Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - "We call on the new ambassador Sherry Rehman - and we are confident she will do it - to speak out to defend human rights and religious minorities to work for peace and harmony, to become the voice of those who do not have a say": this is what Fr. Saleh Diego, head of the "Justice and Peace Commission" of the Archdiocese of Karachi reports to Fides, expressing satisfaction and hopes of the Christian community in Paksitan, after the appointment of Sherry Rehman as new Pakistani ambassador in the United States of America.
Rehman, a Muslim intellectual and an MP of the Pakistan Peoples' Party, is President of "Jinnha Institute", a well known study centre in Karachi, committed to the defense of legality and the rule of law in Pakistan. The Institute published a report a few months ago entitled "A Question of Faith," which emphasizes the problems and discrimination of religious minorities living in Pakistan. A year ago, after Asia Bibi’s case, Rehman introduced a proposal in Parliament to amend the blasphemy law, where she received death threats from Islamic extremist groups.
In an interview with Fides, even Romana Bashir, Director of the "Christian Study Center" programmes in Rawalpindi speaks of a "great choice" in the hope that "Rehman can bring at an international level issues concerning the rights of religious minorities". Bashir hopes, moreover, that "the approach takes root, so that in bilateral cooperation funds allocated by the U.S. in favor of Pakistan, there is a portion dedicated to specific projects for the development and promotion of religious minorities such as Christians". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 23/11/2011)
