British MPs call on UK govt to apply pressure on Pakistan to end persecution of religious minorities
LONDON: Hindu and Christian girls as young as 12 are being abducted, forced to convert to Islam and then forcibly married to captors in Pakistan, a debate by British MPs heard.
Hindus, Christians, Ahmadis and Shia Muslims face widespread discrimination, persecution and violence on a regular basis in Pakistan, MPs in the main chamber of the House of Commons said on Thursday and the situation is “dire” and “worsening.” They called for conditions on aid to Pakistan, for these matters to be raised in future trade agreements, and for the UK govt to apply pressure on Pakistan to stop these practices.
During the debate on “deteriorating religious freedom in Pakistan”, Jim Shannon MP, the organiser, said blasphemy laws in Pakistan were among the harshest in world, and often the people accused of blasphemy there had not even committed it, and yet mobs were being incited to kill and commit violence as a result and then got off scot-free.
Shannon said there was little evidence of Amnesty International speaking out about any of this and “the legislative and societal frameworks in Pakistan have created an environment where intolerance thrives.”
He said in Sindh province, the practice of 14- or 12-year-olds being taken away, abducted and married against their will “has become alarmingly common.” He said churches in Pakistan had to be surrounded by guards and he had to be accompanied by the army when he visited them. He said school textbooks perpetrated intolerance and those from minorities were denied job opportunities and kept in poverty.
He called on UK govt to apply pressure on Pakistan to reform its blasphemy laws and implement stronger legal safeguards to protect young girls. He also called for sanctions on some within the Pakistan administration and security forces who he accused of “leading on some of these human rights abuses” and called for conditions to be put on UK aid to Pakistan.
“The desecration of Ahmadi mosques and graves has become almost routine. Violent hate speech against Ahmadis is openly promoted,” he said. Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell said 1,000 Christian and Hindu girls were being kidnapped every year.
Representing the govt at the debate, foreign office minister Hamish Falconer said he had raised these issues with the Pakistan human rights minister and interior minister, who assured him they were addressing them. “Our assessment is that private engagement with Pakistan’s authorities is the most effective way to get our messages across,” he said.
The same day in the House of Commons Bob Blackman MP raised the attempt to ban ISKCON (the International Society of Krishna Consciousness) in Bangladesh and the arrest of their spiritual leader Chinmoy Krishna Das. He said: “Hindus across Bangladesh are being subjected literally to death, by their houses and temples being burnt. There was an attempt in Bangladesh’s High Court to rule that ISKCON should be banned from the country. This is a direct attack on Hindus. This is a threat from India now to take action. We have a responsibility because we enabled Bangladesh to be free and independent. Whatever the change of govt has been in Bangladesh, it cannot be acceptable that religious minorities are persecuted in this way.
