Persecution of Religious Minorities: Pakistan

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh Excerpts

Thursday 11th February 2016 Westminster Hall

[Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh (Ochil and South Perthshire) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Brady. May I take this opportunity to welcome the members of the Ahmadiyya community who are here for the debate? You are most welcome. I thank the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Siobhain McDonagh) for securing the debate. I declare an interest, along with my friend the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), as a member of the APPG on international freedom of religion or belief.

I was going to start with a quote from Muhammad Ali Jinnah, but as usual the hon. Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah) has stolen my thunder before I have even begun. I will make reference to her speech later in my remarks.

The hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden talked about a number of specific cases that are of great interest in relation to human rights issues in Pakistan—voting, the blasphemy laws and the right to religious freedom—and called on the UK Government to seek the immediate release of Mr Imtiaz and Mr Shakoor. We are hoping to hear from the Minister in that respect.

An excellent point was made in relation to the use of the DFID budget in Pakistan. I was in Pakistan just last year and attended a number of meetings with Ministers there. I can assure all those here today and beyond that issues to do with the persecution of people of minority faith and minority religions and communities were brought up at every single meeting. It is important—I look forward to hearing from the Minister about this—to ensure that the DFID budget can be used to greater effect in that respect. The hon. Lady mentioned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s remarks about being the Prime Minister for all of Pakistan. Again, I look forward to hearing from the Minister about how those words can be brought more to bear in a practical sense.

We then heard from the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), who spoke about the brother of the Minister for minorities in Pakistan¸ who was here recently and spoke about his brother and also quoted Muhammad Ali Jinnah—a much quoted person. The hon. Lady also spoke of the plight of minority women. As always, women are disproportionately affected by such issues.

We then heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier), who thanked the Ahmadi community, with which she has been engaging in her constituency. She, too, spoke about issues to do with the electoral register that are resulting in the disfranchisement of people, which we should be working hard to guard against.

The hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Paul Scully) made a number of excellent points. I pay tribute to his pronunciation of “As-salaam alaikum”, which was one of the best that I have heard. He spoke of the wide interpretation of blasphemy laws, which always contributes to persecution. He also referred to being a member of the UK delegation to the Council of Europe, which I enjoy with him. It is an important forum for raising issues of human rights. I speak on behalf of the whole delegation in assuring all those here and beyond that we will ensure that human rights are central to all that we do.

We heard from the hon. Member for Strangford, who chairs the all-party parliamentary group on international freedom of religion or belief. I have spoken in a number of the same debates as him. He is a passionate advocate of religious freedom and spoke of the importance of all of us reaching out to all religions. An important term he used was “the voice of the voiceless”.

The hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) spoke of the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community beyond Pakistan in Indonesia and Bulgaria, about which we look forward to hearing from the Minister. The hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Nic Dakin) referred to women and young girls facing discrimination due to the style of hijab they wear, which distinguishes them and leaves them open to further opportunities for persecution.

The hon. Member for Bradford West quoted Muhammad Ali Jinnah. There is one more quote about women that is important as we speak of the father of the nation of Pakistan. He said that

“no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.”

I implore the Government of Pakistan to remember the words of the founding father of the nation and to put them into practice in relation to women and minority communities across Pakistan. The hon. Member for Bradford West said that if we believe in justice, we must speak for all who face injustice. That is an excellent point, to which I would add that no one equality is more important or more virtuous than another, and that should be at the forefront of our thinking.

Finally we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow Central (Alison Thewliss), who is engaging very actively with members of the Ahmadiyya community by running races and the like, which is very impressive indeed. It is a demonstration that when we engage with our minority communities, we get back so much more than we give, and we must continue to do so.

A number of questions on the promotion of religious tolerance have been asked of the Department for International Development. An answer from the Minister of State, Department for International Development, the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Mr Swayne), is welcome because it states:

“DFID supports the rights of all groups to follow their religious faith and to live safe lives”,

and that wherever possible our programmes in Pakistan seek to ensure that that is the case.

I welcome the fact that the head of DFID Pakistan raised the issue in October as part of the bilateral assistance talks. I am keen that that type of engagement continues, because it is necessary. Will the Minister let us know what level and proportion of the UK’s development funding in Pakistan is invested in such projects?

I asked a parliamentary question about the make-up of the community engagement forum, which was set up a little while ago in relation to community cohesion across these islands. The Home Office confirmed that members of the Ahmadiyya community—Fareed Ahmad, from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association and Farooq Aftab, the general secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association—were represented on the Prime Minister’s community engagement forum. Those are welcome appointments.

The debate pack produced by the House of Commons Library is extensive and details a number of parliamentary questions and answers on similar topics to those raised in today’s debate. However, none of those answers contain any evidence that the pressure brought to bear by the UK Government in Pakistan on issues relating to the persecution of religious minorities has had any positive effect. I hope that the Minister will offer some words of encouragement to those of us who have participated in the debate and, indeed, to members of the Ahmadiyya community who are listening.

The Scottish National party is opposed to religious persecution. Religious freedoms are a fundamental human right, and we are disappointed that the Pakistan Government continue to condone and conduct religiously motivated attacks. We call upon the Foreign Secretary to press the Government of Pakistan to take action against all religious persecution. Pakistan should—this point was raised when we there with the British Council—reform its blasphemy laws, which are incompatible with the international covenant on civil and political rights, which it has signed. We also call on the Foreign Secretary to take further steps to stop the death penalty in Pakistan.