Image of Senior Protection Officer at the UNHCR Thailand, Peter Trotter who is receiving a copy of BPCA report from Wilson Chowdhry.
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) and the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities invite you to the book launch of Desmond Fernandes’ Education, Human Rights Violations in Pakistan and the Scandal involving UNHCR and Christian asylum seekers in Thailand – published by the BPCA
Chaired by Wilson Chowdhry (Chair of the BPCA) and sponsored by Jim Shannon MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan Minorities.
The event will take place on Tuesday 1st November 2016, 1pm – 3pm in Committee Room 17, the House of Commons, Westminster, London (Nearest Underground: Westminster).
Our thanks to Ex Nihilo for publishing our book.
Speakers include:
• Desmond Fernandes (author)
• David Alton, Professor the Lord Alton of Liverpool, Independent Crossbench Member of the House of Lords and One of the Original Founders of the UK
All-Party Parliamentary Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief
• Margaret Owen OBE, founder and Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD), Patron of Peace in Kurdistan, Member of the UK Bar Human Rights
Committee and founding member of the UK NGO CSW Alliance and GAPS –UK
• Saleh Memon, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities
• Peter Tatchell, Director, the Peter Tatchell Foundation
• Ranbir Singh, Chair of the Hindu Human Rights Group (HHR)
• Faiz Baluch, Free Balochistan Movement
ENTRANCE IS FREE
“The treatment of Pakistani Christians fleeing persecution is an international scandal. This report highlights the vicissitudes and egregious violations
of human rights which they face in their homeland. This is a timely, scholarly and hugely important wake-up call challenging our indifference
to their suffering” – Lord Alton, Vice Chair of the All-Party UK Parliamentary Group on International Freedom of Religion or Belief.
“Since the formation of this theocratic Frankenstein colonial state, Pakistan has been marred by endless extreme violence, corruption, religious bigotry
and militarism. Desmond’s book is a vivid tale of the effects of this tragic-catastrophic geopolitical construction” – Dr Shahzavar Karimzadi, Senior Lecturer in Economics, the University of Hertfordshire Business School.
“This is an important book that shines much-needed light on mostly hidden, unreported human rights abuses in Pakistan; notably the persecution of religious
and ethnic minorities – often with state orchestration and collusion” – Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner and Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
This third edition includes new chapters that examine the genocidal targeting of the Baloch; the pre-and-post 9/11 politics of educational ‘instruction’
and the controversies surrounding the use of English and Urdu as mediums of instruction.
Author: Desmond Fernandes is a former Senior Lecturer in Human Geography and genocide studies at De Montfort University (UK), member
of CAMPACC and joint-author of The Targeting of Minority ‘Others’ in Pakistan (BPCA: London, 2013) and The Education System in Pakistan: Discrimination and the Targeting of the ‘Other’.
Please RSVP to admin@britishpakistanichristians.org
to attend the event.
For further information, please contact Wilson Chowdhry: Tel: 0208 5140861 Email:
admin@britishpakistanichristians.org
Note: You will need to come to the Palace of Westminster (postcode SW1A 0AA, entrance marked 8 on the map at: http://www.parliament.uk/documents/facilities/maps/colmap.pdf).
You will need to print out this invitation to present on arrival. On arrival at Cromwell Green entrance, you have to pass through
a security check. You may be asked to show proof of identity.
Airport style searches are in place at the Houses of Parliament. Please leave plenty of time to pass through security. You should expect this to take at least 15 minutes. At busy times, which are unpredictable, the delay will be longer. Further information on travelling to Cromwell Green entrance at Parliament and security checks can be found on the Parliamentary website at: http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/directions/
and http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/access/security/
The British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA) is a human rights advocacy group set up in the wake of the Gojra massacre of Christians in 2009
to raise the profile of the persecution of Christians and ‘Othered’ groups and communities in Pakistan, as well as support those claiming asylum in
the UK and elsewhere. The Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) was formed in March 2001 and brings together human rights activists,
lawyers, journalists, and communities that find themselves targeted by so-called ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation.