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:
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
23
April 2025
Virtual Event | Invite Only
Central and Eastern Europe Strategy Summit 2025
Featured Speakers:
Nikki R. Haley
Dr. Lars-Hendrik Röller
Maria Luís Albuquerque
Dr. Olga Zykova
Barna Tánczos
Amb. Tomáš Pojar
Nikolina Prah
Dr. Jorgovanka Tabaković
Dr. Anca Dragu
Dr. Yurii Heletiy
Jan Růžička
Dr. Bogdan Ivan
Joel Scanlon
Moderators:
Peter Rough
Daniel Kochis
Matthew Boyse
Luke Coffey
CEE
23
April 2025
Virtual Event | Invite Only
Central and Eastern Europe Strategy Summit 2025

Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia will host its third Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Strategy Summit. 

CEE
Featured Speakers:
Nikki R. Haley
Dr. Lars-Hendrik Röller
Maria Luís Albuquerque
Dr. Olga Zykova
Barna Tánczos
Amb. Tomáš Pojar
Nikolina Prah
Dr. Jorgovanka Tabaković
Dr. Anca Dragu
Dr. Yurii Heletiy
Jan Růžička
Dr. Bogdan Ivan
Joel Scanlon
Moderators:
Peter Rough
Daniel Kochis
Matthew Boyse
Luke Coffey
23
April 2025
In-Person Event | InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C.
India’s Role in the Global Economy
Featured Speakers:
Nirmala Sitharaman
Walter Russell Mead
Getty Images
23
April 2025
In-Person Event | InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C.
India’s Role in the Global Economy

Join Hudson for a conversation between Indian Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and Distinguished Fellow Walter Russell Mead.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Nirmala Sitharaman
Walter Russell Mead
23
April 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Economic Security and NATO Cohesion: A Conversation with Jens Stoltenberg
Featured Speakers:
Jens Stoltenberg
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
Getty Images
23
April 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Economic Security and NATO Cohesion: A Conversation with Jens Stoltenberg

Join Hudson Institute for an event with Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Jens Stoltenberg
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs
28
April 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Domestic Politics, the US-Japan Alliance, and Tokyo’s Global Role: Bipartisan Views from the Diet
Featured Speakers:
Koichiro Gemba
Itsunori Onodera
Shinjiro Koizumi
Kimi Onoda
Moderator:
Kenneth R. Weinstein
Getty Images
28
April 2025
In-Person Event | Hudson Institute
Domestic Politics, the US-Japan Alliance, and Tokyo’s Global Role: Bipartisan Views from the Diet

A panel of experts will discuss how the Japanese government should approach domestic political questions, its partnership with America, and Japan’s role in the world.

Getty Images
Featured Speakers:
Koichiro Gemba
Itsunori Onodera
Shinjiro Koizumi
Kimi Onoda
Moderator:
Kenneth R. Weinstein