A copy of the letter sent to Gordon Brown Prime Minister and our Foreign Secretary David Milliband - Their response too!

Dear Prime Minister Gordon Brown/Foreign Secretary David Milliband MP,

Re: The Plight of Pakistani Christians.

There have been several major cases of Pakistani Christians being slaughtered by fundamentalists, who fuel rural Muslim communities into killing sprees, erupting in the massacre of entire Christian colonies.Christians in Pakistan are in constant fear of their lives and violent incidents are increasing since the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The allied war effort has increased Islamic fundamentalist apprehension towards western governments and reciprocally established Christian minority (seen as a western culture) communities living in Pakistan.

Only recently (1st august 2009) in Gojra (near Faisalabad) over 120 homes and two churches were razed to the ground in a burning inferno instigated by rampaging fanatical Muslims - filled with rage from the allegations that a Quran had been ripped to pieces by a Christian family celebrating a wedding. Moreover, renegade clerics allegedly encouraged the herding of Christians into these buildings on the threat of violence before initiating the extreme arson attack.

Furthermore, the assailants then lay before emergency vehicles, preventing Fire and Ambulance services proper access to the agonized victims – leading to a significant number of deaths and major injuries.

Allegations of burglary, theft, and rape create an intense miasma of torment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8196013.stm

The Police stood back and watched whilst the diabolical event erupted, however a Chief Police Officer was honest enough to clarify that the allegations of blasphemy were unfounded.There is no protection for minority religious groups from the powers enacted by Section 298A, Section 295B and Section 295c of the Pakistani Penal Code. These laws justify life imprisonment or death for any blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed or desecration of the Quran. There is no requirement for substantiation for allegations and no recourse for justice against those that utilize

the act under false pretences to fuel religious persecution or settle personal vendettas. The lack of such reciprocal provision in particular has led to numerous abuses – not that I support the act itself in any way as it infringes on the Human Rights Act and Apostasy Act.In these days of globalization and with the introduction of a whole raft of international laws for member sates of the UN. We are appealing to you as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and our Foreign Secretary to support our cause and campaign for justice for all religious minority groups in Pakistan. To date, no recompense has been received by the now destitute and homeless victims. Furthermore, no arrests have been made and the survivors are still being tormented by local gangs and the Local Police.I would like to arrange a meeting if permissible with yourselves and lead protagonists within the British Asian Christian community, to deduce how best to work in partnership to resolve this crises. We have recently held protest at 10 Downing street and in front of the Pakistani Embassy.

http://britishpakistanichristian.blogspot.com/2009/08/pakistani-christian-community-in-city.html

Please share your thoughts….

Kind regards

Wilson Chowdhry
British Asian Christian Association
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I await a letter from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office indicated in the response from the Prime Ministers Office......

Click on the image to make the letter larger and readable!