Left to Right: Farid Afnan, Dorothy Foster, Hassan Afnan, Kishan Manocha

The late Joe Foster was a wonderful and active Bahá’í who was a natural teacher. Joe taught mechanical engineering at a college in the north of England, but found himself becoming involved in promoting the inclusion of the Bahá’í Faith in religious education syllabuses and documents.

The Bahá’í Religious Education Agency (BREA, the UK Bahá’í community’s specialist religious education advisory body) decided that it would be a worthy memorial for Joe, who passed away a few years ago, to institute an award in his name for services to Bahá’í involvement in religious education.

Last night (25 June) Dr Kishan Manocha, Secretary of the UK Bahá’í community’s national governing council, presented the Joe Foster lifetime service award to Hassan Afnan, who was a leading member of the Standing Advisory Committee on Religious Education (SACRE) in the London Borough of Brent for many years and who persuaded Edexcel, one of the UK’s major examination providers, to provide a GCSE exam paper on the Bahá’í Faith.

During the evening Dorothy Foster, Joe’s widow, spoke about Joe and their life together, about how they met the Baha’i Faith and became Baha’is in the late 1960s and about Joe’s enthusiasm for religious education. This was a touching tale.

Dr Kishan Manocha addresses the Joe Foster Award ceremony

Sheila Williams, the first recipient of the Joe Foster Award was also present at the ceremony.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, RE, religious education, Joe Foster, Hassan Afnan

One of the strengths of the UK Parliament is the time allotted to MPs to question government ministers about the work of their departments. On Tuesday 24 June it was the turn of ministers at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including Dr Kim Howells MP, Minister for the Middle East to answer oral questions in the House.

Over the years we’ve had many written answers to Parliamentary Questions, but it was exciting news when we learned that Tom Brake MP, a member of the All Party Parliamentary Friends of the Bahá’ís had won the opportunity to ask an oral question about the situation of the Bahá’ís in Iran. There is a great deal of competition amongst MPs for opportunities to ask oral questions.

Here’s the Hansard record of the the questions from MPs and the answers by Dr Kim Howells MP, Minister for the Middle East. (Once an MP has asked an oral question he/she can ask a supplementary question and then other MPs can also intervene.)

Baha’is (Iran)

2. Tom Brake (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD): What recent reports he has received on the situation of Baha’is in Iran; and if he will make a statement. [213056]

The Minister for the Middle East (Dr. Kim Howells): When I raised with the Iranian ambassador to London the UK’s great concerns about reports of maltreatment of adherents of the Baha’i faith in Iran, he told me that Baha’ism is not officially recognised as a religion in Iran. We receive reports that Iranian Baha’is face routine discrimination and harassment on the grounds of their faith, and the informal Baha’i leadership has been detained for more than a month now. We remain deeply concerned by the situation of the Baha’is in Iran and will continue to raise our concerns with the Iranian authorities.

Tom Brake: I thank the Minister for his response. He will be aware of reports from Iran that a new penal code is being drafted, which will be considered by the Iranian Parliament, that would introduce a mandatory death sentence for apostasy. The code would have extra-territorial jurisdiction and could lead to a fundamental attack on the human rights of Christians and Baha’is, particularly those with one Muslim parent, who could, under the new law, be considered apostates. Will the Minister confirm what action the Government are taking on the issue, in particular with the international community, to remind Iran of its responsibilities under international law, in particular article 18 of the international covenant on civil and political rights?

Dr. Howells: Yes, I can confirm that the new draft penal code is currently being considered by a judicial committee in the Iranian Parliament, but it has not yet been debated or voted on in plenary. We are very concerned that the draft code makes apostasy punishable by death and that the provisions contravene the principle of religious freedom. We are worried about the impact that they would have on religious minorities in Iran, including Christians, as the hon. Gentleman said, and the Baha’i community. We have certainly made representations to the Iranian Government about the matter. The EU issued a statement of concern on 25 February and raised its concerns with Iranian officials in Tehran on 4 March. I called in the Iranian ambassador to express the UK’s concerns on 1 April. We are keeping a close watch on the issue, and I very much hope that our concern will help to galvanise international opinion against this barbaric proposal.

David Lepper (Brighton, Pavilion) (Lab/Co-op): As an officer of the all-party friends of the Baha’i faith group, may I thank the Minister for the representations that he and others have made to the Government of Iran about the situation of individual Baha’is whose cases we have drawn to his attention? Will he also make representations to the Government of Iran about the denial of access to higher education of young Baha’is in that country? Of some 200 Baha’is who began university courses in autumn 2006, about 130 have since been expelled on the grounds of their religious faith. Will the Minister raise that point with the Government of Iran, too?

Dr. Howells: Yes, we will certainly raise it with the Government of Iran. That is one example of the way in which Baha’is in Iran are being marginalised because of their beliefs. That is wholly without justice and is a very worrying development.

Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): The Minister will know that not only Baha’is, but Christians and indeed homosexuals often face torture and sometimes even death in Iran. Does he therefore share my concern about the recent alleged comments made by the Home Secretary when asked about failed asylum seekers who are openly homosexual, that they should return to Iran and be discreet in their sexuality? Given that there is no discretion, with the eyes of the state constantly on the gay community in Tehran and Iran more widely, does the Minister want to put it on record that he perhaps has a different view?

Dr. Howells: I am completely unaware of the alleged statements made by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, but I am only too willing to put it on record that people should not be punished in any way for the way in which their sexuality guides them. They should certainly not be tortured, imprisoned and hanged, as they have been in Iran.

We were all very pleased that the sufferings of the Bahá’ís in Iran have had such a good public airing in Parliament and we have great confidence that the government will continue to defend the human rights of the Bahá’ís.

Bahá’í News UK has covered this story here.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Iran, persecution, human rights, parliamentary questions, Tom Brake, Kim Howells, David Lepper, All Party Group, Foreign and Commonwealth Office