South Asian Peoples Forum wrote a letter to British Government about extremism in Pakistan

March 13, 2013

The Rt Hon William Hague MP

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Foreign & Commonwealth Office,
King Charles Street,
London SW1A 2AH

Dear Mr Hague

We would like to draw your attention to ongoing violence in Pakistan against religious minorities. In February this year, two bomb blasts were carried out in Shia dominated areas in Quetta, resulting in the death of over 200 people and hundreds were injured. Last week a bomb was exploded in Karachi killing 30 people and dozens of people were injured. The explosion in Karachi also destroyed nearly 100 flats and many shops.

Last Saturday on 9th March, 200 Christian homes in the Badami Bagh area in Lahore, the capital of Pakistani province of Punjab. For the last few months there have been similar attacks on minority communities throughout Pakistan. Notorious blasphemy laws have been used to punish Christian and Hindu communities in Pakistan.

A number of religious terrorist organisations, such as Sapah-e-sahaba, Pakistani Talaban and Lushkar-e-Jhangvi, have been involved in the genocide of Shia communities through assassinations and bombing. The lack of any serious attempts by the Pakistani government to redress the given situation is leading to the complete ghettoisation of certain vulnerable communities, including religious minorities, women and disempowered ethnic communities.

Our organisation, South Asian Peoples Forum UK, appeals to you raise the following issues with relevant agencies:

1. Why the Pakistani government has so far failed to arrest culprits responsible for these bloody attacks?

2. To stop the flow of funds to these terrorist organisations from Saudi Arabia and some other Gulf states.

3. British government to closely watch the operations of these terrorist organisations in Britain. They are involved in collecting funds and through Mudrassah (religious schools for children attached to many mosques), propagating fundamentalist ideas among young Muslims in many cities of Britain.

For further information, contact South Asian Peoples Forum U.K.

With regards

Pervez Fateh

Mohsin Zulfiqar

Prof Nazir Tabassum

Khalid Saeed Qureshi

Raj Pal

(National Organisers – SAPF-UK)