LONDON: Lord Sarfaraz of Kensington congratulated the Pakistani government on the recent passage of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution condemning public acts of religious hatred such as the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
Lord Sarfaraz is a British-Pakistani member of the House of Lords belonging to the ruling Conservative Party. He was appointed in 2020 and serves as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Singapore and a member of the UK Joint Committee on National Security Strategy.
He said that four major conclusions emerged from the poll.
Firstly, he said it was a demonstration of Pakistan’s ability to design and lead a successful international diplomatic campaign effectively involving the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the UNHRC. He said that it was a challenging task, which has been executed very well.
Second, he said it was great news that India supported the resolution. It is very rare for India and Pakistan to support each other’s work at the UN and India should be given credit for doing so.
Third, he said that the United Kingdom, which currently holds the presidency of the UN Security Council, should also have supported the resolution.
“In January this year, I wrote to the Home Secretary calling for a UK travel ban on Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan for inciting hatred and violence by burning the Holy Quran. In March, our government banned their entry, which was a sensible and welcome move,” said the MLA.
Fourth, he said that the widespread inter-religious support on this issue, and in particular, Pope Francis’ strong comments on the matter, were very useful and welcome.
