‘Untouchable’ caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi

‘Untouchable’ caste identity haunts Pakistani Christians like Asia Bibi
Asia Bibi was on death row for blasphemy, after offering drinking water which she, as a Christian, was considered to have made “unclean” by her touch. She got into an argument over this. Many Pakistani Christians – who are about 2% of the population – are children of converts to . . . Read More

Pakistan PM appeals for calm after Christian woman acquitted of blasphemy

Khan calls for calm (Getty)
Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, this evening urged the nation not to let a fraction of people incite them to take the law into their own hands over the decision of the Supreme Court to release a Christian woman who had been facing the death penalty for blasphemy. The security . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian assembly member vows to protect rights of religious minorities

A Pakistani Christian recently elected onto his provincial assembly has vowed to “protect the rights of all religious minorities”, reports not-for-profit Christians in Pakistan. Anthony Naveed, who was elected to the Sindh Assembly in last month’s elections, told media he will “try my best to promote the rights of various . . . Read More

Christians matter least in Pakistani politics

Pakistan elections (Getty)
As Pakistan prepares for elections later this month, the country’s minorities – particularly its Christians – have expressed dismay at their lack of representation among the candidates. Among the thousands of candidates contesting hundreds of provincial and national constituencies across the country, not a single Christian is nominated by any . . . Read More

Pakistan: Christian cleaner dies at work, leaving wife and two children

Pakistan: Christian cleaner dies at work, leaving wife and two children
A Pakistani Christian, who fell ill after inhaling poisonous gasses at work, died on Saturday (20 January) after three days on a life-support machine. Shahzad Masih, 24, who leaves a wife and two young children, worked as a sewer cleaner in the Korangi area of the southern city of Karachi, . . . Read More

70 years after Pakistan’s founding, what PM’s recent ousting means for minorities

70th Annual General Assembly Debate
  

Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventieth session.

30 September 2015

United Nations, New York

Photo # 646792

UN Photo/Cia Pak
Pakistan celebrates its 70th birthday today (14 August). And there’s a new Prime Minister after Nawaz Sharif, founder of the largest political party, was disqualified by the apex court on 29 July on charges of not being “righteous” and “ameen”*. This Supreme Court decision about Sharif “will throw the governing . . . Read More

Pakistan: 3 months in prison for eating, drinking in public during Ramadan, $250 for providing food

Pakistan: 3 months in prison for eating, drinking in public during Ramadan, $250 for providing food
As the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins, religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan have to be more careful about eating and drinking in public in the scorching heat: on the one hand, it can cost them physical public ire and physical violence; and on the other, in . . . Read More

Pakistan PM premature in saying country will soon be ‘minority-friendly’

Pakistan PM premature in saying country will soon be ‘minority-friendly’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister has said “the day is not far off when Pakistan will internationally be known as a minority-friendly country”. Pakistani Christians hold candles at a rally in Lahore on 29 March, 2016, after a terrorist attack claimed the lives of more than 70 people celebrating Easter. Meanwhile, a . . . Read More