On Christmas Day, the British Government announced that it had ordered an independent review into the persecution of Christians worldwide. That may not sound like a significant development on the face of it. But for years the authorities have seemed curiously indifferent to the plight of the almost 200 million Christians at risk of persecution today.
British officials have often appeared afraid to focus specifically on the suffering of Christians. The most charitable reading is that they wished to defend the rights of all religious minorities and feared that an emphasis on Christians might leave other groups exposed. In Pakistan, for example, the largest minority is not, in fact, Christians but Hindus. The country also has significant numbers of Shia Muslims and Ahmedis, who also face severe discrimination. Should Britain not lobby on behalf of these communities as well?
