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Ahmadiyaa community: Sarah acts in regard to Lahore attacks
June 11, 2010 3:00 PM
Sarah Ludford has sent the following message to Rafiq Hayat, National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK
"I write to express my sincere condolences to the Ahmadiyaa community in London following the attack on Ahmadi Muslims in Lahore by so-called 'Punjabi Taliban' suicide bombers last week. Your community has long suffered from state-sponsored discrimination and persecution in Pakistan and elsewhere, but this act of murder has taken the hostility to a horrific level. This violence is so much in contrast to the spirit of peace, unity and compassion that marks the Ahmadi faith and community as I have had the pleasure of experiencing it at your gatherings. I am raising the issue with the new Foreign Secretary as I have with previous ones, and asking Mr Hague to make representations to the Pakistani government to end the persistent persecution of Ahmadis and secure the rights and protection due to a religious minority. Please be assured of my continued support for the well-being of your community in the UK, in Pakistan and worldwide."
Sarah's letter to the Foreign Secretary reads:
11 June 2010
Dear Foreign Secretary,
Murder of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan
I write with regard to the recent targeted acts of violence against Ahmadi Muslims in Lahore, Pakistan. On 28 May 2010, the so-called 'Punjabi Taliban' attacked through guns and bombs two Ahmadi mosques in Model Town and Garhi Shah in Lahore, taking hostages and killing at least 100 people.
As you will know, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community - which is well represented in the UK and particularly in my London constituency - has long suffered from religious discrimination, persecution and violence in Pakistan and elsewhere, much of it not only state-tolerated by outrageously even state-sponsored. I have previously written to your predecessors to express my concerns about this and ask that the UK government put pressure on the relevant countries to end these human rights abuses.
This recent act of mass murder has however taken the hostility to a horrific level. I therefore urge you to make representations to the Pakistani government asking that it treat its Ahmadiyya Muslim community with respect and equality and guarantees them both in law and in practice the rights and protection due to a religious minority, not least under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which Pakistan has recently ratified.
Yours sincerely,
Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP
Liberal Democrat MEP for London
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