refugees have become cash cows for
an uncaring royal Thai Government.
Worse still despite signing conventions for protection of women and children the Royal Thai Government has ruthlessly detained, babies, children, new and
expecting mothers. Lactating mothers have complained that the food they are eating is causing malnutrition and affecting milk production and mothers have
also complained of lack of access to milk to feed their babies.
Campaigners including the BPCA have complained about UNHCR delays in resettling Pakistani Christians, which is believed to be a consequence of the inappropriate
staffing of investigative officers. Currently 8 permanent staff are assessing over 11,000 applications from Pakistan of which a sizeable number of asylum
seekers are from the Ahmaddiyah community. Moreover, the current risk profile for Pakistani Christians is flawed with a belief that they are ‘severely
discriminated’ and not persecuted. These two factors have meant over 50% of applications are rejected and the asylum process itself is taking up to ten
years to complete, leaving victims in an extremely vulnerable condition and hostile climate. During a meeting with Wilson Chowdhry and Lord Alton a UK
Peer, Peter trotter a senior protection officer stated that the UNHCR position on Thailand is taken form the current British Home Office Policy Statement
in which Theresa May Home Office Minister states Christians in Pakistan are severely discriminated. Wilson Chowdhry, has explained to Mr Trotter that the
BPCA believes that the UNHCR has a duty to define its own risk profile for Pakistani Christians unfettered by positions held by any member states. The
BPCA has submitted an indepth report to the UK Home Office and the UNHCR in Thailand highlighting the scandal of the UNHCR in Thailand and ongoing persecution
of Christians in Pakistan. The report has already triggered a Home office review of their position. A copy of the report can be purchased (here)
The British Pakistani Christian Association helped Chris Rogers film a 1 hour documentary on the plight of Pakistani Christian asylum seeker in Thailand.
You can watch it (here)
Speakers included:
Harrison Summit (Scottish Asian Christian Fellowship)
Wilson Chowdhry Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association
Gillian MacDonald BPCA Scottish representative
Harrison Summit, said:
“Christians in Pakistan are increasingly becoming targets of extremism, not just from terrorists such as the Taliban but by their own neighbours. people who they work and eat with suddenly lay blasphemy allegations against Christians to settle personal squabbles or to take their property. in the worst cases this can lead to large scale mob attacks of whole Christian communities who are treated like anathema.”
Gillian MacDonald, said:
“the murder of innocent women and children evidences the depravity of the Islamic extremists involved in this massacre. These killers are clearly devoid
of any human compassion and love. Whatever the terrorists wanted to achieve they have failed, people across the world have been shocked into action and
many more are now seeking protection for the vulnerable minorities in Pakistan. This attack has done nothing to further their aims for the annihilation
of Christians in Pakistan, but has bred solidarity against terrorism of this nature amongst all people of good conscience.
Pakistan is the largest recipient of UK and US foreign aid, yet despite billions in investment there is no change in the persecution and discrimination faced by minorities living there. BPCA has often called for Britain and America to use their foreign aid budget to lever change to the poor human rights records in Pakistan.
700 Christian girls are kidnapped, raped and forced into Islamic marriage, 15 % of blasphemy allegations are laid against Christians who only make up 1.6% of the population of Pakistan. It is clearly documented that these draconian laws are simply being used as a tool for discrimination and settling personal vendettas. 86% of Christians work as sewage cleaners, domestic servants or are in bonded labour, an outlawed practice of modern day slavery since 1992, the government of Pakistan even has the audacity to promote Christian only applications for work in the sewage industry, a practice they deem to be positive discrimination guaranteeing jobs for uneducated Christians.
The Pakistani government has failed to tackle the 7% literacy rate of Christians who are bullied, forced to place children in employment to survive harsh economic struggles, fear proselytising of their children at school and the kidnap of their girls. Countries in the west must alter their risk profile of Pak-Christians from ‘severely discriminated’ to persecuted, most take their directions from Britain whose incorrect Policy statement sadly hold authoritative status.
To help Christians in Pakistan we challenge the people of good conscience to sign our petition calling for nations in the west and the UN review of their current risk profile for Pakistani Christians. The on-line petition also calls for for better protection of minorities in Pakistan and can be found by clicking (here).
We have set up a disaster recovery appeal to help and assist these families. Our donations will help secure medical supplies and pay for hospital treatments, pay for funeral costs and help with the long term rehabilitation and trauma counselling of victims. If you would like to support our appeal financially please contribute by using this link
(click here)