MP tells of attacks on him and family over membership of Islam sect

A YORKSHIRE MP has spoken about the attacks levelled at him and his family due to being members of a particular sect of Islam.

Wakefield Conservative MP Imran Ahmad Khan led a debate in the Commons last night on the persecution of Ahmadis, focusing on experiences in Pakistan in particular.

Mr Ahmad Khan, who himself is an Ahmadi Muslim, said those who follow the movement were “spared no respite from persecution either in life or death” as graves were desecrated by Pakistani state law enforcement officials in July.

And he said an amendment to the Pakistani constitution allowed imprisonment, unlimited fines, and even the death penalty “for Ahmadis to simply call themselves Muslim or call their Mosques a Mosque”.

He said: “My own family understand this only too well. I could place on the record the numerous attacks against my family and myself.”

He said although Pakistan was not the only place Ahmadis faced persecution, that the country was “the world’s leading exporter of hate across the globe, which it fabricates on an industrial scale”, and said anti- Ahmadi hate had even been broadcast on British television.

He added: “Hatred preached in Pakistan does indeed result in violence on UK streets and around the world.”

He urged the Government to ensure aid money did not fund Government- run education in Pakistan, where he said children were taught that Ahmadis were “infidels”.

And that the Government used its influence to “release all Pakistani citizens from the bondage of tyranny and the fear of persecution”.

He also said any future trade deals between Pakistan and the UK should be tied to “the protection and freedoms of minorities to live, work and worship as they choose”.