Kamran Chaudhry

Sindh’s Provincial Assembly bans employment for minors under 14 and sets stricter rules for those up to 18. Pakistan's constitution guarantees free and compulsory education for children 5 to 16 years, but about 12.5 million children are forced to work. Economic reforms are needed.

The city’s waste management company began a recruitment campaign for local candidates who are healthy and non-Muslims. For the Justice and Peace Commission, this is discrimination. Christians hold the most menial jobs in the country’s big cities. Public sector jobs reserved for non-Muslims are only 5 per cent of the total.

The young Muslim was one of 2,000 people who attacked a Christian village in 2005, incited by radicals on false blasphemy charges. An interfaith youth group was set up in 2010. Pakistanis “desperately need role models.”

The Commission on Human Rights organizes a seminar. Relatives of the abducted intellectuals reject the accusations of blasphemy, brought forward by Islamic radicals. "It's just a move to lock them up behind bars after their eventual release."

Fr Inayat Bernard runs the St Mary minor seminary in Punjab’s capital. He gave new impetus to the Committee for ecumenical solidarity, a group that includes Pakistan’s four main Christian denominations. Fighting religious extremism needs deeper mutual understanding.

Mgr Andrew Francis celebrated 45 years of priesthood. He praised Christians who struggle for their faith. In 1996, he survived an assassination attempt, whilst in 2013, a car accident left him disabled. But for him, “there is no downside in my life."

For Nawaz Sharif, the country will be recognized as a "friend of minorities." Ahmadi Muslims however are considered heretical by Sunnis and Shias. And in December, an Ahmadi place of worship was attacked. The Government of Sindh rejects the law against forced conversions. Protests take place on the day Salman Taseer was remembered.

In November, the provincial assembly had adopted the law unanimously, outlawing forced conversion and marriage of minors. Every year about a thousand girls and young women are forced to repudiate their religion. Thirteen lawmakers who drafted the bill received death threats.

The priest was ill for some time. He served twice as Caritas executive secretary. In 1997, he set up a trust to fund education for adults and children, as well as health and professional skills development in the archdiocese’s rural areas. He also founded a housing colony for poor Christians and a centre for the blind.

The local Church and some NGOs have distributed basic necessities to hundreds of residents of Youhanabad, where in 2015 a double suicide attack caused 17 deaths. Many of those who have received aid have lost loved ones in the attack. On December 26, the local Church will visit those in prison.

Monks and Muslims exchange Christmas greetings. The interfaith celebration was held at the Franciscan formation center. Celebrating the birth of the prophet of Islam "in a Christian house can be an example for the entire country." Islamic leader: "We celebrate the greatness of the prophet. But we also respect the Prince of Peace. "

The explosion took place before sunset at the shrine of Shah Noorani, about 750 km south of Quetta. It is a place of pilgrimage from all over Pakistan and abroad. The faithful of Sufism are accused of heresy for rituals involving singing and dancing. Taliban extremists operative in the region and the Islamic State.