Amid the chilly winter winds sweeping through Pakistan's unsettled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the election campaign for the Peoples Party of Pakistan's candidate Dr. Saveera Parkash is in full swing. The wind is not the only thing sweeping across the region, change is as well. In fact, Parkash’s candidacy is historic for several reasons.
Read MoreWhile assuming someone’s religion is an extremely personal question and often quite jarring in public settings, it’s also a common practice in Pakistan, a Muslim majority nation where religious questions are raised around vegetarian lifestyles. In recent years, the flip side to this debate has also arisen, with an increasing number of Muslims questioning the need to sacrifice animals on holidays such as Eid al-Adha.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Three influential cards have always played well in Pakistan’s political arena: Sunni Islam, the army and patriotism. Being a Sunni Muslim makes you powerful and provides a deep sense of being an extraordinary Pakistani.
Read MoreAccording to the latest figures given in the Parliament, the region with a population of 14 million has almost 1 million drug addicts. The consequence of such a massive upswing in drug addiction has taken a heavy toll on a society pounded by conflict and political uncertainty.
Read MoreCanon India uploaded a picture from Kashmir on its social media handles last year. As soon as it reached the audience in Muslim-dominant region, a wave of anger and outrage swept across people after they saw a couple posing for a memorable picture in the backdrop of Hazratbal shrine, which is believed to be the most revered religious place in Kashmir.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since 2008, the PTA has repeatedly banned or taken steps to ban online Ahmadi content inside Pakistan. However, the PTA has now extended its efforts to block or remove content that is hosted outside of Pakistan in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Singapore and Switzerland.
Read MoreA political storm has erupted after Jammu-Kashmir’s Chief Electoral Officer Hridesh Kumar recently announced that anybody living and working or studying in the contested Jammu-Kashmir region, even temporarily, can vote in the assembly elections, likely next year.
Read MoreEarlier this summer, Pakistani-American interfaith activist and former teacher Anila Ali led a historic delegation to Israel that brought together political leaders and influential Muslims and Jews to foster trust and develop relationships between the Abrahamic faiths. Ali recently spoke with ReligionUnplugged.com about her activism.
Read MoreProtests by Kashmiri Hindus, also known as Kashmiri Pandits, have continued daily since the killing of Kashmiri Hindu Rahul Bhat on May 12 by, police allege, militants fighting against the Indian rule in Kashmir. Hundreds of Pandit government employees with families are protesting and demanding security.
Read More(OPINION) A recent Pew survey found that 40% of countries and territories worldwide had blasphemy laws in 2019. But a few caveats bring a greater understanding of how blasphemy laws and hate speech laws are impacting believers and nonbelievers today.
Read MoreThe killing of at least five civilians, five soldiers and two militants in Kashmir over the past several days has plunged India’s Himalayan territory into grief and anger. The violence reminds Kashmiris of the early 1990s, when militants warring against New Delhi’s rule targeted Kashmiri Hindus, prompting 300,000 Hindus to flee the area.
Read MoreIn Pakistan, religious minorities, including Christians and Ahmadi Muslims, live under constant threat of blasphemy allegations. The laws prohibit making derogatory remarks against Islam, desecrating the Quran and insulting the Prophet Muhammad, which can be subjectively interpreted in courtrooms and impose fines, jail time and even death.
Read MoreWith peace letters written by schoolchildren to friends unknown to them across the border, Jesuit priest Joseph Kalathil set out to build bridges between India and Pakistan—neighbors scarred by decades of conflict and hostility. The challenge seemed not only risky but insurmountable. Yet, Kalathil remained determined.
Read More(OPINION) n April 28, 2021, the European Parliament adopted a joint motion for a resolution on the blasphemy laws in Pakistan calling for more comprehensive approaches to address the abuses of blasphemy laws in Pakistan in response to a Christian Pakistani couple convicted of blasphemy in 2013. Blasphemy laws have always been problematic since they rely on the notion of causing offense, which is subjective and vague and usually directed towards religious minorities.
Read More(OPINION) Farah Shaheen, a 12-year-old Christian girl, was kidnapped from Faisalabad in June 2020 and abused by three men who chained her to a cattle pen. They claimed that she married one of her abductors, a 29-year-old Muslim man, of her own will. However, her family tells a different story.
Read More(OPINION) Despite major societal progress, child marriage still persists in many Middle Eastern cultures. According to the Movement for Solidarity and Peace (MSP), around 1,000 Christian and Hindu women and girls are kidnapped each year, forced to convert and marry Muslim men.
Read More(OPINION) The United Nation’s International Day of the Girl Child uplifts young girls in countries where they are historically oppressed, many of them as religious minorities, to rise above gender-based violence, harmful practices and HIV and AIDS. This turns them away from harmful practices like child marriage.
Read More(OPINION) Recent cases from Pakistan show how religious minority women and girls are abducted, forcibly converted, forcibly married and abused. This is a systemic, idealogical issue rather than isolated incidents.
Read MoreOne year into a lockdown that has stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy, Kashmiris face the coronavirus pandemic, excessive force, arbitrary detentions, closed schools, restricted communications, religious discrimination and major job losses. Here’s how they’re coping.
Read More(OPINION) Since last year’s church attacks in Sri Lanka, persecution of Christians around the world has only gotten worse. With the spread of coronavirus, this Easter is unlike any other we’ve seen. But there is hope.
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