Guardian report:

Cameron calls for return to Christian values as King James Bible turns 400

Christianity provides a 'moral code' to counter riots, expense scandals and Islamist extremism, says the prime minister

• •  reddit this

• Riazat Butt, religious affairs correspondent
• guardian.co.uk, Friday 16 December 2011 19.43 GMT
• Article history

Ancient copies of the King James Bible are carried during a procession at Westminster Abbey to mark its 400th anniversary. Photograph: Chris Jackson/AFP/Getty Images

David Cameron has declared that "Britain is a Christian country and we should not be afraid to say so", in a speech to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.

Cameron told Church of England clergy gathered in Oxford that a return to Christian values could counter the country's "moral collapse" and blamed a "passive tolerance" of immoral behaviour for this summer's riots, Islamic extremism, City excess and Westminster scandals.

His words will delight traditionalists in his party and Christian groups that claim believers are increasingly marginalised .

Cameron said there were three reasons why the King James Bible was as relevant today as any point in its history.

"First, the King James Bible has bequeathed a body of language that permeates every aspect of our culture and heritage. Second, just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.

"Third, we are a Christian country. And we should not be afraid to say so. Let me be clear: I am not in any way saying that to have another faith – or no faith – is somehow wrong.

"I know and fully respect that many people in this country do not have areligion. And I am also incredibly proud that Britain is home to many different faith communities, who do so much to make our country stronger. But what I am saying is that the Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today."

Cameron added that while faith was neither a "necessary nor sufficient condition for morality" it could be a "helpful prod in the right direction".

"Whether you look at the riots last summer, the financial crash and the expenses scandal, or the ongoing terrorist threat from Islamist extremists around the world, one thing is clear: moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn't going to cut it anymore."

He said people were unwilling to distinguish right from wrong.

"The absence of any real accountability, or moral code, allowed some bankers and politicians to behave with scant regard for the rest of society. And when it comes to fighting violent extremism, the almost fearful passive tolerance of religious extremism that has allowed segregated communities to behave in ways that run completely counter to our values has not contained that extremism but allowed it to grow and prosper."

However emphatic he was about the importance of Christianity to Britain, he was less insistent about its place in his personal life.

As with previous declarations of his belief – once likening it to the patchy reception of a radio station – he told his audience he was a "committed but vaguely practising Church of England Christian" who, while he would stand up for the values and principles" of his faith, was "full of doubts and, like many, constantly grappling with the difficult questions when it comes to some of the big theological issues".

Last month the government announced it was sending a copy of the King James Bible, complete with a foreword from education minister Michael Gove, to every school in the country.

Khush Kabri Mela an exciting event!

Khush Khabri held their Christmas Mela” on Saturday 10^th December 201, at Monsoon palace The Green, Southall.  It was a well attended event with close to 300 people and the organisers kindly allowed me to speak about our 10th March protest, hopefully this will induce a good attendance.  I have emailed over 30 Asian Pastors in the UK with a appeal to assist us with the planning and for them to participate as speakers.  I will keep you informed of progress in the creation of  a strong base of participants.

Dire state of Pakistani education system, should impel UK to reconsider foreign aid in Pakistan

Free at last a chance to start over!

53 children were rescued from the torturous conditions of a madrassa in Karachi on Wednesday 14th November, many of whom were found chained to walls, when freed by security forces.


Children as young as 7 and 21 teenagers were among those found during the raid on the self-styled seminary in Pakistan's biggest city.


Former students including an eight-year-old; told the Herald Sun, they were regularly beaten at the school, which was equipped with chains, hooks and a warren of basement rooms. 


Police said the students were chained up because they were drug addicts whom the madrassa "wanted to rehabilitate", but many details remain unclear.


Madrassas, are known to provide the poorest families in Pakistan with the only affordable education regulation is lacking and the same establishments have become recruitment grounds for the Taliban and other al-Qaida-linked terror groups.


The Herald Sun revealed a number of concerns highlighted by former pupils:


Accounts given to AFP by students and relatives indicated that impoverished families believed the madrassa could offer treatment to drug addicts and a religious education to the youngest boys.

Azmat Ulla, a 17-year-old student, said his father sent him there because he suffered fits and could be violent.

"My father took me to several spiritual healers who said I was a victim of black magic," Azmat said. "Three months ago I was admitted here."

"My father pays 3,000 rupees ($34) per month to the madrassa as a fee to make me a normal person, but I still suffer from fits and despite that they kept me chained and beat me with sticks ruthlessly," he said.

Mohammad Ashraf said he had sent his eight-year-old son Mushtaq Ahmed to the madrassa believing he would receive a religious education.

"I didn't know the madrassa management would beat him so mercilessly. I will no longer keep my son in this madrassa," he said.

His son, Mushraq, said the teachers beat the students daily.

"I don't know why they kept young children with adults here," he said.

Police official Akram Khan said it was a "complex situation" and there would be "no clear picture until police collect all the evidence".

"Relatives of the elder boys and men say they had sent them for drug addiction rehabilitation, while younger children's relatives say they were sent for religious studies," he said.

Hanif Jullandhri, head of a federation of Pakistani madrassas, told Express Television that the premises was not registered.

"We strongly condemn this and urge the government to take the harshest possible action against its owners. The government should investigate how such torture cells are established and operated," he said.

At least 15,148 seminaries in Pakistan educate more than two million students - around five per cent of the 34 million children in formal education - according to official statistics.

But officials suspect thousands more go unregistered, providing sons of Pakistan's poverty-stricken majority with the only education they can afford.

We are concerned that 5% of Pakistan's students are taught in these self styled seminaries.  Reports of the cruelty and brutality in these centres are rife and the severe treatment that young children are subjected to, can only exacerbate the existing tensions in the country.  Quite simply, violence breeds violence and no amount of "sesame street" programmes will be able to rehabilitate more 'seasoned' victims.  The beatings and torture revealed in this reportage are used to inculcate hatred and instil an extremist agenda.  Pakistan's Government should be made to provide a concrete plan of action to eradicate education, in such rogue entities or have aid directed towards educational reform suspended.


If any of our British tax payers' money is diverted towards assisting in madrassa improvement, than our government will have failed in it's purpose of protecting it's own citizens.   Pakistani madrassa students of today are the militants of tomorrow...

BBC Reports on how Pakistan has blocked their World News Channel!

Continue reading the main story

Pakistani cable television operators have begun blocking the BBC's international news TV channel, BBC World News.     BBC World News is unavailable in most Pakistani Cities! 

The operators say that the move is in response to a documentary broadcast by the channel, entitled Secret Pakistan.

Other foreign channels broadcasting "anti-Pakistan" material have been warned that they too will be blocked.

The BBC said it was deeply concerned by the move, and called for its channel to be speedily reinstated.

"We condemn any action that threatens our editorial independence and prevents audiences from accessing our impartial international news service," a BBC spokesperson said.

"We would urge that BBC World News... to be reinstated as soon as possible."

The two-part BBC documentary questioned the country's commitment to tackling Taliban militancy.

It argued that some in Pakistan were playing a double game, and quoted US intelligence officials as saying that they had acted as America's ally in public while secretly training and arming the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Correspondents say the Pakistani government is likely to have put pressure on the operators to impose the ban, although Pakistan has denied this.

The country's High Commission in London said the cable operators had taken the decision to block BBC World News on their own.

"The government of Pakistan strictly believes in the freedom of press and media," said a statement from the High Commission.

'Strong message'

The decision to block BBC World News and the warning to other international news channels come after a media uproar in Pakistan over a Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border at the weekend.

The All Pakistan Cable Operators Association announced on Tuesday that all foreign news channels airing "anti-Pakistan" content would be barred from Wednesday.

The operators called on the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) "to revoke the landing rights of foreign channels" if they were found to be "propagating" information harmful to the country.

Relations between Pakistan and the US in particular, and the West in general, have been strained by the raid - as well as by continuing US drone strikes in Pakistan, the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May and a row over a CIA contractor acquitted earlier this year after killing two men in Lahore.

Correspondents say it is not possible to see BBC World News in most Pakistani cities, with the ban expected to be extended to rural areas by Wednesday.

Cable Operators Association spokesman Khalid Arain said that no anti-Pakistan foreign channel would "ever" be broadcast in the country.

He said BBC World News would only be put back on air if the corporation offered assurances that it would not broadcast anything "against Pakistan".

BBC World News is thought to be the only foreign channel taken off air so far.

Express Tribune tells of Ahmiddiyah Family on the run after false blasphemy charges

Blasphemy charges: Out of fear, Ahmadi family on the run

By Rana Tanveer

Published: December 15, 2011

Teenager accused of making derogatory remarks against Holy Prophet (PBUH).

LAHORE: 

Blasphemy allegations continue to haunt minorities in Pakistan.

Aalmi Majlis Tahafuz Khatm-e-Nabuwat (AMTKN) activists alleged that 16-year-old Sajeel committed blasphemy by making derogatory remarks against the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his father, Rana Hakim Jameel, had done the same by portraying Sajeel as a Muslim in his school admission form.

Denying that he ever put down Islam as Sajeel’s religion and all other allegations levelled against his son, Jameel’s was a different tale.

According to him, the allegations stemmed from a school fight.

The school principal overheard some students abusing Sajeel and beat them up. The students later accused Sajeel of telling on them and beat him up. When Sajeel actually went to the principal to complain, he learnt that the students had “made up a story, telling the principal they had attacked him because he had made blasphemous remarks”.

Later, Haji Aslam, the school principal, expelled Sajeel.

Fearing their safety, the two have been on the run ever since the charges emerged.

While the police have yet to register an FIR against the accused, they have already started conducting raids for their arrests.

A member of the accused family, Rana Asfandyar, 18, was arrested by the police, who allegedly pressurised the young student to reveal his brother’s whereabouts, Asfandyar’s older brother, Rana Mujahid toldThe Express Tribune.

At local mosques, various religious scholars were fuelling a hate campaign against Ahmadis, Mujahid alleged, adding that evoking such hatred among the public could prove dire for his family.

However, Khushab police station SHO Raja Arshad told The Express Tribune that since the family refused to tell them about Sajeel’s whereabouts, the police had brought Asfandyar in to record his statement at the DPO’s office. Arshad denied that they had detained the boy.

Mujahid alleged that religious scholars Qari Saeed and Waqas Ahmed were producing “false witnesses” before the police.

SHO Arshad said that they were still in the process of recording the statements of witnesses, and hence, were unable to conclude their investigations.

Meanwhile, Jameel alleged that a property dispute could also be a reason behind the accusations.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2011.

GT Road blocked in tyre burning demonstration staged to arrest another blasphemy law victim!.

A Christian man was arrested under Section 295/B of the Pakistan Penal Code in the district of Shahdara on Monday 5th December.  Shadara Police, responded to a demonstration that involved the burning of tyres at Shahdra Chowk on Pakistan's famous Grand Trunk (GT) Road- an historic main artery for travel through the whole of south Asia. 


The mob estimated at around 1000 people blocked GT Road for approximately three hours demanding that the victim Khurram Masih be charged of a  blasphemy stating he had burned pages of the Holy Quran.  They   wielded sticks and threatened great violence damaging vehicles and Shahdra Police Station.  Senior officers from the precinct went to the scene and promised to arrest the suspect.

A FIR was registered  against Khurram Masih the main complainant was a Mr Zulfiqar Ali.  On Wednesday 7th December Mr Masih was produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

A mob of about a thousand people wielding sticks took to GT Road at Shahdara Chowk and blocked traffic with burning tyres on both sides of the road.

The FIR report states Mr Masih lives with his wife in a rented property in Majeed Park, Shahdara Town. On Monday his neighbour, also a tenant, told the property owner, Zulfiqar Ali, that the couple had burnt pages of the Holy Quran to light a fire to make tea.

He also told people in the neighbourhood and they began gathering outside the property and chanting slogans. 


The couple fled to the house of a nearby relative.Ali, the complainant, told The Express Tribune that he had visited the house after hearing of the incident and had seen burnt pages with Arabic verses on them, from a Quranic reader (qaeda). He said he had helped trace down the couple at their relative’s house and had them arrested.

“I had no choice,” he said. “Things were getting out of hand. I do not know where all the protestors came from.”


He said that only Masih had been arrested because he had made the tea, as his wife was asleep at the time.


Inspector Mian Shafqat Ali, who is in charge of the investigation, said that it had been established that the accused had burnt Quranic pages “intentionally”. He said that Masih’s wife had been released after interrogation as she had no role in the incident.

Team London Awards £1000 towards BPCA local Peace Barbecues!

The BPCA has secured funding for 3 community peace barbecues in our home town of Ilford. Our intent is to promote community cohesion and interfaith harmony, whilst also creating a stronger awareness of the presence of our community in the UK - well London at least!

Obtaining one of these prestigious Mayor of London grants, evidences our total commitment to making this group work.  It will enable us to engage with people who otherwise, simply would not be aware of our more national approach to challenges facing Christians in Pakistan.  These barbecues will continue the work of the community centre we have created locally.  They will express our Christian desire, to espouse stronger community links and to serve others.  God calls us to be witnesses of the love that faith in him induces and to inspire others through our good deeds;

^"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,.." (Hebrews 10:24)

The last time I was involved in a similar programme through one of my other groups a unexpected outcome, was being able to feed and cheer many homeless people.  In the spirit of unity the barbecue stirred they were able to join us without any stigma or resentment, no member of the public caused any friction.  This was inspiring to say the least.

It is a great  opportunity for outreach and if any local churches such as St Andrews in Ilford, or others, please feel free to make contact.  Our mini events will all be held in March  and planning will start in January - so if you would like to get involved just pick up the phone.

"For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give -- large or small -- will be used to measure what is given back to you." (Luke 6:38)


Such programmes do work, Pakistani Christians living in the UK have benefitted from years of inculcation of positive ideologies, in a country that was once riven with racial tension.  I lived through the 80's when being a Pakistani meant that certain areas where no-go zones.  Surely now, in this free society we live in, it is time we gave something back...

"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

Here is some blurb on Team London taken from their website:

Team London is the Mayor of London's programme for all Londoners. The aim is to make volunteering easier to do and easier to find out about.

Team London also rewards and recognises the work of everyday Londoners and the many voluntary groups and charities in the capital.

Building on all the work that is already taking place in the capital, Team London focuses efforts on areas of need where volunteers can help make a difference. The three Team London priority areas are:

• Cutting crime
• Improving quality of life
• Increasing youth opportunities