Tag: PTI

Pakistani Christian asylum seekers in Thailand ask for help

December 4, 2018 Asylum seekers, Bangkok, Human rights, Imran Khan, Migrants, Minorities, Pakistan, PTI, Refugees, Thailand, UN

Death, disease, starvation, and continuous living in hiding from immigration authorities to escape permanent imprisonment in stinking dungeons – this is what life has become for many stateless Pakistani Christians stranded in Thailand for years now. Several heroic Thai locals have come forward to help sustain these starving asylum seekers, . . . Read More

Christians matter least in Pakistani politics

July 5, 2018 Pakistan Asia Bibi, Balochistan, Blasphemy, Constitution, Elections, Imran Khan, Karachi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Minorities, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, Patras Masih, PTI, Punjab, Sajid Masih, Shahbaz Bhatti, Sindh, Taliban, Youhanabad

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

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

August 14, 2017 Pakistan Blasphemy, Divorce, Imran Khan, India, Islamic extremism, Jamaat-e-Islami, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, Mumtaz Qadri, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Peoples Party, PTI, Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, Sindh, Taliban

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

Divorce law for Pakistani Christians ‘modernised’

June 30, 2017 Pakistan Divorce, Imran Khan, Lahore, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, PTI, Punjab

Pakistan’s High Court in Lahore has struck out an amendment in its Christian Divorce Act (1869), meaning Christians will now be able to divorce in a dignified way, without needing to resort to false accusations of adultery. Pakistan’s existing family laws – which are applicable to Christians only – are close . . . Read More

Why were Pakistani politicians considering giving higher marks to veiled female students?

April 7, 2017 Pakistan Hijab, Imran Khan, Islamic extremism, PTI

The commotion around whether girls should wear a hijab' in schools, shows the confusion around the role of religion in Pakistan's public life.

The role of Islam in Pakistani public life is fiercely fought over, especially in areas that are home to non-Muslim communities. One example is Punjab province, where most Pakistani Christians, as well as much of Pakistan’s Hindu minority, live. Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani was last month . . . Read More

Pakistan: father expects no justice for raped 16-year-old daughter

July 19, 2016 Pakistan Farooqabad, Imran Khan, Pakistan, Pakistan Muslim League, PTI, Sheikhupura, Women

The father of a 16-year-old girl allegedly raped by her neighbour believes she has little hope of justice because the accused is well-connected politically in the local area. Nasar Masih believes the police will ultimately favour the suspect, who he believes was able to rape his daughter in expectation of . . . Read More

Bombers kill 17, injure at least 80 in Pakistan church attacks

March 16, 2015 Pakistan Imran Khan, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Kasur, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League, Pashtun, PTI, Taliban

At St. John’s Catholic Church, the bomber was kept outside of the courtyard by a security volunteer who dragged the attacker off the wall.World Watch Monitor At least 17 people were killed, and 80 others injured, as two churches in the main Christian district of Lahore, Pakistan, were attacked . . . Read More

Pakistan’s churches increase security after Peshawar blasts

December 6, 2013 Pakistan All Saints Church, Barelvi, Lahore, Pashtun, Peshawar, PTI, Youhanabad

Christians guard the Full Gospel Assemblies Church in Bahar Colony in Lahore.World Watch Monitor Security around churches in Pakistan has increased since the deadly suicide blasts in Peshawar in September and the death of a police guard outside a church last month. On September 22, two suicide bombers blew . . . Read More

A renewed debate over blasphemy laws

October 2, 2013 Pakistan Blasphemy, Imran Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Ulema Council, Peshawar, PTI, Quetta, Shahbaz Bhatti, Taliban

Memorials for the victims of the bomb attacks at All Saints Church in Peshawar.Kamran Chaudhry for World Watch Monitor The Sept. 22 suicide bombings of a church in Pakistan have re-ignited political debate on the country’s controversial blasphemy laws. Only three days before the incident, the Council for Islamic . . . Read More

Pakistan’s Christian leaders demand security after bombings

September 23, 2013 Pakistan All Saints Church, Faisalabad, Gojra, Gujrat, Islamabad, Karachi, Kasur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Multan, Narowal, Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan Ulema Council, Peshawar, PTI, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Sahiwal, Sialkot, Taliban, Vehari

Protesters took to the streets in cities across Pakistan following the church bombings.World Watch Monitor Anguish and anger has erupted across Pakistan since Sunday after two suicide bombers killed dozens of people as they were leaving church services. The bomb attacks took place at 12:15 p.m. on Sept. 22 . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye