Rising Violence Suggests Government Failing to Protect Religious Minorities: Report
14 June 2011
The year 2010 ended with violent protests over amendments to the controversial blasphemy laws, and 2011 opened with the brutal target killing of Punjab’s Governor Salmaan Taseer, a staunch advocate of minority rights. This was followed closely by the assassination of Federal Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti. Both had supported amendments in the law proposed by a member of Parliament from the ruling party and former federal minister,...
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Shiism and Sectarian Conflict in Pakistan: Report
11 May 2011
As the first decade of the 21st century nears its end, issues surrounding militancy among the Shi‛a community in the Shi‛a heartland and beyond continue to occupy scholars and policymakers. During the past year, Iran has continued its efforts to extend its influence abroad by strengthening strategic ties with key players in international affairs, including Brazil and Turkey. Iran also continues to defy the international community through its tenacious...
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Islam and Politics in Pakistan: Backgrounder
05 May 2011
Since Pakistan's beginnings as a homeland for Muslims of British India in 1947, Islam has been the one thread creating a national identity in a state otherwise divided along ethnic, provincial, cultural, religious, class, and linguistic lines. Civilian and military leaders have used Islam to gain legitimacy for their rule and as tools of state policy, strengthening the role of religious parties in politics and society. Since the 1980s, following...
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Why Islam Took a Violent and Intolerant Turn in Pakistan: Analysis
01 April 2011
"From the complex web of factors that have fostered intolerance and violence in Pakistan, it is possible to disentangle four main strands. The first is Pakistan’s strategic position. Big powers have long competed for control of the area between Russia and the Arabian Gulf, and the unresolved tensions with India have dogged the country since its birth in 1947. Nor has Pakistan tried to keep out of its neighbours’ affairs. It was America’s...
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The Great Debate: Analysis
28 March 2011
"Religious scholars in Pakistan have issued more than a dozen conditional religious decrees against suicide attacks, stating that there is no justification for such attacks on Pakistani soil. However, in the decrees they have not failed to mention that terrorist attacks are a reaction to the government’s policies. There has been intentional evasion of talking about extremism mainly on the ideological front. This attitude of putting the entire...
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Politics and Radicalisation: Analysis
21 March 2011
"It is often stated by many western and Islamic scholars that Islam is not only a religion, it is also a blueprint for social order, governance and politics. It is therefore believed to encompass all domains of life, including law and the state. This is supposed to set Islamic polity apart from secular western states. In actuality, however, Muslim states have passed through a wide range of governance experiences, ranging from the caliphate to monarchy,...
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Christian Blasphemy Convict Mysteriously Dies in Karachi Jail
16 March 2011
"A Christian convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan has died in mysterious circumstances in a jail in the southern city of Karachi. Qamar David was serving a life sentence in Karachi's central jail for insulting the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad. Officials say he died of a heart attack but his family say that as a fit and healthy man, this is unlikely be true. Pakistan's penal code prescribes punishments up to death for blasphemy against Islam and the...
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Cardinal Attacks UK Govt's Plans to Increase Pakistan Aid
15 March 2011
"A Roman Catholic cardinal has accused the UK government of operating an 'anti-Christian foreign policy'. Cardinal Keith O'Brien has attacked plans to increase aid to Pakistan to more than £445m, without any commitment to religious freedom for Christians. Speaking in Glasgow, Cardinal O'Brien called on Foreign Secretary William Hague to seek human rights guarantees. The Foreign Office said it raised concerns and lobbied governments about persecution...
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Zeal Gives Religious Right in Pakistan the Upper Hand: Analysis
14 March 2011
"As Pakistan reels from last week's murder of another political opponent of its blasphemy law, the divide between the country's liberals and hardliners has become even deeper. While showing unwavering support for blasphemy law - which punishes inflammatory comments about the Prophet Mohammed - religious political parties have managed to bring out tens of thousands of their followers onto the streets, ensured countrywide strikes and have pushed...
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Islamist Parties Gain Support, Challenge Weak Government
09 March 2011
"Pakistan's disparate Islamist political parties are uniting behind their hatred of the United States, emboldened by a weak government that looks increasingly reluctant to stand up to extremism and a society where radicalism is widely tolerated. [...] But while there is little chance Islamist parties will be able to take power outright, they are becoming more prominent as anti-Americanism grows among ordinary Pakistanis, many of whom also reject...
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