On April 30 Pakistani Christians in the UK protested at 10 Downing Street when the Pakistani Prime Minister was meeting with British Prime Minster, David Cameron.
The demonstration was organised by the Pakistan Christian Alliance. Head of the Alliance, Mr. Edgar Money, a renowned businessman, said the protest had been arranged for a number of reasons, but primarily to remind Mr Cameron to raise the issue of the misuse of the blasphemy laws with Mr Sharif, as he promised in parliament.
He added that another reason was to bring to the attention of the Pakistani Prime Minister their concern about the ongoing misuse of blasphemy laws which are being used to intimidate, harass, attack churches, burn Christian towns and villages, falsely imprison and kill innocent Christians in Pakistan.
Finally he said they were protesting to show solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Pakistan, to tell them that they are not forgotten or alone in their suffering, and that their plight was being raised at an international level, whenever possible.
Director of CLAAS-UK, Nasir Saeed said: “I support this protest because it was very timely and I hope that today Mr Cameron will have raised the issue of the misuse of blasphemy laws with the Pakistani Prime Minister - as he assured Parliamentarians during PMQs.
“I also hope that Mr Sharif takes this matter seriously and has given some assurance to Mr. Cameron that he will look into the matter, as Pakistani Christians believe that blasphemy laws are the root cause of their persecution.
“Pakistani Christians demand the repeal of the discriminatory law which is increasingly being used within Pakistan to persecute religious minorities.
“It is used to create false charges against innocent Christians, burn their homes and churches, carry out vigilante killings and exact revenge for personal disputes.
“Christians in Pakistan feel unsafe and are being forced to flee the country that they helped build.”
He added: “We hope that the protest today will help highlight the issue of the misuse of the blasphemy laws and force the Pakistani government into taking action and repealing the law, or at the very least amending it so that it can no longer be used as a tool to kill, persecute and threaten innocent Christians.”
Mr Saeed continued and said it was very unfortunate that even after 67 year Christians are still considered aliens and not granted equal rights and equal citizenship status.
“It is very sad that the British Prime Minister is having to advocate on behalf of the Pakistani Christians. The very clear message has gone to the world that Christians are not safe in Pakistan and also it is shameful that these matters, which should have been discussed in the Pakistani parliament, are being discussed in the British parliament and at 10 Downing Street,” he said.
“I hope that Mr Sharif will look into this long standing issue and will make all possible efforts to stop the ongoing misuse of the blasphemy laws and persecution of Christians, as it is important to improve the image of the country and image of Islam as people are being killed in the name of the religion,” he concluded.
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