Persecution Of Christians In Pakistan

EDM number 560 in 1996-97, proposed by David Atkinson on 19/02/1997.

That this House is appalled by the events of Thursday 6th February in the Christian village of Shanti Nagar in Pakistan which led to the destruction of 1500 homes and 13 churches; notes with great concern that the riots, provoked by the reported desecration of a copy of the Koran, were in fact part of a well planned attack by extremists on the Christian minority; urges the Government to investigate the plight of three Christian men who are being held because their names were allegedly found in the desecrated copy of the Koran; asks the Government to further investigate as a matter of urgency the whereabouts for 25 Christian women missing from a hostel and exert pressure upon the local authorities to take action to help the 1500 families made homeless in this attack; expresses sympathy for the families of the two Muslims killed during the riots; notes that the separate electoral system further divides the different religious communities; and urges the Government to impress upon the new Prime Minister of Pakistan that these terrible events provide even further evidence of the need to reform the blasphemy laws.

This motion has been signed by a total of 37 MPs.