European
Parliament may suspend all subsidies to Pakistan
On the 30 April 2019, fifty-one (51) Members of the
European Parliament issued a collective letter addressed to Mr.
Imran Khan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan expressing their
concerns, and seeking assurances that the persecution of religious minorities
would cease immediately.
The letter highlighted that today’s Pakistan is far removed from
being the country that its founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had
envisaged. Jinnah had always insisted that Pakistan would be a Muslim majority
State where people from all religions, whether Christians, Hindus, Sikhs,
Buddhists, Ahmadis or Shias, would be treated equally. Over the last seven
decades, successive governments in Pakistan have contributed to implementing discriminatory systems that have resulted
in political, economic and social persecution of religious minorities, which
have encouraged acts of violenceagainst them
by radical Islamic groups.
In the letter, the Members of the European Parliament criticize
Pakistan and its establishment for falsely accusing and targeting individuals
under the blasphemy law. They specifically cited the internationally condemned
case of Asia Bibi, the Christian woman who had
been falsely charged, harassed and sentenced to death row due to the country’s
Blasphemy Laws.
The Members of the European Parliament urged Pakistan to take measures to dismantle the constitutional and institutional
structures that have resulted in the purposeful targeting of
religious minorities in the country. Should the violations of the
International Covenant on Freedom of Religion continue, especially with regard
to the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan, the Members of the
European Parliament having signed the letter, would be compelled to call on
the European Commission to suspend all subsidies and trade preferences until
the effective implementation of the Convention could be assured by the Government of Pakistan.
Letter has been signed by the following Members of the European
Parliament
1.
Marijana Petir
2.
Arne Gericke
3.
Richard Corbett
4.
Ana Gomes
5.
Ignazio Corrao
6.
Neena Gill
7.
Nathalie Griesback
8.
Marie-Christine Arnautu
9.
Dominique Martin
10.
Alojz Peterle
11.
Patricija Šulin
12.
Franc Bogovič
13.
Jude Kirton-Darling
14.
Julie Ward
15.
Csaba Sógor
16.
Sergio Gaetano Cofferati
17.
Pina Picierno
18.
José Inácio Faria
19.
Renate Sommer
20.
Dietmar Köster
21.
Carlos Iturgaiz
22.
Fulvio Martusciello
23.
Ramona Nicole Mănescu
24.
Heinz K. Becker
25.
Sofia Ribeiro
26.
Anna Záborská
27.
Péter Niedermüller
28.
Jørn Dorhmann
29.
Claudia
30.
Branislav Škripek
31.
Indrek Tarand
32.
Michaela Šojdrová
33.
Raffaele Fitto
34.
Massimiliano Salini
35.
Bas Belder
36.
Miroslav Mikolášik
37.
Alberto Cirio
38.
Pascal Durand
39.
Teresa Jiménez-Becerril Barrio
40.
Marc Tarabella
41.
Maurice Ponga
42.
Claude Rolin
43.
Alain Lamassoure
44.
Liliana Rodriguez
45.
Gérard Deprez
46.
Carlos Coelho
47.
Jo Leinen
48.
Ryszard Czarnecki
49.
Isabelle Thomas
50.
Patricia Lalonde
51.
Sławomir Kłosowski
Letter copy can be read below
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