ISLAMABAD: A two-day special session of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) opened on Tuesday with discussions focusing on the proposed Hindus and Christians’ marriage bills. The advisory body also sought the draft bill – prepared for the marriage of non-Muslims – from the Law and justice ministry. “Islam is not a hurdle in the […]
KARACHI: A fairly large number of people belonging to various rights groups, professional organisations and political parties gathered outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday and held a demonstration against the assassination of Rashid Rehman, a lawyers and human rights activist, who was recently killed in an ambush in Multan. “We salute martyr Rashid Rehman,” […]
TNS caught up with Wusatullah Khan at BBC’s Karachi office to which he has been associated since 1991 at its Urdu Service section, and asked him if he saw any hope of turning around the narrative of intolerance that seems to be weighing us down. Khan has been writing a weekly column Baat se Baat […]
QUETTA: Members of the Balochistan Assembly from treasury and opposition benches called upon the government on Saturday to declare the parts of the province recently battered by heavy rains and flooding as calamity-hit areas, saying the rainfall had caused heavy losses. Speaking on the issue during a session of the assembly, Chief Minister Dr Abdul […]
Rashid Rehman’s brutal killing — for doing his duty as a lawyer — must be viewed along with the (similar) assassinations of Justice (R) Arif Iqbal Bhatti, Governor Salmaan Taseer, and federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti. A judge, leading members of government, and now a defence counsel have been killed for trying to ensure that no […]
KARACHI: It has increasingly become an unreasonable request that literary functions in the city be held on time. This was clearly evident at the launch of Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui’s audio CD titled Sachey Sha’er ka Khaliyaan at the Arts Council on Thursday, as the event started almost two hours behind the schedule. Presided […]
ISLAMABAD: In a rare show of unity, members of the lower house rose above partisanship and passed a unanimous resolution asking the government to take steps on a “priority basis” to safeguard the holy places of minorities. The multi-party backed resolution, which also demanded the deployment of special security personnel at minorities’ places of worship, […]
Karachi: A correspondent for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was beaten up allegedly by a robber in PECHS on Wednesday, said a Tipu Sultan police official. SHO Zulfiqar Haider said Hassan Kazmi was on his way home when a man intercepted him in E-Market situated in Block 6 of PECHS. The suspect held Kazmi at […]
Though the entire nation is victim of the rising tide of religious extremism in Pakistan the worst sufferers are the minorities. Their places of worship are being ransacked; their men are being lynched on streets and their women converted and married. Not that there is not enough of law on the country’s statute book for […]
LAHORE: “Agha Shorish Kashmiri was a great journalist who exposed oppression. Journalists today can learn a lot from him,” said Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar on Wednesday. He was addressing a ceremony to launch the book Shorish Kashmiri Bahasiat Sahafi by Associated Press of Pakistan Regional Director Dr Waqar Chaudhry at Al Raazi Hall. Punjab University […]
One way to judge the character of a people is by observing its majority’s behaviour towards minorities. A country which fails to safeguard the basic rights of its religious minorities cannot claim to be civilised. In Pakistan, attacks on members of the minority communities and their places of worship occur frequently, and go unpunished just […]
NEW YORK: Calling on the Pakistan government to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation into the assassination of human rights activist and lawyer Rashid Rehman, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that those responsible should be fully and promptly prosecuted. It also urged the government to repeal the “blasphemy law” forthwith. In a press statement, […]
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on Tuesday hinted at framing guidelines for law-enforcement agencies for protection of minorities’ rights. “We believe that the Constitution has set goals, pledges and commitments that the nation has vowed to live by and to achieve these dreams we may develop guidelines for the protection of rights of minorities,” […]
KARACHI: A joint action committee (JAC) of civil society organisations on Tuesday asked the government to provide protection to human rights activists and campaigners as it was a constitutional duty of the government to protect the lives of people. Speaking at a condolence meeting at the PMA House to pay tribute to slain human rights […]
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