We would like to bring your attention and express our deep sorrow and frustration regarding the on-going violation of basic human and religious rights of Christian Minorities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The current situation there is truly heartbreaking.

16 August 2023 was another distressing day for Christians all over the world, particularly Pakistani Christians. Yet again, the radical Muslims in Pakistan targeted the already oppressed Christian minority by burning their Churches and houses in a town called Jaranwala. As per the latest reports of this incident, at least 19 Churches and numerous houses have been burnt. The reason for this brutal mob attack - a mere false and baseless blasphemy accusation against a couple of poor Christian boys to settle a personal feud. This is not the first-time that blasphemy against Islam has been used as an excuse to settle personal scores, this is a very common occurrence. 

The burning of Churches, Crosses and Holy Bibles is extremely hurtful to the religious sentiments of Christians all over the world, this is the highest form of blasphemy against our most sacred religious foundations, values and symbols. No follower of any religion or belief would like their sacred symbols, places of worship and religious books to be desecrated like this.    

As Pakistani Christians living in Canberra/Australia, a blessed country where all religions including Muslims enjoy the freedom to practice their religion without any fear of oppression, unitedly we strongly condemn the on-going persecution of Christians and recommend the below actions to help the Christian minorities of Pakistan.

1. Condemnation of these attacks - All countries, including Australia should officially condemn these attacks and raise their concerns with the Government of Pakistan about the continuous violation of Christian minority rights in Pakistan.

2. Refugee visa quotas for Pakistani Christians - Visa quotas should be allocated for Pakistani Christian minorities by the Australian Government and other countries in order to rescue them from this continual oppression and persecution.

3. Strict action against perpetrators - Strict action should be taken by the Government of Pakistan against the perpetrators of the Jaranwala incident so further calamities like these can be avoided in future.

4. Financial support by Pakistan Government - Government should provide moral and financial support to the impacted people/communities. New Churches and houses should be re-built by Government funding as soon as possible - no more broken promises please.

5. Abolish blasphemy law - Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code which carries a death sentence should be abolished by the Government of Pakistan in order to avoid further exploitation of innocent Christians under this law's umbrella.

Videos of this barbarism are circulating all over the internet. Just Google ‘Pakistani Christians’ to get more information about this incident and numerous other tragic stories of persecution in Pakistan.

Purpose of this petition: Strong support of this petition will add more weight to highlight these issues when we formally raise them with the relevant authorities in Australia.

Please sign this petition and share it with others with this thought - 'let us be a voice for those who do not have a voice'.

"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

Thank you for your support.       

Canberra’s Pakistani Christian Community