Religious, ethnic and other discrimination Archive
Bravery has no place where it can avail nothing – by Syed Salman: Though I wrote this blog last year when daring Salmaan Taseer was assassinated, hoping his death would not be just another to increase tally, but unfortunately things didn’t move an inch towards improvement, rather further deteriorated; Shahbaz Bhatti was
Violation of minorities’ fundamental rights and freedoms: مذہبی اقلیتوں کے حقوق اور آزادیوں کی پامالی عالمی انسانی حقوق کے تقاضوں اور قوانین کا لب و لباب یہی ہے کہ تمام انسان آزاد پیدا ہوتے ہیں لہٰذا تمام انسان احترام اور حقوق میں مساوی حیثیت کے حامل
Some apartheids are more kosher: Deportation of Shia Muslims from the UAE: Hmmm . . . where are the protests in the streets of Karachi and Cairo, outrage in London and Washington over this apartheid policy by haters of Shi’ite Muslims? Where are all the vocal Muslim groups (Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Jamaat-ud-Dawa
Dr Salam vs us -by Masood Hasan: In a series of steps announced last night by the prime minister of Pakistan at a special session of the National Assembly – steps that have taken the world by storm and raised Pakistan’s image manifold – the new
The exploiters and the faithful -by Zeeba Hashmi: This is about the illusions we create about our shaky existence in a world that demands conformity to homogeneous institution we know as religion. With variation in human perceptions, to consider somebody’s lie as an absolute truth and legislate
Minority report -by Sana Bucha: Blood, meat and hides marked the first day of Eid-ul-Azha in Pakistan. While most Muslims celebrated their holy festival by sacrificing animals, some decided to achieve new levels of faith by targeting Hindus in Shikarpur. Three doctors were shot
US commission: Pakistan schools teach Hindu hatred: Editor’s Note: Curriculum reform is the need of the hour. In the last couple of days, 3 Pakistani Hindu doctors have been killed and Pakistan’s peaceful, hardworking and patriotic Hindu, Christain and Ahmadi muslims face the brunt of violence
State apathy: Growing social bigotry & violence against minorities – by Zeeba Hashmi: A perception exists that laws, no matter how discriminatory they may be in Pakistan for minorities, are exercised in general at the behest of some law practitioners who try to keep the victims away from mob-troubles. Those publically accused
What does calling another Muslim a non-Muslim make you? – by Zeeba Hashmi: One word that comes to your mind with intrigue. Qadiyani, doesn’t come easy for its existential uncertainty in Pakistan. Yet, despite what the constitution says about them in derogatory terms, they are determined to stay in this country that
Punjab: Christian woman forced to convert and marry her kidnapper -by Jibran Khan: Mariam Gill was abducted on her way home from the market. Her father and brother filed a complaint with police, which failed to intervene however because her kidnapper is “a respectable Muslim businessman”. A Muslim religious leader says the
Christians and Sharia Law – by Agnes Massey: I feel a great passion for our voiceless Christian Community and always raise my voice boldly. JUI-F lawmaker Mrs. Asia Nasir, a Christian MNA from Balochistan visited Canada who was being sponsored by CCA (NGO). During the session of
Pakistani Hindus’ ashes brought to India to be scattered in Ganges: By Mark Magnier They sat in the dark for decades, waiting on the shelves of an abandoned library, the laughter and tears that once defined their lives all but forgotten. Dictatorships rose and fell. India and Pakistan detonated atomic
No honeymoon period: Muslim girl in danger after marrying Christian: GUJRANWALA: A local teacher has approached police officials, after she began receiving death threats for marrying outside the faith. According to police officials, Khokhar Ki resident Majeeda Bibi married a colleague Bashir Masih last year without informing her family.
Interview: Shehrbano Taseer: Shehrbano Taseer became the official spokesperson of her family after her father Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Punjab, was assassinated in January this year. But Shehrbano is more than just a vocal member of the family. She has also
Pakistan, a place where non-Muslims also live: By Anthony Permal A lot has been written about the plight of minorities in Pakistan – some by minorities themselves but mostly by the majority. In most such reports, analyses and blogs, the focus has been on the aggressive
Punjab government fails to respect quota for minorities: As per news report published in Asia News, the Punjab government has ignored the rule that reserves 5% of federal government and provincial governments jobs to minorities, in District Coordination Officer recruitment (DCO) in Khanewal. “The government had announced
My father died for Pakistan: An examination of religious extremism in Pakistan: The Middle East Institute is proud to host Shehrbano Taseer, daughter of Governor Salmaan Taseer, who was murdered this past January for speaking out against the misuse of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. The assassinations of Punjab Province Governor Salmaan Taseer
Insecure minorities: Threatened at home, jailed abroad: By Abdul Manan BANGKOK: Tahir Mehmood Adil, an Ahmadi from Sialkot, was kidnapped in 2009 by militants, held captive for 36 days and threatened with beheading. His cousin, Sajjad, negotiated successfully for his release. A few days later, however,
Punjab: Christian families flee false accusation of blasphemy: The students of a madrassa try to force a child to convert. A relative is attacked for defending him, and accused of blasphemy. A priest: “This is a common practice in the region. Many cases of forced conversions are
Unreported forced conversions: Hindus “Rights movement” launches a campaign to seek justice and to limit violence and harassment by landlords. The court in Rawalpindi exonerates three Christians of blasphemy, now there are fears of retaliation by religious fundamentalists. Pakistani Hindu girls are
Are they free to go to their temples? -by Saria Benazir: Pakistan was envisioned as a progressive, democratic and tolerant society, which, while retaining a Muslim majority, would give equal rights to its non-Muslim citizens. Without calling it a secular state, Jinnah and his modernist Muslim colleagues believed that Pakistan
Mainstream media and talk shows ignore minorities: A very good and encouraging news indeed that minister of minorities Kamran Michael has been reinstated as the Finance Minister in the Punjab Cabinet and, now, he will address the budget speech in the Punjab Assembly house on Friday,
In Punjab, a Christian can’t present the provincial budget: LAHORE: Several provincial legislators in Punjab belonging to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have objected to Punjab cabinet member Kamran Michael presenting the budget on grounds that he is Christian, sources within the party told The Express Tribune.
Faith in minorities as equals can only strengthen Pakistan: By Adnan Rehmat The primary function of a national constitution is to guarantee universal rights and to ensure all citizens of the state are dealt with equally in terms of these rights. The guarantees are supposed to be unambiguous.
Punjab: Impunity for rape, abduction and forced conversion of Christian and Hindu girls: Editor’s Note: For how long must our fellow Pakistanis be subjected to these horrors just because they don’t share the faith of the majority. The right to practice one’s faith freely is the fundemental right in democracies and is
Pakistan: The Troubles Continue -by Sybil Daniel: In August 2009, a mob of religious bigots took seven lives in Gojra, Pakistan, which has a Christian minority, and the whole village was set ablaze. This violent act continued for five hours and busloads of people joined the
Attacked or driven out from their homes: the trampled rights of Christians in Punjab: Two Christian nurses were seized and beaten for nine hours by an official of the Muslim Fatima Hospital in Lahore (Punjab), a wealthy Muslim landowner, with a history in politics, usurped the land and the houses of two Christian
Human rights report: 2010 a ‘cataclysmic year’ for Pakistan, says Amnesty -by Saba Imtiaz: Unprecedented flooding, extrajudicial killings, terrorism and attacks on journalists in Pakistan are summarised in Amnesty International’s 2011 report ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights’, which was released on Friday. The report paints a grim picture of the state
Punjab: Christian student nurse forced to convert to marry Muslim man: Lahore – A 24-year Christian woman from southern Punjab was abducted by a Muslim man who, after forcing her to convert to Islam, also forced her to marry him. Although her family filed a formal report of kidnapping, the
US Commission accuses Pakistan of failing to protect minorities: This year, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom USCIRF report, 14 countries were designated as countries of particular concern (CPC) since “those governments have engaged in — or tolerated — particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
Blasphemy laws misused: Blasphemy laws in many countries are supposed to protect religion. But while the one religion may be protected, believers of other religions often have to suffer. A piece of paper can mean a lot. Without an identity card your
Convert or go to hell: tablighis tell non-Muslim patients at govt hospitals – by Urooj Zia: KARACHI – Twenty-three-year-old Zain*, a Catholic Christian, was admitted to the emergency ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi after he was shot and wounded as a passer-by in a crossfire. While his worried parents and sister stood around waiting
Pakistani religious minorities were ignored in flood -by Aftab Alexander Mughal: Some 21 million people across Pakistan were affected by the massive flooding in July and August 2010 following the annual monsoon rains. Approximately one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was underwater. It was awful that in many areas flood
Blasphemy cases: False accusers escape punishment: Related Article: Shia physician charged with blasphemy in Hyderabad Sindh The impact of blasphemy laws on human rights LAHORE: A number of blasphemy cases continue to be registered against innocent people out of personal vendetta, yet routinely no action
Pakistan’s Institutionalized Discrimination Against Religious Minorities -by Rebecca Buckwalter Poza: In June 2009, a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, brought water to Muslim women working in a field with her. They rejected the water because a non-Muslim had touched it, and an argument ensued. In the aftermath of what should have
Supreme Court should respect the separation of powers enshrined in the constitution, International Crises Group: Belgium based ‘International Crisis Group’ asks for the repeal of all religiously discriminatory laws in Pakistan and recommends Western governments to bind this issue with Pakistan’s military aid. Report also recommends SC to take suo moto notice only on
Punjab Police stop mass in front of Gordon College chapel: Related Posts: Christians protest chapel violently taken over by Muslims; pastor says “The local parliamentarians of the PML-N do not want a church here.” Anti Minorities Campaign in Punjab Wake up Shabaz Sharif! Christians fearful and fleeing Punjab And
Hardliners call for deaths Ahmadiyya sect -by Jerome Taylor: Islamic extremists have started openly calling for the destruction of a controversial Muslim sect in a major escalation of sectarian conflict within British Islam, an investigation by The Independent has revealed. Members of the Ahmadiyya Community have seen a
Rape and murder of Christian girls: Islamabad – Brutal violence has been committed against two Christian girls: Lubna Masih, age 12, was raped and murdered by a group of Muslims in Rawalpindi and Kiran Nayyaz of Faisalabad, a 13-year-old Catholic, was raped by a Muslim
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