Author: Priya Saha

By Emily Wood, Christian Post Reporter | Wednesday, June 30, 2021A woman holds a placard during a rally protesting the killing of the Punjab Gov. Salman Taseer in Lahore, Pakistan on January 8, 2011. Taseer was shot dead by one of his guards, who was apparently incensed by the politician’s opposition to the blasphemy law, in Islamabad on January 4, 2011. | Reuters/Mohsin RazaA Pakistani Christian’s life sentence for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages was reportedly upheld by a court in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, last week despite his attorney’s claim the prosecution’s evidence was manipulated and his client was framed for…

WITH the revival of armed regional militias to stop the Afghan Taliban offensive, Afghanistan is edging towards a new civil war. Headed by old mujahideen warlords, these armed bands are fighting along the Afghan government forces in some areas, but in many cases they are defending their own regional fiefdoms. It appears that we are returning to the 1990s following the downfall of the Najibullah government when several mujahideen groups fought each other, plunging Afghanistan into a devastating civil war and killing thousands of Afghans. Those events saw the rise of the Taliban movement, which swept away warlord rule and…

Representational image | Image by Shakeb Tawheed | Pexels Text Size: A- A+ New Delhi: Though Indians show an enthusiasm for religious tolerance, they prefer to keep their religious communities in segregated spheres in terms of marriage and residential areas, according to a new survey by US-based Pew Research Center. Published on 29 June, the survey titled ‘Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation’ found that 85 per cent of Hindus, 78 per cent of Muslims, 78 per cent of Christians, 81 per cent of Sikhs, 84 per cent of Buddhists and 83 per cent of Jains believe…

ISLAMABAD: While holding Sheikh Abdullah and Mufti Saeed families of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) responsible for Kashmiri peoples’ unending afflictions, AJK President Sardar Masood Khan on Sunday said that these ‘loyalists’ have been serving the Indian interests and playing the role of facilitators to help India consolidate its illegal occupation of Kashmir since 1947. “Kashmiri people would no longer fall into their traps because they (Kashmiris) are now more conscious about their treacheries and they know that these families had been in power and facilitated the massacres of thousands of Kashmiri people in 1947, 1948, 2010, and…

Author: Mahir Abrar, American International University-BangladeshThe government of Bangladesh has launched a crackdown on the Islamist advocacy group Hefazat-e-Islam. It follows violent protests against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan. India is a vital ally to the government of Bangladesh. The protests embarrassed the government, which was ready to celebrate both independence and the centenary of the birth of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — also the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.The protests were led by Hefazat-e-Islam but saw participation by students in Dhaka. Government offices…

– LAHORE, Pakistan: A conference organized on the Idea of Equal Citizenship and Minority Rights under the auspices of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) identified legal and factual inequality as a cardinal issue of governance in Pakistan. The deliberations at the conference assessed the state laws and policies against the good practices inequality of rights in democratic dispensations. The speakers stressed upon the urgent need to cleanse the legal and policy framework of Pakistan from prejudices and discriminations particularly on the basis of religion. The lead speakers were Dr. Yaqoob Khan Bangash, Wajahat Masood Dr. Priscilla Lall, and Peter…

A Christian Pakistani 13-year-old girl was reportedly forced to convert into Islam by a Muslim man only to become a slave “cook.” The Christian Post said the minor, a resident from the Punjab region of Pakistan, was being held for ransom by the man who forced to convert her into Islam before turning her into his cook. The man is said to be name Altaf who is a medical doctor and a married Muslim. The minor is named Neha. She was allowed by her parents to work for Altaf out of their family’s need for extra income. Neha’s parents were…

The victim had converted from Hinduism to Islam in a remote tribal region where ethnic insurgency continues to smoulder in light of Bangladesh’s majoritarian politics. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a sparsely populated hilly region of Southern Bangladesh, is no stranger to violence. Tainted by the remnants of a decades-long insurgency, this particular region has witnessed countless political, ethnic and petty murders. However, one murder that occurred on June 18 in the Rowangchhari subdistrict of Bandarban district of the CHT deserves special attention as for the first time, an ethnic Tripura man was killed because he, along with his family, had…

GUWAHATI: Assam chief minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday met the family members of the minor girl belonging to religious minority community who was raped and murdered at Bhuragaon in Morigaon district on June 20. Chief minister Sarma assured the parents of the victim that culprits will soon be arrested and be given stringent punishment. Dr Sarma asked the Morigaon superintendent of police (SP) to nab the culprits at earliest as possible and hand them exemplary punishment as per the law of the land. “Every life is precious! What happened in Bhuragaon, Morigaon to a religious minority 9-yr-old girl…

 The Pakistani Army strategized the genocide into three phases over the course of 1971by Anwar A. KhanApril is Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month. The word genocide brings to mind the well-known horrors of the Holocaust, Bangladesh, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia; yet, numerous atrocities that have gone unnoticed and unmentioned. Vultures on remains of slain Bengali at the bank of the Brahmaputra river in Mymensingh, Bangladesh. October, 1971I will focus on dehumanization, extermination, and denial for this write-up to bring awareness by shedding light on and bearing witness to the history of the Bengali people. For clarity, dehumanization is defined as…

Congress was told by a group of attorney generals on Monday that the Hyde Amendment actually resulted in saving over 2 million unborn babies’ lives. The Christian Headlines said 22 attorney generals-including those from Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and West Virginia–sent a unified letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nanci Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy asking them to retain the Hyde Amendment that saved “2.3 million lives” since it was signed four decades ago. “We were disappointed to find the conspicuous omission of the Hyde Amendment in the budget proposal…

In an opposition speach in the illegal and unelected Awami Parliament by no other than the heroic, patriotic and nationalist DeshKonnya দেশকন্যা Barrister Rumin Farhana. In a blatant suppression of freedom of speech, which, like the suppression of votes and opposition programs (meetings, assemblies, processions, demonstrations, and all other activities), is a characteristic ‘hallmark’ or ‘trademark’ of this hellish and Hecatine Hasina regime, the loyalist and cowardly Deputy Speaker expunged Barrister Farhana’s golden speech from the proceedings. But who cares for the mean and myopic Awami buffooneries, shallow and superficial, false and frivolous, petty and paltry as they are?  The…