Over 5000 sign petition on religious intolerance

On 15 January Siobhain McDonagh MP delivered a petition to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DfID) as part of CSW’s Faith and a Future campaign, calling for the UK to ensure that aid to Pakistan is not used to fund the publication of textbooks that contain biased material and promote religious intolerance.

The 5,657 signature petition raising concerns about content in school textbooks that encourages discrimination against religious minorities was formally presented to Lord Bates, the Minister of State for DfID, during a meeting that was also attended by Preet Gill MP and Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB).

Siobhain McDonagh MP said: “It is imperative that no taxpayer money goes on funding discrimination or religious hatred anywhere in the world.”

Examples of such discriminatory materials found by CSW include descriptions of Hindus as ‘enemies of Pakistan,’ and the removal of the contributions of religious minorities to Pakistan’s history.

The petition also calls on the UK government to actively support educational and interfaith initiatives that promote mutual understanding between religious groups.

Pakistan is one of several countries around the world where children face discrimination at school, or are prevented from attending school, because of their religion or belief. CSW’s Faith and a Future campaign, launched in February 2018, aims to ensure that no child is denied the full enjoyment of their fundamental right to education on account of their faith. As well as examining the situation in Pakistan, the Faith and a Future report also explores violations of the right to FoRB in educational settings in Burma, Iran, Mexico, and Nigeria.

CSW’s Chief Executive Mervyn Thomas CMG said: “We would like to thank Siobhain McDonagh MP and Preet Gill MP for raising this important issue with the UK government. It is vital that the FCO and DfID make the removal of biased content from educational material a priority in their work in Pakistan. Every child should be able to access education without experiencing religious discrimination and intolerance, and through our Faith and a Future campaign CSW will continue to work towards realising this aim.”