PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pakistan: Educational Institutions (9 November 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterpart in Pakistan on returning to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community educational institutions that were nationalised by the Pakistani Government.

Asked by:
Fleur Anderson (Labour)

The UK remains deeply concerned by reports of discrimination and violence against religious communities in Pakistan, including against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. The Minister of State for South Asia spoke at the launch event of the APPG for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community's Report on the 21 July and expressed the UK's deep concern regarding discrimination and violence against Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan.

We engage at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan on Freedom of Religion or Belief and the protection of minority religious communities, including the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. The Minister for South Asia, raised our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief, including inclusion and tolerance in education, with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 19 October. On 1 October, The Minister for South Asia met with Pakistan's Minister for Education, Mr Shafqat Mahmood, and on 8 September with the Governor of Punjab, Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar, to discuss inclusive and tolerant education.

Answered by:
Nigel Adams (Conservative)
12 November 2020