No Christmas cheer for Pakistanis forced to sell kidneys
By Abbas Sahi (AFP) – 4 hours ago

YUHANABAD, Pakistan — There is no joy at Christmas for Pakistani Christians like Faqir Masih, forced by poverty to sell a kidney to unscrupulous organ traders who find easy prey among the religious minority.

The 32-year-old sells balloons to feed his mother, two brothers and sister. A year after being sliced open to sell a kidney to raise funds for his impoverished family after his father died, he still experiences agonising pain.

"Christmas, as usual, won't bring any joy this year as we can't celebrate," he says, sitting in dirty clothes on a broken bed next to his mother in the small, largely Christian town of Yuhanabad in eastern Pakistan.

"These people came and asked me to sell my kidney for 150,000 rupees (1,800 dollars). They said that I would be able to buy a new house and send my brothers and sister to a good school," he said.

"When I came round after the surgery, they gave me 40,000 rupees and warned me of serious consequences when I asked for the remaining money.

"These people didn't even give me proper medical treatment after the surgery... I still often feel excruciating pain," he said, showing a big wound on his abdomen.

There will no toys, no tree and no cheer in Masih's one-room home this Christmas. The furniture is ramshackle, with a curtain for a door. At night, temperatures drop close to freezing and the family huddle together for warmth.

Christians make up less than three percent of Pakistan's 167 million people, who are overwhelmingly Muslim, and are generally poverty-stricken and marginalised.
Most Christians in Yuhanabad, 20 kilometres (13 miles) east of Lahore, are labourers and workers, living in dilapidated houses and barely getting by.

It's a far cry from the flashy celebrations of the tiny elite of richer Christians in downtown Lahore, who buy Christmas trees, splurge on new clothes and dine out with friends and family in five-star hotels.

Pakistan's huge disparity of wealth lies at the root of the illegal kidney trade.

Adeeb-ul-Hasan Rizvi, head of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, is considered father of a bill in parliament to outlaw what he calls Pakistan's "big kidney bazaar".

"We calculated roughly at least 2,000 kidneys are transplanted in the country every year -- 500 legally and the rest illegally," he told AFP, putting last year's trade at 12 million dollars.

"Poor people normally sell their kidneys to the rich, a good number of whom come from the West and Gulf countries, to support their families.

"But they get little share of the bounty. The major share is taken by middle men and clinics involved in the trade."

Back in Yuhanabad, Safdar Masih -- no relation to Faqir Masih -- says he can't remember the last time he had enough money to celebrate Christmas.

"It's just a dream, which I don't think will ever come true," says the 45-year-old brick kiln worker, a father of five who was forced to sell a kidney to pay for a family wedding.
When a group of strangers offered a windfall payment for one of his kidneys, "we had no other option", he said:

"I was taken to a hospital in Lahore. I don't know which hospital. They only gave me 70,000 rupees and when I asked for more, they warned me to say nothing for my own safety."

The only Christmas presents his children will get this year are second-hand clothes donated by the Muslim families who employ his wife as a maid.
Christians are not the only victims.

Millions of Pakistanis live in bonded labour. Some sell kidneys in the hope of paying back cash advances from landlords and freeing themselves from their modern-day slavery.

Bones jutting out of his skin, Mohammad Ilyas became the fourth person in a family of 11 to sell a kidney in an effort to pay off a loan near Islamabad.

"I saw a big bucket full of knives, cutters and scissors... I got scared. I thought about running away but all the doors were locked and I was surrounded by half a dozen men who were about to cut my body," he said.

Imran and John Joesph - Special Thanks!

Imran and John Joesph hailing the crowd via their own megaphone - complimenting our protest.
Imran and Alex leading the Lords Prayer.

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Christian Social Link are the organisation who arranged the previous protest marches. Without a doubt they inspired the BPCA to form and I am grateful to Imran and John Joesph for their support our BPCA march. I have been informed that they tried extremely hard to encourage other Pakistani Christians to attend the event, however, due to a number of Pastors opting to continue holding their own events, even though the concerns in Pakistan are intensifying, they found that loyalties were being split. We planned this event from August 2009 and informed most of the Churches serving our community within days of the decision - via congregational members.

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There is a horrid and spiteful rumour that has been spread, intimating that Javaid from Christian Social Link has been maligning our organisation and its efforts. I can confirm that Javaid and the two Joesph Brothers, attended our planning meeting in November and that the Group openly declared their immutable support for our Peace Rally at that meeting. This was reported in an earlier post. I would ask that those spreading this malicious and spiteful gossip end it immediately. Javaid and the Joesph brothers were all at our protest?! Moreover Javaid has been in constant contact with Alex Chowdhry our Chairman and has shown more support than most community leaders. Slander stirs up dissension which inevitably culminates in alienation and conflict - so please refrain from such activity, as we need more unity.

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I have excellent news! The high Commissioner has rescheduled a meeting with the BPCA and its chosen delegation on the 8th January 2009. We will not be inviting the Community figures, who failed to turn up at our protest or the previous consultation with Jean Lambert. Their reliability is questionable and we no longer believe their aims are in alignment with our own.

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The new delegation will be composed of an all faith/no faith party, Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry (founder of the UK Asian Christian Church), Pukaar News, the BPCA and I am sure God will be there with us also. We will inform you of projected outcomes. Please keep this date in your prayers!

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Finally, all those that attended our recent event have asked that we hold another one. With this in mind I remind you that if you wish to join us for the next event the conformed date is the 31st of July, which corresponds with the anniversary of the Korian incident and one day before the anniversary of the Gojra incident. If you are a pastor and are reading this please choose unity and hold any memorial services on the Sunday. We would very much appreciate your attendance, and that of your congregations at our event - please respond and confirm such a commitment by email or on this blog.

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Merry Christmas to one and all!

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Wilson Chowdhry

Vice Chairman of the BPCA

Success with protest in Pakistan! Next one planned!

Smiles on their faces young people with the dominion that God provides marching for peace justice and equality in Pakistan.
No fear ! Brave hardy women are involved in the protest.

Swarms of people- our brothers and sisters do not need to rely on British counterparts.

Masses and masses of people working together with the BPCA to make our protest a global event!

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Report written by Xavier Williams (sic):
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Xavier William the General Sectary of Pakistan Christian Congress along with the other council members Mehboob Alam, Saqib Adeel, Zeeshan William and Suleman William led the protest against the Government of Pakistan in conjunction with the UK protest organized by British Pakistani Christian Association led by Alex and Wilson Chowdhry on 19th December 2009.

The Protest started at 1pm from Sadiqabad, near Holy Family Hospital. At the start of the protest only a few people were present, then after a few minutes Father Anwer Patras and many other joined and chanted slogans, urging the Government of Pakistan to immediately repeal the Blasphemy law and give justice to the victims of Gojra, Korian and Sumbrial - cities laid to waste in recent unprovoked religious attacks.

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Father Anwer Patras addressing the protest stressed that the Christians should unite and stand against the Government. He again reiterated upon the Government of Pakistan that should immediately repeal the Blasphemy law by an executive order. He demanded equal rights should be given to Christians and all minority groups in Pakistan. He demanded compensation and justice for the victims of Korian, Gojra and Sumbrial.

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Xavier William, Mehboob Alam and Saqib Adeel also addressed the participants and demanded to be treated equally.

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At the end of the protest Xavier thanked, Alex Chowdhry, Wilson Chowdhry, MEP Jean Lambert of the Green Party, Jasdev Rai of the Sikh Human Rights Group, Women Against Fundamentalism, and Ranbir Sekkhon of the Hindu Human Rights group for their effirst in the UK.

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Xavier also said a prayer for all those involved in the UK Protest

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The procession walked all the way to the Murree road and then dispersed peacefully.

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We promised you a global perspective to our protest and here you have it. As important as our protest was, people in Pakistan have stood against persecution and adversity and have shown that in God they have no fear.

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That such a large number of participants turned up at the Pakistan event arranged by PCC in collaboration and support of the BPCA event in London. Is a great indication of the resolve and determination of our people - who have had enough of being second class citizens. This should spur us on to even greater things and should inspire us to continue the impetus.

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Xavier Williams was given 4 weeks to arrange his protest and it is remarkable, what he has achieved. Yet I am disillusioned by the lack of support in the UK. We here have more fear of retribution and exhibit more apathy than those suffering in Pakistan. How can this be....?!

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Yesterday Xavier Williams gleefuly said:

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"We are extremely grateful to Baroness Cox and MEP Jean Lambert for the great interest they have shown for our cause. We shall keep them in our prayers"

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I give an opportunity to make amends for the lack of involvement in the recent protest. We are arranging a second protest on the 31st July (anniversary of Korian incident and 1 day before Gojra anniversary), at the same times and locations . We would like music participants, speakers and media confirmations as soon as possible, to assist with the planning of the event.

Save the best till last - true inspirers!

Image of the founder of the first ever UK Asian Christian Church -Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry

We so often hear of the Pastors in our community, the singers and of those who just want to make themselves known. However at the protest on Saturday 19th December the biggest privilege for me in particular and those of the BPCA was the visit from Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry. Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry and his 3 brothers initiated the first ever Asian Christian church in the UK - no other Indian or Pakistani Christian can ever take that record away from him. Read more (click here). This pioneering elder of our community at the grand old age of 84 travelled by Public Transport in the dire cold weather - just to be part of the culmination of his work.

Until he and his brothers started the first ever UK Asian Christian Church - our people were a divided diaspora in the UK. There was no central focus or body - it all developed through that early church (do follow the link provided earlier or this will not make any sense).


Dr Chowdhry provided a most riveting speech before the delegation left for 10 Downing Street. You may ask, why he was not part of the delegation to 10 Downing Street or the Pakistan Embassy - the answer is simple. Of the 20 times he was asked to be invited as part of the delegation, he declined every single one of them! He humbly answered:

"My son, at my age and after all my achievements, it would not be right for me to gain publicity or favour, for a process in which I have had minimal input." I have prayed for your event and for your group and confirm my full support. However, this has been arranged by a much younger generation than mine and it is they, that should take the credit for the endeavour and any resulting gain for our community."



Alex and I continually implored him to speak at the event and of all those present, his speech was the only one to fit the allocated 3 minutes, and it's precise nature and succinct message was a poignant one. Promoting universal peace, justice and equality. Whilst also focusing on the need to give glory to God for all we do and placing our trust in him.

Dr Mujeeb Chowdhry is our only surviving pioneer of the first Asian Christian Church. My Father was one of his brothers and passed away in 2006. I am always bemused in the manner that such a pioneer seems to have been dropped of the Asian Christian Circuit. Why is he neither invited to participate in the the large conferences in Pakistan or in the UK. Without him there would not be a fellowship in the UK. He was the first to champion political reform in Pakistan from the UK and was a part of the Important delegation we took to MEP Jean Lambert on the 18th December that Lead figures like Dr Peter David failed to attend. His emphasis on improving education in Pakistan - was astounding and extremely meticulous. I hope Brothers in Pakistan and the UK will recognise his endeavour and that of his brothers and award him and they posthumously for his and their service to the Pakistan Christian community. If we do I hope it is before his demise - our community reacts so late preserving our history and instilling a sense of pride in the younger generation and posterity. In the UK they have now created a Black History agenda promoting people from Black and Asian history to give the new hybrid generation, familiar role models to aspire them to greater things. Why not do the same?

Let's stop promoting those that promote themselves and promote those that exude humility?



Your comments please.......

Secondly I present to you our new Communications Officer Gerald Sunny:

Gerald Sunny can be seen in the picture carrying the cross as we were setting up and preparing the worship service, outside the Pakistani Embassy. He is a very enigmatic man, I have met him few times and still know so little of him. The reason being, we just talk about the next plan of action, or how to improve our activities, we talk about the situation in Pakistan. This is the type of person we need to be supporting and encouraging to take a full time role in the overall agenda for change on Pakistan.

Gerald is a committed Christian and a learned individual. His recent address outside 10 Downing Street was inspirational and we are awaiting copies of his presentation so that we can incorporate it into our daily posts. We will be holding a debrief meeting (which we intend to hold in Alperton) soon, to encourage some of the young people there to get more involved with our group. Jessica Harris and David Harris in particular helped with the organisation in the pre-stage and event stage of our peace rally.

The person on the right in the Picture above is Atiq Chowdhry he is the 1st Vice Chairman of the BPCA and my elder brother. Atiq produced all the placards and encouraged peopel all day long. He visited Walthamstaow church frequently and spoke about our event. He and I both visited the church in Alperton from which the majority of Asian Christains came to our protest - we are indebited to them and I am sure that God will recognise theire efforts and committment.

Arish Chowdhry my younger cousin created the Facebook page which you can all now join, just serach via facebook inputting "British Pakistani Christian Association". Moreover he helped deisgn our wonderful logo, which was used in great effect on our protest lead banner. We amalgamated the British Union Flag with the Moon and Star from Pakistan. Placed a cross on and devised a succint motto "Creating a voice for Pakistani Christians". We intend to expand our work in the near future and have designated Arish as our Project Manager. The security at the event, the programmes and the leaflets although written byAlex, Atiq and I were printed by Arish who really held the fort well for us! See his image on our facebook page.

In the same picture you will also see Jessica and David Harris holding the banner. the two of them have been a real blessing to our nascent group. Young people like these need encouragement - we are arranging a debrief session regarding our protest in Alperton, hoping to recruit more young talent to our cause and group.

Please tune into the Eava FM Christmas Special!

Christmas day schedule on Eava FM 102.5

http://www.eavafm.com/

I am attaching the planned schedule for 25th December 2009. You can now tune in all over the world via http://www.eavafm.com/ If youb have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Eava on the details below:


Christmas day schedule on Eava FM 102.5

07.00am Rev. Javid Iqabl – Leicester

08.00am Rev. Eric Sarwar – Holland

09.00am Rev. Noble Samuel – London

09.30am Singer - Hammad Baily

10.00am Singer – Balbir Suffi – India

10.30am Rev. Asif - Pakistan


On behalf of the Pukaar News team I would like to wish you a Christmas filled with joy and happiness.


Kind Regards,
Romail Gulzar
T:0845 500 50 52
M:07762114523
www.pukaar.com
http://www.pukaarnews.com/

We at the BPCA are very grateful to Romail Gulzar from the Eava FM Team. He has supported our protest from the outset, produced the film of the event and interviewed us live on EAVA FM the week before the paece rally. Here are some of the images his associated company Pukaar News took on the 19th December 2009:

Hamad Bailey and Voice of Asia - singing Carols and Urdu Zaboor at our recent protest march.

Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jews, Atheists and Christians joined the peace rally and demanded justice, peace and equality in Pakistan.

Pastor Bashir Sandhu in his elderly years still managed to join the length of the protest, in the miserable cold and spoke eloquently outside 10 Downing Street. He prayed for the delegation before they set off to deliver the petitions.

The delegation before 10 Downing Street Hannah Chowdhry (Wilson's Daughter), Alex Chowdhry (Chairman of the BPCA), Jasdev Rai (Director Sikh Human Rights Group),

Jean Lambert Green Party MEP for London).

Enhanced profile in Pakistan!

A copy of the article in todays Jaang newspaper - this can be read on page 9.

Brothers and sisters in Pakistan please purchase a copy of the Jaang and inspire Churcehes in Pakistan with the Good News! There are People in the UK that love and care for you - not always the ones you expect but they exist and will continue the fight!

Images of our peace rally in reverse chronological order

The Delegation to deliver the petition to 10 Downing Street: Dr Jasdev Rai (Director of the Sikh Human Rights Group), Hannah Chowdhry (Wilson's Daughter), Alex Chowdhry (Chairman of BPCA) and Jean Lambert (Green Party MEP For London) Dr Peter David failed to complete the delegation?

Alex Chowdhry's 8 year old daughter Sophia braved the weather to campaign for justice, peace and equality in Pakistan - one of the few British Pakistani Christians to do so. Well at least our future is in safe hands!

MEP Jean Lambert addressing the amassed protesters before delivering the petition to 10 Downing Street. I approcahed the Labour Party and the Conservatives - only letters of support were received. The Liberal part did not respond in any way!

On the far right the woman in the shades (cropped hair) is Clara Connolloy from Women Against Fundamentalism. My 10 year old nephew Asher stood up to the cold weather to support persecuted Christians.

Placards were made by Alex and Atiq Chowdhry - some are quite poignient

In dominion we claimed the ground for Jesus! Our brothers from Feltham (Christain Social Link assited me with the chanting. We are grateful for their support - they were equal partners.

Alex Chowdhry led us in the 2nd recital of the Lords Prayer (whilst kneeling) just before Trafalgar Square. Christ Stumbled 3 times when carrying the cross, we used this religious symbolism to consecrate the day for God. We were pleased that those from other faith groups or those with no faith did not object or cause any issue with what we felt was an approriate act for the Glory of our God. Peopel can put aside differences when they have the right heart.

Young and old Christians walking side by side - taking turns to carry the cross - just as Christian soldiers are asked too.

Is our banner not a stunning amalgamation of the two flags representing our peopel in the UK? The banner also has an imprinted cross and our new logo "Creating a voice for Pakistani Christians!"

We created a real stir in the heart of London on an otherwise very quite day!

A white brother took a turn carrying the cross - we were an extremly cosmopolitan group.

Sharing each others burdens is an important facet of Christianity

See our banner does have a cross on it!

We put all the young teenagers and the children at the front of the protest, our intent was to show that the future of our community is in safe hands.

Our well planned protest march was a great spectacle a huge cross lead us then our large banner with a clear message and the numerous placards. Only more Pakistani Christians could have provided any benefit.

The young boy at the front struggked with the cross alone for a long period. Truly committed over-exuberant at times, but with careful channeling of his energy and frustration, he would be a great asset to any community.

Gosh that was a huge cross at the front of the procession - our thanks again to Potters House Christian Fellowship.

There was a lot more of us at the event than those who chose not to turn up expected. Those that schemed against us, will have to face God one day, they will then have to answer to him - on what led them to sow seeds of disunity.

Atiq Chowdhry (1st Vice Chairman BPCA) Alex Chowdhry and Pastor Kevin Hodges (Potters House Christian Fellowship) Our esteemed delegation to the Pakistani Embassy.

Voice of Jesus performing outside the Pakistani Embassy

Voice of Jesus sang Urdu Zaboor and Christmas Carols outside the Pakistani Embassy - how surprised were those inside the embassy....?

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelijah!

Pastor Amelia Jacob Ordained Minister for the British Anglican Church. The leading Women in the UK Asian Christian Community - praying and addressing the amassed people.

Baroness Caroline Cox: Peer for the Queensbury London seat at the House of Lords. That's me Wilson in the background and Alex Chowdhry nearer the front of the picture.

Young Children suffered in the cold - where are the adults!

I have never before seen so many diverse people supporting our cause. There again I have never seen so few Pakistani Christians at a protest for Pakistani Christians. Let's hope they don't use snow as an excuse in summer - they probably will find others....