PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Pakistan: Ahmadiyya (8 January 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the Government of Pakistan on the killing of (a) Dr Tahir Mahmood in November 2020 and (b) other Ahmadi Muslims in that country.

Asked by:
Fleur Anderson (Labour)

The UK Government remains deeply concerned by reports of discrimination and violence against religious communities in Pakistan, including against the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.

We are concerned and saddened by the murder of Dr Tahir Mahmood in November 2020 in Punjab province. The Minister of State responsible for South Asia and Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has publicly condemned the killing and called on the perpetrators to be held to account.

We continue to urge the Government of Pakistan at senior levels to guarantee the fundamental rights of all its citizens, regardless of their belief. Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about the recent murder of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan with Pakistan's Human Rights Minister, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 16 November. Lord Ahmad also raised the need to protect religious communities, including the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, with Pakistan's Special Advisor to the Prime Minister for the Interior, Shahzad Akbar, on 7 December.

Answered by:
Nigel Adams (Conservative)
14 January 2021