Interfaith group – FACES – which is a Pakistan based interfaith group brought a group of Islamic clerics to meetings with key politicians, ministers, hate crime practitioners and interfaith organisations in the U.K.

The Founder and former Director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal, met with the group and explained how sectarian hatred from Pakistan was being promoted through satellite channels and beamed into the homes of Urdu speaking British citizens; through such channels anti-Ahmadi rhetoric and anti-Shia hatred was being promoted, he said.

Furthermore, Mughal commented on how such hatred was influencing and re-enforcing such intolerance against minorities in Islam and that the murder of Asad Shah in Glasgow and the incendiary rhetoric of Islamist extremists such as Khadim Hussain Rizvi, posed a threat to the security of British nationals.

Having spent 45 minutes on this topic, we were then appalled to see those very Islamic clerics, promoting anti-Muslim bigotry against a U.K. Minister – Lord Tariq Ahmad. To add insult to injury, they made a short video which they posted up, suggesting that Ahmadis are ‘non-believers’ and that they were not aware of the background of this U.K. Minister.

Irrespective of what religion a U.K. Minister follows, we cannot stand idly by and have a member of our Government abused because of their Islamic identity which does not fit the ‘pigeon-holed’ belief patterns of such preachers. In fact, we would argue that such preachers are not fit for purpose and do not have the backbone to challenge bigotry.

We have asked the Foreign and Commonwealth Office whether this trip was funded by the British taxpayer. The answer we have received was a categoric ‘no’. In future, we would ask civil servants to vet any group and individuals travelling from overseas who seek to meet with ministers in the United Kingdom. It makes a mockery of human rights and ‘tolerance’ when such clerics seek to abuse our ministers because they are, in their torrid minds, the ‘wrong type of Muslim’.

Here is the video of the clerics. They include Sunni and Shia clerics.

یہ مولوی مذہبی رواداری پر پاکستان کا روشن چہرہ دکھانے گئے باہر گئے اور ان کی ایک قادیانی لارڈ طارق احمد کیساتھ تصویر وائرل ہوگئی اور پھر روشن چہرے کی روشنی اس وضاحتی بیان سےاندھیرے میں بدل گئی کہ قادیانیوں کیلئے نرم گوشہ رکھنے والا اسلام سے خارج ہے
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— Rumi (@R00mi1) March 12, 2020

Britain has commissioned an independent review into the persecution of Christians to find practical steps to support followers of a religion that it said has been subject to a dramatic rise in violence worldwide.

Some 215 million Christians worldwide faced persecution for their faith last year, it said, with Christian women and children particularly vulnerable and often subject to sexual violence as a result of their beliefs.

Last year, on average, 250 Christians were killed very month because of their faith, it said.

“So often the persecution of Christians is a telling early warning sign of the persecution of every minority,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Today I have asked the Bishop of Truro to look at how the British government can better respond to the plight of persecuted Christians around the world.

“We can and must do more.”

The review will map Christian persecution in key countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, analyse British support and recommend a comprehensive policy response, the government said.