By Lucy Caulkett-
A 14-year-old schoolgirl met with members of the European Parliament in Brussels to campaign for intervention on behalf of Pakistan Christian girls.
Hannah Chowdhry, a student at Kantor King Solomon High School in Ilford said thousands of girls of similar age to her suffer a real risk of rape and kidnap – because they are Christian.
She said: “The average age of victims is 13 but many can be younger than this. I am now 14 and when I think about what these vulnerable girls have been through it makes me shudder.
“I have written to the High Commissioner of Pakistan several times asking for him to help these girls, but have never received any response.”
The young teenager was accompanied by her father, Wilson Chowdhry, who is the chairman of the BPCA (British Pakistani Christian Association). Hannah’s photograph has been deliberately withheld because of the rage, and the sensitivity of the course she is fighting. Hannah met with MEPs from a range of political parties, including UKIP MEPs Nathan Gill and Jim Carver, Irish MEP Mairead McGuiness, who is first vice president for the EU, and Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party) who is south Asian delegate for the EU.
She said Christian girls were often entrapped by friends at school who had been actively involved in planning their kidnaps leading to forced Islamic marriage.
A short video has been put together, highlighting the plight of Christians in Pakistan. It has been shared on social media, and now set to be raised in the European Parliament highlighting human rights abuses. Among the allegations against Muslim extremists in Pakistan, are that Christians and Ahmadis are being jailed under false blasphemy charges and that draconian laws aimed at non-Muslims are being used to settle personal scores and usurp properties and employment roles.
Hannah and her father have also had a tour of the EU building, took part in a demonstration and attended a prayer meeting with EU officials, lobbyists and MEPs.
Mr Chowdhry said: “Though neither BPCA nor Hannah and I endorse any of the particular parties or European Parliamentary groups we have met we are pleased to know that there are MEP’s that are concerned about human rights for minorities in Pakistan.
”Galvanizing support through so many different parties and individuals helps fuel better debate on how the EU navigates global relations with Pakistan and we hope they will use their influence to bring about necessary changes to improve the lives of millions of victims.”
Pakistan is a predominantly Muslim country, home to many fanatical men who practically impose their will on subordinate classes in their midst. Women are long known to be forced to dress according to the preference of domineering men in their lives. The men are sometimes the woman’s husbands, or in many situations, their brothers, cousins, and sometimes even their father. Cheating or ending a relationship can have fatal consequences when the offender is a woman. The rules are often quite different for men when they breach codes of conduct of the culture or religion.
The idea of Christian girls being kidnapped and subjected to a forced conversion for the sake of arranged marriage shows just how far and sadistic some of these controlling men can be. Considering they claim to be doing all in the name of their religion, it goes to show how twisted and fake some people can be. Professing to be religious on the other one hand, but on the other hand, showing the worst form of humanity and principles in ways that really make such individuals the scum of the earth. EU leaders truly need to step in and provide a most needed intervention.
