09
March 2017
Past Event
Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities

Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities

Past Event
Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C. Headquarters
March 09, 2017
Pakistani Christians hold candles as they march during the Easter Celebration ceremony on April 20, 2014 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Caption
Pakistani Christians hold candles as they march during the Easter Celebration ceremony on April 20, 2014 in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
09
March 2017
Past Event

1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004

Speakers:
Farahnaz Ispahani

Former member, Parliament of Pakistan

Nina Shea
Nina Shea

Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Religious Freedom

Although Pakistan was created as a homeland for South Asia's Muslims, religious freedom was one of its founding principles. In 1947, Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”

Seventy years later, Pakistan is better known for religious extremism and the persecution of Muslim and non-Muslim religious minorities. Pakistan’s blasphemy law is a state-sanctioned tool of religious oppression used to target members of minority faith communities whether Ahmadiya, Christian, Hindu, or Shiite, as well as Sunnis who criticize the law. Its many victims include Asia Bibi, a Christian woman imprisoned since 2008, and two prominent government officials who were murdered in 2011 for defending her: Shahbaz Bhatti, the former Minority Affairs Minister, and Salman Taseer, the former governor of Punjab.

On March 9, Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedomed hosted a discussion on the blasphemy law and the state of religious oppression in Pakistan with Farahnaz Ispahani, a former Pakistani politician and the author of Purifying the Land of the Pure In her new book, Ispahani traces the transformation of Jinnah's Pakistan into an Islamic state, and writes that Pakistan’s Islamization has sparked a regional trend that will not be easy to reverse. Nina Shea, director of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, moderated the discussion.

Related Events
30
October 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
How Long Can Russia’s Weakening Economy Support Putin’s War on Ukraine?
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Volodymyr Lugovskyy
Dr. Anders Aslund
Thomas J. Duesterberg
Getty Images
30
October 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
How Long Can Russia’s Weakening Economy Support Putin’s War on Ukraine?

Join noted Russian and Ukrainian economists and Hudson Senior Fellow Thomas Duesterberg for an event that will analyze how growing economic problems are affecting Vladimir Putin’s war effort and its ability to avoid an economic crisis.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Dr. Volodymyr Lugovskyy
Dr. Anders Aslund
Thomas J. Duesterberg
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Invite Only
Understanding the Strategic Surprise of October 7
Featured Speaker:
Itai Brun
Moderator:
Michael Doran
Getty Images
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Invite Only
Understanding the Strategic Surprise of October 7

Brigadier General (Res.) Itai Brun will join Senior Fellow Dr. Michael Doran to examine the strategic, organizational, and analytical factors that enabled Hamas’s October 7 surprise attack. 

Getty Images
Featured Speaker:
Itai Brun
Moderator:
Michael Doran
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Congressman Rich McCormick on Securing American AI Leadership
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Rich McCormick
Jason Hsu
Representative Rich McCormick speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on January 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
03
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Congressman Rich McCormick on Securing American AI Leadership

Senior Fellow Jason Hsu will host Congressman Rich McCormick (R-GA), a member of the House Armed Services Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee and a former member of the bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, for a conversation on securing American AI leadership.

Representative Rich McCormick speaks during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on January 11, 2024. (Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Congressman Rich McCormick
Jason Hsu
04
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Bad Money: How America Can Solve Perpetual Inflation
Featured Speakers:
Brendan Brown
Alex J. Pollock
Moderator:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
Getty Images
04
November 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Bad Money: How America Can Solve Perpetual Inflation

At Hudson, Senior Fellows Brendan Brown and Harold Furchtgott-Roth and Mises Institute Senior Fellow Alex Pollock will discuss the book’s findings and how gold-based monetary reform combined with the increased use of modern analytical tools can help end the inflationary spiral.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Brendan Brown
Alex J. Pollock
Moderator:
Harold Furchtgott-Roth