Persecution Without Prosecution: The Fate of Minorities in Pakistan- By Farahnaz Ispahani

The South Asia Channel Persecution Without Prosecution: The Fate of Minorities in Pakistan With religious persecution in Pakistan going unchecked, it is time for the United States to designate Pakistan a Country of Particular Concern. By  Farahnaz Ispahani – A former member of the Pakistani parliament and author of the forthcoming book: Purifying The Land of the Pure: Pakistan’s Religious Minorities. …

Farahnaz Ispahani – National Endowment for Democracy

Pakistan “Women’s Political Participation in the Muslim World” Reagan Fascell Democracy Fellow: Mar 2015 – Jul 2015 Ms. Farahnaz Ispahani has been a leading voice for women and religious minorities in Pakistan for the past twenty five years, first as a journalist, then as a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly, and most recently as a scholar based in the United …

Benazir Bhutto — The Muslim Leader Who Saw Jihadis Coming- Farahnaz Ispahani

Two years after being elected, the world’s first female Muslim prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, received intelligence that a man called Osama bin Laden had given orders to kill her. The year was 1990. Al-Qaeda had not yet officially been formed, but the organizers of global jihad had already determined that Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they launched their first modern jihad …

“Pakistan is sliding toward extremism” By Farahnaz Ispahani & Nina Shea,

The decision to award Malala Yousafzai the Nobel Peace Prize last week was a good one. After all, the 17 year-old, who was named a joint winner with along with Kailash Satyarthi, personifies the struggle for modernity, women’s equality and individual rights to religious freedom against the threat of Islamic extremism. But while Malala’s award is a triumph for her …

Destroying Pakistan- The curse of the blasphemy law by Farahnaz Ispahani and Nina Shea

Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which turns 30 this year, has become only more deadly with age. Since blasphemy was made a capital crime under the nation’s secular penal code, the effect has been to suppress moderate influences, pushing “Pakistani society further out on the slippery slope of extremism,” said Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, senior advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, in Washington last …

Video source missing

Religious Intolerance in Pakistan and the Plight of Religious Minorities

          Watch Video of event below:   http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/religious-intolerance-pakistan-and-the-plight-religious-minorities June 04, 2014 // 4:00pm — 5:15pm Event Co-sponsors: Middle East Program In recent years, Pakistan—a Sunni Muslim majority country with Shia Muslim, Christian, and Hindu minorities—has been convulsed by sectarian violence. More than 2,000 people have been killed in sectarian attacks since 2008, and last year sectarian …

Cleansing Pakistan of Minorities by Farahnaz Ispahani

Published on Wednesday, July 31, 2013   Pakistan’s religious minorities are widely viewed as embattled or under attack. This paper undertakes a comprehensive analysis of Pakistan’s policies towards its religious minority populations, both Muslim as well as non-Muslim. It is not only Pakistan where Muslim as well as non-Muslim minorities are under attack. Rather, this is a phenomenon which is …

Wilson Center Experts

Farahnaz Ispahani Public Policy Scholar Asia Program CONTACT INFORMATION: [email protected] T (202) 691-4396 // F (202) 691-4001 EXPERTISE: Democracy; Democracy Promotion; Democratic Transition; Gender; Gender Equality; Human Rights; Pakistan; South Asia; Middle East and North Africa;Egypt AFFILIATION: Former Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Politician, Writer, Women & Minority Rights advocate WILSON CENTER PROJECT(S): “Protecting Religious Minorities in Pakistan & other Muslim Majority Nations” TERM: Farahnaz Ispahani …

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto: a legacy of democracy.

By Farahnaz Ispahani Every year on the 4th of April all Pakistani democrats take a moment to remember Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Dubbed ‘Black Day,’ it is the anniversary of one of the most tragic political murders in the country’s history, albeit one conducted with judicial approval. Bhutto was Pakistan’s first popularly elected democratic politician. He is still mourned today …