Friday, November 13, 2020
Ahmadi Muslims Under Attack In Pakistan - Johnson urges Pakistan govt to guarantee fundamental rights of citizens
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a Parliament session, urged Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of its citizens.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a Parliament session on Wednesday, urged Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of its citizens.
The Prime Minister was responding to Member of Parliament Imran Ahmad Khan, who asked whether the government should make it clear to Pakistan that state-supported persecution must end.
Johnson replied: "I agree passionately with my honourable friend, and I can tell him that that is why the Minister of South Asia recently raised this very issue with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, and we urged the Government of Pakistan to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens."
Ahmad Khan, while addressing the Parliament, stated that while the country was rightly focused on battling COVID-19, it should not ignore humanitarian injustices and the plight of persecuted minorities.
He also recounted the tragic murder of an Ahmadi civilian in Pakistan's Peshawar on Sunday.
"On Remembrance Sunday, 82-year-old Mahboob Ahmad Khan was shot dead, the fourth Ahmadi recently slain in Peshawar. His crime under Pakistani law? To call himself an Ahmadi Muslim, whose creed is 'love for all, hatred for none'. Does my right honourable friend agree with me that hatred preached in Pakistan ends up on the streets, and it is in the interest of our own security that His Majesty's government should make clear to Pakistan that state-supported persecution must end?" asked Ahmad Khan.
Pakistan has been slammed for its treatment of minorities, who continue to face persecution in the hands of government authorities.
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/johnson-urges-pakistan-govt-to-guarantee-fundamental-rights-of-citizens-120111200664_1.html
Killing of Ahmadi Muslim in Pakistan is a 'Sad Reflection' of Minorities' Status
Last Sunday, Mahboob Khan was shot dead as he stood at a bus terminal in the city of Peshawar, allegedly for his faith.
India has criticised the killing of an 82-year-old man due to his Ahmadi faith in Peshawar as a “sad reflection of the state of minorities in Pakistan”.
On Sunday, Mahboob Khan was shot dead as he stood at a bus terminal in the city of Peshawar. As per media reports, a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya minority group claimed that he had been killed for his faith.
“One after another, Ahmadis are being targeted in Peshawar while the government has repeatedly failed to protect and stop the violence against the members of the Ahmadiyya Community,” the spokesman said in a statement. He stated that it was the fourth such killing in the last four months.
Four days later, the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson took cognisance of Mahboob Khan’s killing. “We have seen media reports of an 82-year-old Ahmadi man believed to have been shot and killed by some gunmen, apparently because of his faith, in Peshawar. This is, unfortunately, a sad reflection of the state of minorities in Pakistan,” said MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava at the weekly briefing.
He asserted that Pakistan has witnessed the “space for people from the minority community to practise their religion shrink continuously”. “We have been consistently raising the issue of the safety, security and well-being of minority communities with the Government of Pakistan,” added the Indian diplomat.
Over the years, India has been raising the issue of sectarian persecution of minorities in Pakistan, referring to Ahmadiyyas and Ismailis, at various platforms of the United Nations. This has usually been in ‘Right to Replies’ – counter-statements to criticism from Pakistani delegates – at various platforms of the United Nations.
The Indian government has also repeatedly raised the issue of persecution of Sikh and Hindus in Pakistan. It has usually reacted strongly whenever specific reports of abduction and forced conversion of Hindu and Sikh girls are brought to light.
However, as a search of the MEA’s website showed, India has not commented previously on a specific incident related to targeted killing of Ahmadis (also known as Ahmadiyyas).
Earlier on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had also urged Pakistan to guarantee the “fundamental rights of its citizens” during a parliamentary session, in response to a question from a member of parliament who raised the killing of the Ahmadis in Pakistan.
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6906155786122195046/1538638238508920959
Despite the absence of level playing field PPP will win with clear majority in GB elections, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
He warned the administration to keep away from sectarian design otherwise there could be violence which is not in favour of Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference in Gilgit, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that elections in GB are not being held free and fair. PPP exhausted all legal avenues for ensuring free and fair elections but he was stopped from running election campaign. The election laws are made so that no one can use government resources and position to influence the elections but the selected prime minister and his ministers openly violated the election laws and ran the election campaign in GB. On the other hand they wanted to throw us out of GB in the name of implementing election laws. Today (13 November) the PPP had its last public gathering in Gilgit but the administration stopped him from addressing that meeting. This is unlawful and illegal but we want peace in GB. Chairman PPP said that he was deprived of his right. In a court decision, similar restrictions were put on him as on the ministers.
The court decision was a split decision and this amounts to depriving him of his rights. This is injustice. This is not the playing field we thought will be provided to us in these elections. Ministers are announcing billions of funds but the people of GB will defeat all designs and will vote for the PPP candidates.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that there is still time to save these elections from becoming disputed elections. He asked the institutions not to make GB elections disputed. The entire world is watching these elections. We cannot afford to have a rigged election in GB. If the people’s vote is stolen then there could be protest and violence. Administration’s job is to maintain peace. Sectarianism is being propagated in some parts of GB in these elections. This could become a big threat. The PPP will defeat these efforts. The way IJI was formed against Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and similarly another alliance has been formed in GB in these elections. We will not let anyone steal the votes of the people. The journalists and the cameramen are witness to the enthusiastic welcome we received in every part of GB from Khaplu to Skardu, Shigar to Astore and Gilgit to Nagar. He said that he is thankful to every person who attended his corner meetings and gatherings including the journalists, photo-journalists and cameramen.
Chairman PPP said that he hopes that on 15th November people of GB will come out to vote for their rights and vote for PPP. He said that the PPP had three main rights for the people of GB in its manifesto. The right to rule, the right to property and the right to employment are the promises the PPP has made. These are the demands of the people of GB and they are striving for these rights. The right to rule means separate GB province with all the constitutional rights. The right to send their representatives in the senate and the national assembly of Pakistan, the right to choose Prime Minister and even become prime minister of Pakistan. The right to property is to own a property in GB so that they become legal owner of their land and the resources of GB. The right to employment is the right to have first right of employment in every project in GB including in the projects under CPEC. The first right of employment is of the people of GB and Balochistan in the CPEC projects. We want a prosperous GB. PPP always delivers employment to the people and we never deprive people of their right to employment.
He said that the PPP had conceived the idea of CPEC. The relation of PPP and Chinese communist party go back three generations like we have relations with the people of GB. We can facilitate the people of GB to get employment in CPEC projects.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that no other party has any manifesto for GB whereas the PPP had promised these rights to the people of GB in its manifesto for 2018 elections. The manifesto of PTI is one of destruction like it has done to the rest of Pakistan. PTI always make false promises like the promise of South Punjab province, one crore jobs and 50 lac houses. The PTI cannot snatch victory from the PPP in GB elections. The people of GB have spoken and on 15 November they will vote for PPP for their rights. The PPP will win in GB with clear majority. He said that the people of GB will not disappoint him and in return he will not disappoint them.
Responding to a question he said that it is essential that the elections are fair and transparent otherwise the people will strongly protest. He said that PTI has no manifesto for these elections and they had never thought of a province for GB and they are promising to make GB a province on someone’s dictation. PPP will protect food security for GB and will not allow imposing increased taxes. The puppet is unable to wage a political struggle. The people are against this anti-people party called PTI. He said that he does not want any favors but his rights. On a question about dialogue with establishment, he said that PDM will decide the issue. He said that he demanded GB province in his 2018 manifesto and now it is the victory of jiyalas that the national security people and other political parties have come to the page of jiyalas.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/24078/
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari extends felicitations on Diwali festivities to the Hindu community in Pakistan particularly and all those celebrating the festival of light the world over
Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has extended felicitations on Diwali festivities to the Hindu communities in Pakistan particularly and all those celebrating the festival of light the world over.
In his message on the eve of the Diwali celebrations beginning from tomorrow, the PPP Chairman said that as per traditions Diwali is celebrated as a triumph of knowledge over ignorance and good over evil and prayed that all the evil forces may vanish away to usher in an era of peace, tranquility and equality for human race.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his Party was true heir of the ideology and commitment of the founding father Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah of Pakistan. Its leaders and elected Prime Ministers Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto even laid down their lives along with thousands of Jiyalas and supporters for this ideology, he added.
PPP Chairman said that the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees equal rights of all the citizens to perform their religious rituals and celebrate festivals without any hindrance or discrimination.
Fears grow for British man detained in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
There are growing concerns for the wellbeing of a British man facing up to three years in jail for taking down a Pakistani flag from a public square in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Tanveer Ahmed Rafique, a 48-year-old activist who has called for the disputed region to be granted independence from both Pakistan and India, was detained in August in the city of Dadyal. His wife told the BBC he has held a number of hunger strikes in protest at being denied bail and had become "extremely weak".
Fareezam Rajput said she believes Pakistan's intelligence agencies are pressuring the courts to continue to keep her husband in detention.
Police files show Mr Rafique has been accused of "unauthorisedly removing the National Flag of Pakistan". Officials in Pakistani-administered Kashmir insist the courts are free from interference and due process is being followed.
Responding to a letter from one of Mr Rafique's friends, who raised the case with him in his capacity as their local MP, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he shared concerns about the "reported appalling treatment" of Mr Rafique and promised to raise it with the UK Foreign Office.
Mr Rafique was born in Pakistani-administered Kashmir but moved to the UK as a young child. In 2005, he travelled back to Kashmir to spend time with his grandmother and eventually left his job in finance to settle permanently in the region. Control of Kashmir is split between Pakistan and India, which have fought a number of wars and smaller conflicts over the region. Both countries lay claim to Kashmir in its entirety.
Mr Rafique, however, is part of a movement calling for a completely independent, united Kashmir. His wife told the BBC he was initially attracted to the cause after realising how difficult it was for his family in Pakistani-administered Kashmir to visit their relatives in Indian-administered Kashmir. "He thought, this used be one state and it shouldn't be divided," she said.
But Mr Rafique's peaceful activism attracted the attention of the authorities. Ms Rajput, his wife, told the BBC he had once previously been extrajudicially detained by the Pakistani military for three days before the British High Commission intervened. Mr Rafique's younger sister Asma, who lives in London, told the BBC her brother was warned by intelligence agents that if he did not stop his activities, "nobody would ever hear of him or see him again". The Pakistani military did not respond to a request to comment.
India-administered Kashmir has witnessed years of mass protests as well as a long running violent insurgency against Indian rule, with security forces accused of widespread human rights abuses. The dispute stems from the division of Pakistan and India in 1947. Tensions flared most recently when India revoked the special, more autonomous status of Kashmir last year.
Pakistani-administered Kashmir has not seen similar levels of unrest, and Pakistani officials frequently call for Kashmiris to be given the right of self-determination. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has described himself as a global ambassador for the Kashmiri cause, repeatedly demanding a plebiscite be held across Kashmir to decide its future in line with UN resolutions.
Mainstream political leaders, and many ordinary people in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, are supportive of the Pakistani state, which has been accused by India of backing separatist militants. However, voices in Pakistani-administered Kashmir calling for complete independence, as opposed to joining with Pakistan, have been deliberately stifled. The region's constitution forbids any activities deemed "prejudicial or detrimental to, the ideology of the State's accession to Pakistan". Ms Rajput told the BBC the detention of her husband shows the "hypocrisy" of Pakistan's position.
Raja Wasim, the press secretary to the prime minister of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, insisted laws preventing pro-independence activities were rarely actually enforced, however.
As well as publishing a blog and videos online, Mr Rafique spent years conducting a survey of public opinion in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, canvassing, he said, the views of 10,000 inhabitants of the region. According to his findings, 73% of respondents identified primarily as Kashmiri rather than Pakistani.
A study by the international affairs think tank Chatham House in 2010 found that 44% of residents in Pakistani Administered Kashmir favoured independence, whilst 50% wanted to join Pakistan.
The results of Mr Rafique's survey were published in a local newspaper in 2017, but in a sign of how sensitive the issue is authorities ordered the newspaper to be shut down in response.
This August, Mr Rafique began a hunger strike in protest at the placing of Pakistan's national flag in the centre of the city of Dadyal in Pakistani-administered Kashmir. The region has its own flag and its own parliament, with a degree of autonomy. In a message sent from jail, seen by the BBC, Mr Rafique said he "considered it my public duty to peacefully resist" and take down the flag when officials failed to do so.
A fellow activist filmed Mr Rafique scaling the gate of a square that local residents have named in honour of a Kashmiri separatist leader who was executed by India in 1984. The video shows Mr Rafique removing a Pakistani flag, before being hauled away by police. The footage was picked up from social media by Indian TV channels, a development that was specifically mentioned in the case registered against him and which likely angered Pakistani officials. His wife, however, told the BBC Mr Rafique opposed both Pakistani and Indian policies in Kashmir.
In his message from jail, Mr Rafique described being "punched" and "beaten with sticks" during his arrest and subsequent interrogation. His wife alleged he had at times been kept in isolation in a cell normally reserved for those accused of crimes warranting the death penalty, until the British High Commission in Islamabad intervened. She said she believed his life was in danger as a result of his hunger strike.
Mr Rafique's family in Luton have been calling on the British Foreign Office to step up efforts to secure his release. His sister Asma Rafique told the BBC that while the British High Commission had been in contact with them, they felt "disappointed" with the level of support they had received and the slow pace of progress. "I feel as is if everything is falling upon deaf ears," Ms Rafique said.
In a statement the UK Foreign Office said it was offering "offering assistance to a British-Pakistani dual national" and its staff were "in regular contact with his family, his lawyer and the Pakistani authorities".
Ms Rafique said the ordeal had caused an "immense level of stress" for the family. "I feel as if all our concerns are falling upon deaf ears," she said.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54921606