Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi dodged the question on the country’s controversial blasphemy laws while speaking at a session organized by U.S. think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Kenneth Roth of the Human Rights Watch asked Abbasi whether he as prime minister would speak out against the blasphemy law under which a Christian man was recently sentenced to death for a poem he sent on WhatsApp that was deemed blasphemous. Abbasi responded by saying: The laws in the …
There was much hope associated with Aung San Suu Kyi. A mild looking woman taking on the Myanmarese military establishment, determined to restore democracy in her country. With her emphasis on non-violent political philosophy she was seen as a reincarnation of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi. But then she came to power and the idealism constructed around her began to evaporate. In October 2013 when she was pressed on her silence on the Rohingya issue in …
Over three months, Stuff journalists Adam Dudding and Chris McKeen followed a family of Ahmadi refugees from Pakistan as they arrived in New Zealand and went through an immigration experience unlike any other in the world – a six-week assessment and support programme that is also a kind of crash-course in being a Kiwi. Attia Tul Kafi is in the back seat, looking out at the rolling green hills. She’s six-and-a-half, though she’s so tall she could pass for eight, …
When 14-year-old Geeti Ara moved to Malaysia from Pakistan as a refugee she dreamed of becoming a teacher. But Geeti’s dream was nearly impossible, as she and her parents belonged to the severely persecuted Ahmadiyya community. Now the 17-year-old Pakistani refugee is fulfilling her dreams by helping educate fellow refugees in Malaysia. Geeti started teaching at the Smart Iqra Education refugee school in 2014, while she was still 14. After her inspirational story came to light she was asked to …
On Wednesday the U.S. State Department designated Hizb-ul-Mujahideen as a Foreign Terrorist Organization as Pakistan celebrated the terror organization by placing a portrait of Hizb leader on a celebratory train. As part of Independence Day celebrations, Pakistan ran a special ‘Azadi’ train from Islamabad on August 12 which reached the central city of Lahore on August 16th. The ‘Azadi’ or Freedom train had floats and carriages showcasing culture and traditions of the different provinces of the country. The train also …
Though Indonesia has claimed a principle of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (“different but one”), in reality, the country has faced fragmentation over the differences in its society, with its people blaspheming and killing each other. Ironically, the inter-religious conflict which has occurred is no longer between practitioners of different religions, but between practitioners of the same religions. The indigenous people of Lombok are the Sasak. They are the majority ethnic group that represents 89% of the island’s total population; the remainder …
Sheikh Muhammad Jaber planned an attack on Israeli soldiers but was arrested and spent several years in prison. Today he openly walks around in Hamas stronghold of Hebron, calling for peace with Israel and preaches against violence. If Sheikh Muhammad Jaber of Hebron was ever asked what he thought of the Jews, he would simply have said, “You have to kill and slaughter them.” In the 1980s, when he was affiliated with he planned an attack against Israeli soldiers in …
A Pakistani journalist known for reporting on Pakistan’s minorities was run over by a car on Friday. The incident comes just days after Police refused to investigate death threats against him. 39-year-old Rana Tanveer who works for the Pakistan-based Express Tribune was run over by a speeding car on Friday afternoon as he was coming back from the Punjab Union of Journalists’ meeting. He was taken to hospital with a suspected leg fracture where he is currently awaiting surgery. Tanveer for …
A Pakistani court on Wednesday sentenced two men to three years in prison for “Excessive use of Quran” The two men, Idris Ahmed and SabaulZafar were charged with”excessive use of Quran and Islamic literature” along with illegal possession of the Islamic Holy book. Both men were given a three-year prison sentence and fined PKR 50,000 (USD 475) by the anti-terrorism court. The men who belong to the minority Ahmadiyya community were arrested by Pakistan’s security forces in December last year during …
In his book, Islam, Race, and Pluralism in the Pakistani Diaspora, Dr. Craig Considine explores the experiences of several Pakistani American and Pakistani Irish men. He expertly unpacks these experiences while also being extra diligent in avoiding the notion of a singular diasporic identity and maintaining and furthering the heterogeneity present within the community. Further, these experiences are brilliantly contextualized through the compendious exploration of histories of Boston and Ireland, the settings of his research. Ultimately, the book puts an …
A local council in the Pakistani province of Balochistan has banned ‘designer beards’ The ban was announced by the Municipal Committee in the town of Omara, which is the seaside suburb of Gwadar city and has a population of around 35,000. The local council announced the ban at a special meeting held on Friday to discuss a course of action for the upcoming Islamic holy month of Ramadhan. During the council meeting, a local leader of an Islamic political party, …
Mosammat Ayatunnessa along with Achhia Khatun and Minara Khatun tied up a fleeing militant until police arrived Three women of the Ahmadiyya community have been honoured in two separate programmes for their exceptional bravery in the arrest of a suspected militant in Ishwarganj upazila of Mymensingh. They are Achhia Khatun, Mosammat Ayatunnessa and Minara Khatun. Mymensingh Superintendent of Police (SP) Syed Nurul Islam awarded each of the three with Tk5,000 and a sari at a ceremony at the Mymensingh Police …