March against Pakistan's blasphemy law to take place in London

In London this Saturday, 2 July, religious and secular groups will march together in protest against Pakistan’s blasphemy law.

Scheduled to begin at 11:00am local time outside the Pakistani High Commission, the march will call for a change to the law which has been cited as the cause of 14 separate attacks on Christians over the last two months.

“At the moment, people are acting entirely arbitrarily with this law by making personal vendettas and acts of violence without the law protecting people who are unfairly accused in this way,” says John Pontifex, head of press and information at the Catholic charity and advocacy group Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Representatives from ACN will be among those who will hand in a petition at the High Commission and later at 10 Downing Street. The petition will ask the British government to put pressure on Pakistan to amend the laws and step up action to protect the rights of religious minorities.

To sign the petition online, visit: www.acnuk.org/petitions

“We’re asking for [the law] to be changed,” Pontifex told Vatican Radio, “but we're also asking for added protection for other minority groups in Pakistan.”

Listen to John Pontifex’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: