Excerpt from The Targeting of “ Minority Others” in Pakistan

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There was a mass deportation charter flight to Pakistan from UK on 6^th  February 2012, it’s unclear if this was the first. Another took place on 19^th March 2012 [PVT120] at least one of the airport-transfer buses for this flight was branded “Just Go! Holidays by Coach” and the plane allegedly departed from London Stansted Airport. Then, another took place on 11thApril 2012, and another on 1^st May 2012

In the main centres in which many ‘failed’ asylum seekers (inclusive of many people from Pakistan)xi are held before deportation, the following types of targeting measures have been undertaken (the descriptions below do not cover the brutalisation – some would say torture - of targeted ‘Others’ that occurs whilst restrained and in transit to the airport or detention centres, and also whilst detained in detention centres) :xii

25^th from Pakistan] detained at Yarl’s Wood immigration [detention centre] in Bedfordshire … which began on 5^th February and involved some 84 women at the start, was sparked by detainees protesting against their prolonged detention and inhumane treatment at the hands of the Serco security guards and the immigration authorities. The hunger strikers’ demands included an end to the “physical and mental torture at the centre” and “all false allegations and misrepresentations by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) regarding detainees”; an end to the detention of children and their mothers, rape survivors and other torture victims and to the separation of children from their mothers.

Two and a half weeks on, at least 20 women are still on hunger strike, while others have stopped but are refusing to eat the “repugnant” food provided by the prison management. On the 8^th February, Serco security guards tried to break up the protest by force. Some 70 women were locked in a corridor for up to 8 hours without access to food, water, toilet or medical care. Many collapsed and about 20, who tried to climb out of the windows, were beaten up and taken into isolation cells. Four of the women, singled out as ‘ringleaders’, were taken to Bedford police station and subsequently transferred to HMP Holloway in London, without being charged with any offence or brought before a judge. Testimonies by Yarl’s Wood detainees, many of whom have fled torture, rape and destitution, have revealed that racial, psychological and physical abuse had been inflicted on the hunger strikers by Serco staff. xiii

Thank you for reading this and please know that your sharing, liking and commenting on this post goes a long way in helping to give voice to the persecuted.

All proceeds from the sale of the book support the work of the BPCA.  Much of the early sales will be used to support victims of the Peshawar bomb attacks - December 2013.

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.

So pray

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