‘I hope and pray that the Prime Minister can really put his declarations of intent into practice, since as religious minority in Pakistan we need the protection of our people and places of worship’.– Bishop Samson Shukardin OFM
Christians suffer from institutionalized discrimination, illustrated by the fact that occupations seen as low, dirty and derogatory are officially reserved for Christians. Many Christians are very poor, and some are victims of bonded labor. There are also many Christians belonging to the middle class, but their economic status doesn’t save them from being marginalized or persecuted. The country’s notorious blasphemy laws target religious minorities (including Muslim minorities), but affect the Christian minority in particular, not just the poor.
Christians in Pakistan are dwindling since 2005 under islamic rule to less than 2.5 million or less than 1.5% of the population; 1.4 million are Catholic. Many have emigrated to Europe; most of them to England.
Islamabad, Aug.2.– “The speech of Prime Minister Imran Khan is very encouraging and gives new hope to the religious minorities living in Pakistan. In the past also the leaderships said such nice words but were not able to fulfill them.” This is what Bishop Samson Shukardin OFM, at the head of the Catholic Diocese of Hyderabad said to Fides News Agency. “We were born and brought up in Pakistan,” added the Bishop, “but we still do not get equal rights, it is a sad reality. I hope and pray that the Prime Minister can really put his declarations of intent into practice, since as religious minority in Pakistan we need the protection of our people and places of worship.”
The Franciscan bishop declares, however, that he appreciates the initiatives and provisions that the government led by Imran Khan is already implementing for the benefit of religious minorities.
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interview last November to the journalist Fernando del Rincón, of CNN en Español, to discuss the crisis in Venezuela. He began by asking about two letters she had recently received—one from family members of dozens of political prisoners, the other from the parents of young protesters who had been killed by security forces—requesting that she personally visit Venezuela to report on the human-rights violations committed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro. Bachelet told him that these were not the only letters she had received making that request. “Today, I also got an official invitation to visit Venezuela,” she said, from Maduro’s government. Rincón, who was visibly surprised, asked if, in accepting Maduro’s invitation, she could be seen as collaborating with the government, and noted that “accepting this invitation is accepting the invitation of the person accused of violating human rights.” Bachelet replied that she wanted to sit down with every side. “Listen, I’ve had many years of experience,” she added. “I’ve been Secretary and President of my country, I’ve worked with many governments and people from civil society, and I think it would be wrong to say that, because I am invited by one or the other, I would be non-objective.”