Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor anti-Ahmadi rhetoric in (a) Punjab province and (b) Pakistan.

Protecting and promoting Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) remains central to the UK Government's human rights engagement in Pakistan. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, raised the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada on 30 January. On 9 January, Minister of State for Development Andrew Mitchell raised the issue with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The British High Commission in Islamabad continues to engage at a senior level with government representatives and civil society, including on recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques.