A floral tribute was presented to the British High Commission in Thailand from members of the Pakistani Christian asylum community.
Shocked by the depraved killing of 22 innocent people on Tuesday night (23.05.17) and injuries to over 100 further victims, by a suicide bomber intent
on causing anarchy and destabilization in the UK, the Pakistani Christian asylum seeker community requested the British Pakistani Christian Association
to deliver their condolences for families and survivors of the type of attacks Pak-Christians know only to well.
Maqsood Iqbal, said:
“Many of the Pakistani asylum seeker community in Thailand have seen the aftermath of a bomb attack first hand. The targeting of innocent people in this fashion is an evil act beyond compare.
“I cried when I learned about the young children who were killed and have been praying for victims and their families.”
With a little help from Lord Alton Chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association arranged to deliver a large basket of flowers to Second Secretary
Daniel Fieller. Mr Chowdhry was joined by Annie Ishaq an asylum seeker and lead officer for the BPCA in Thailand. Australian couple Neville and Diedre
I’Anson from charity Mercy International also made up the delegation and together they all shared condolences with the UK Embassy. Later the same
day Mr Fieller sent a heartwarming response by email:
“Thank you so much for delivering the flowers today, it was an absolute pleasure meeting you and heartening to know that your sympathies are with those affected by the explosions in Manchester. Thank you for your time and thoughts, they mean a lot to all of us.”
“We have placed the flowers in the main reception of the Ambassador’s Residence so that they can be seen by the wide range of guests coming in over the next few days.”
“The recent attacks at Westminster and now Manchester remind us all how vulnerable we are. As a Christian at times like this I remember that ‘We serve
a God that thinks about our lives, our world, and his creation on a completely different level than even the smartest human.
I have been praying for the victims and their families since I heard the news and praise the work of our brave and dedicated security forces.
“After the Westminster attack I led a multifaith peace concert inviting key figures from all faiths to help restore peace and community harmony in London.
We had an Imam, a Nazi Holocaust Survivor and a Hindu campaigner with many other key faith and secular figures – all uniting against extremism. But few
lessons seem to have been learned. (click here)
“I am used to attacks such as these occurring in Islamic nations such as Pakistan where sectarian schism and religious intolerance has led to frequent bomb attacks, in particular the beleaguered Christian community who have suffered four terrorist attacks in four years.
“However, here in the UK it is always a shock as we simply don’t expect it – our professional security forces thwart most attempted attacks and have up to now been extremely successful with intelligence gathering. [A total of five terrorist attacks were prevented since the Westminster attack (click here)]
“Much is being said about the Government’s ‘Prevent’ strategy and the anti-terrorism hotline especially their failure to respond to reports of radicalization from witnesses who implicated Mr Abedi before his suicide attack.
“Sadly my experiences with SO15 in recent days corroborate the malaise and have left me deflated. When trying to report on a property from which many locals feared extremism was emanating only last week, I was met with apathy and disbelief.
“Instead of taking my concerns and adding it to a list of potential leads I found myself attempting to overly justify my concerns and those of others who bravely shared knowledge with me many if whom were Mulsim – I felt like I was the criminal. This has lessened my desire to share intelligence in future and I am sure many others will hold similar apprehension.
“Fear of being interrogation for being a whistle-blower will be to the detriment of the country and will limit future counter-terrorism investigations.
“Police forces that are uber-politically correct and fear being labelled islamophobic will undermine an essential process that would otherwise sift out the real criminals.
“Extra armed Police and the deployment of soldiers on our streets will provide a visible deterrent. However it is imperative that we get to grips with a dire need for more effective intelligence gathering. Moreover the looming threat of increasing radicalization shows no sign of abatement. On the contrary reports of a potential 23,000 jihadists in Britain is a deplorable and frightening statistic
(click here).
“It is appalling that Mr Abedi used a student loan and benefits to purchase his bomb components. Despite all the UK gave him he chose violence against innocent people.
(click here).
“I will continue to pray for peace in the UK – we cannot let the extremists ruin the wonderful community cohesion amongst all the people of Britain of diverse origins.”