Thank you, Mr. Chair.
International Christian Voice is a human rights organization that is the voice of voiceless religious minorities of Pakistan. It is the voice of those who are oppressed, victimized, terrorized, discriminated against, and persecuted due to their holding a different faith from the Muslim majority. Through dialogue, seminars, conferences, and public meetings, we provide awareness and highlight the plight of the religious minorities of Pakistan.
International Christian Voice is also assisting new Pakistani Christian immigrants who do not have any family friends or anybody here in Canada. Due to our support, they can eliminate barriers to integration into our Canadian society.
I just want to give you the details of Christian and other religious minorities in Pakistan. The Christians of Pakistan contributed to the creation, development, and prosperity of Pakistan. Right up until today, Pakistani Christian minorities are serving Pakistan wholeheartedly.
Pakistan was not created as a theocratic state, but a progressive and democratic one. The founding father of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his policy speech to the first constitutional assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947, categorically said:
You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, or caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the State....we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.
Unfortunately, after the death of Quaid-e-Azam, every ruler used religion to prolong their rule, and discriminatory laws were promulgated into the constitution of Pakistan to discriminate against and victimize the religious minorities of Pakistan. Extremist religious organizations were encouraged by the existence of these discriminatory laws. They used these laws to persecute, victimize, terrorize, and discriminate against the religious minorities. The blasphemy law, as Brother Majed already said, is widely misused by the extremists against Christians and other religious minorities.
Many Christians are killed during trials, and many are in prison living in miserable conditions. Their families are harassed, attacked, and compelled to leave their homes. During the American-led coalition attack on Iraq and Afghanistan, Christian churches, institutions, schools, and other properties were attacked. The Islamic extremists associated Pakistani Christians with America and Israel.
This one poster here is an example of this.
The present martial law and the absence of democratic rule in Pakistan has created a vacuum in Pakistani society, which has been filled with extremist organizations. Now the organizations have also disturbed law and order and peace in Pakistan and tarnished the image of the country.
I have a few examples, which I want to share with the committee. This person's name is Javed Anjim, and he was 18 years old. He went to a mosque to drink the water, and the mosque priests, who were Maulvi, told him he shouldn't enter the mosque without accepting Islam. He was tortured and finally died, but he refused to convert to Islam.
Our Catholic bishop, from the Diocese of Faisalabad, gave his life to protest against the blasphemy law. Several people have had problems in the area of blasphemy law.
Reverend Majed El Shafie has already shown you this small girl. This is a recent picture from when she was attacked.
Another picture I want to show you is of an 18-year-old girl. She was raped at gunpoint in a church. An Islamic militant came into the church and raped her in the holy place of the church. There are still victims who cannot be reached there, because everybody is afraid of the Islamic militants and their forces.
However, the democratic government, the Peoples Party, which just came into Pakistan, is handling the situation wisely. The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yousaf Raza Gilani, announced that the government will protect and restore the basic rights announced and give recognition to the minorities in the senate.
Minorities hope they will follow the commitment of the founder of Pakistan and give rights to the minorities. The religious minorities of Pakistan, especially Christians, despite victimization and attacks, remain loyal citizens of Pakistan. They are proud to be Pakistanis and are ready to sacrifice for the well-being of Pakistan.
Mr. Chair, on behalf of Pakistani Christians and other religious minorities of Pakistan, I have the following recommendations for the committee: that the Canadian government, international human rights organizations, and our political parties play a role in promoting true democratic cultures, human rights, religious freedom, and improvement of the plight of religious minorities of Pakistan; and that the Canadian government extend refugee status to the religious minorities of Pakistan.
We understand that poverty is one of the reasons for social injustice. Therefore, the government seeks ways and means for socio-economic development for religious minorities of Pakistan from government and non-government agencies.
I hope the Government of Canada will take these issues very seriously and continue to advocate in respect of human rights in Pakistan, including religious freedom. I trust that human rights and other organizations will take principled positions on this important issue.
On behalf of International Christian Voice and the Pakistani-Canadian Christian community, I am thankful to all committee members for giving me this privilege of speaking about the plight of the Christians of Pakistan with you and our other members.
Thank you very much.