Shafique Khokhar

The Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation demand authorities intervene following police failure to act on the kidnapping of Saneha Kinza, a 15-year-old Christian girl.

David Masih is accused of ripping pages from the Quran and throwing them down a drain. The crime of blasphemy is punished with life imprisonment and in some cases with the death sentence. The story of Asia Bibi. At least 80 people, of different faiths, are detained on this charge.

The video of the incident, which went viral, sparked a lot of criticism. Despite threats, the man says it is his right to keep his faith and that he is ready to suffer all the consequences, that he will not abandon his religion. The Pakistani Telecommunications Authority admits that immoral content on TikTok and Bigo negatively impacts young people, but no one in authority has so far criticised abusers. For Fr Ifran James, “Should a Christian do something similar, he would be immediately accused of blasphemy”.

A Muslim businessman offers over a thousand dollars to Christians who convert to Islam, almost six thousand if an entire Christian family converts. His video praising Islamic proselytising goes viral: even young Muslims are pushing young Christians to abandon the Christian faith. For human rights advocate, the authorities must stop such hatemongers.

The girl, Saneha, was on her way to church when she was kidnapped. The father, a Protestant pastor, fears that his daughter will undergo a forced conversion to Islam and be married. The kidnapper's father has admitted to his son's crime. The police only accepted the complaint yesterday.

Representatives of Pakistan’s major faiths attended the ceremony. For Archbishop Shaw, the pandemic united the faithful of different religions. Anglican Bishop calls for the elimination of hatred of others. Sunni, Shia and Sikh clerics call for respect for all places of worship.

Human rights activists hold a national convention to affirm democratic values. The Punjab Legislative Assembly approves a resolution to include Ali Jinnah's famous speech in school curricula. Last month, however, the same Assembly passed a law that protects the Islamic religion. The pluralist vision of the Father of the Nation has yet to materialise.

On the eve of Pakistan’s Minorities Day, the leaders of religious and civil society groups expressed concern over the government’s position towards minorities. Quotas are useless if enforcement rules are not implemented. An impartial education can foster social cohesion and harmony. Great efforts are needed to turn minority representation into participation.

Younas Masih caught the virus in hospital where his father had to undergo an operation. For this reason, he remained isolated at home as hospitals had no places available. Instead of reading books and watching movies, he prayed all the time. Now that he's healed, he wants to donate his plasma for coronavirus patients.

For Human Rights Focus Pakistan president Naveed Walter, a “new wave of Islamisation has changed the school syllabus, the un-Islamic names of some cities and certain laws making them more rigid.”

The Catholic charity gives women psychosocial kitchen gardening kits, which include seeds, as well as hygiene and health kits, which include hand washing and other tips against the coronavirus.

For 73 years, the Gurdwara was used as a girls’ high school. Around 2,000 Sikh families live in Balochistan. For a government official, the decision is historic, as the building is worth billions of rupees. "This act,” says expert, “shows that Sikhs are citizens with equal dignity in the country.”