Veena Victoria (RIP) a woman of Faith whose challenge created the BPCA.

Veena Victoria Yousaf the mother of my wife (Juliet Chowdhry director of the British Pakistani Christian Association), passed away yesterday morning at 3am.   

It was a call for action from my Mother-in-law after the incident in Gojra,  that spurred the conversation with my brothers and stirred the formation of the BPCA.  So this woman was significantly important in creating our group which has worked tirelessly for the rights of minorities in Pakistan.

Veena Victoria had been suffering from severe kidney failure and spent the last days of her life in a coma, after a blood clot in her brain.  

Juliet who had travelled to Pakistan last Monday to visit her mother after she fell ill, failed to arrive before the coma and has been shaken by the inability to share those last moments in conversation.  Even then, Juliet feels blessed that God allowed her to be with her mother during her passing away.  Juliet holds some hope that the passionate talks evoked by her mother's condition, will have been heard.

I had provided the telephone number of her brother to a number of churches in Pakistan, as Juliet had taken across some Sunday School material donations across with her for distribution, believing her mother would recover.  We now plead with churches to be patient and  call after a period of time, as our family are going through a very emotional period and simply do not want to be disturbed with such requests, at this sensitive time.

Her brother Haroon is currently unable to travel to Pakistan as he has applied for an Inland extension to his student visa in the UK, so he will miss the funeral and is naturally feeling very distraught.  Please pray for succour for him. 

Please also pray that the Pakistan High Commission in the UK repeals the ban on my travelling to Pakistan, which I have suffered since creating the BPCA and holding a number of protests and other peaceful activities.  I have emailed a request for a meeting with an officer and ask that you pray for a grant of entry and exit, so I can safely attend the funeral to be with my family at this time of sorrow. 

I would very appreciate if you would contact the UK Pakistan High Commission, calling for permission for me to travel to Pakistan. Their contact details can be found here:

http://www.phclondon.org/HC/ContactUs.asp

If you would like to know more on how I was beaten and refused a visa to Pakistan, a full story can be found in this "Catholic Herald" article:

http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/22nd-july-2011/3/pakistani-agents-intimidate-campaigners-family