Discrimination in Prisons and Schools

A Pakistani Jail

Several recent reports have highlighted the discrimination that Christians and / or other minorities face in both prison and school in Pakistan. Prisons first.

A report states Christians face significant discrimination in prisons and the legal system. Partly it is to do with Christian's poverty. Many are in prison for minor offences for which they could get out of jail if they could pay the fines, and this includes children who have to stay in jail with their mothers. But Christians in prison are also discriminated in the distribution of food, clothing, medicine and the right to practice their faith. And usually, they have no lawyer because of their poverty and already low social position.

On another note, there is also another reason for fearfulness for Christians in jail, and that is the rise of the Taliban. Often masses of Taliban prisoners take over the prison and violently assert extremist values, for example beating up all prisoners who took part in music lessons and smashing their instruments because singing or listening to music is considered 'haram', even though making music is physically and psychologically beneficial for prisoners (hardly a surprise given that it is God's gift).

Source

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom recently released a report detailing the Islamicizing nature of even much government financed education in Pakistan, and the discrimination against minorities in textbook materials. Hindus were described in very negative terms and references to Christians were often inaccurate and offensive. The contributions of minority religions to history and Pakistani life were almost entirely omitted everywhere. Teachers had very little knowledge of minorities and some thought they were not even citizens of Pakistan, and they often expressed negative views about minorities and were found to successfully transmit these negative views to their students. In short, even government education is essentially Islamicist in nature, and this combined with the suspected influence of Islamicists in high government does not bode well for the long term prospect of prosperity and freedom in Pakistan.

Initial source

Report

The report highlights some of the reasons why BPCA is so concerned at the indiscriminate way the UK - yours and ours taxpayers money - is being flung into the Pakistani educational system.

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