On February 27, the Pakistani government declared open war on Afghanistan’s Taliban government. Massive air strikes have killed hundreds in the days since. To understand the political and religious components of the conflict, The Bulletin sat down with human rights lawyer and former diplomat…
Amid A Violent Fight For Statehood, One Community Finds Interfaith Solidarity
When violence broke out in Leh this past Sept. 24, a place usually known for its thin air and patient rhythms, the immediate human cost was stark: several young people critically wounded, and four confirmed dead.
Sikhs Pilgrims Allowed To Visit Pakistan After India Reverses Ban
On a crisp fall morning in Amritsar, Jagjit Singh stood at the gates of his local Sikh temple clutching a folder thick with documents, identity papers, passport copies, and the pilgrimage forms he had painstakingly filled out since June.
As Pakistan Moves to Ban Black Magic, Astrologers See a Bad Omen
The curtain glows under ceiling lights, and a soft cream-colored screen guards the privacy of clients who slip inside. On a glass panel by the door, bold white letters offer quiet assurance: Shahbaz, Astrologer & Palmist.
Fragile peace in South Asia: What can people of faith do?
After escalating tensions and military attacks between India and Pakistan, a ceasefire brokered by the United States was announced Saturday (May 10). The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated.
Authoritarian rule is ‘common denominator’ in religious persecution, USCIRF says
Authoritarian rule is the “common denominator” in the worsening of religious persecution around the world, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2025 annual report. Last year, totalitarian regimes widened the direct oppression of minority faiths in…
In survey of religious oppression across the globe, Russia, Afghanistan and China take center stage
Russia has spent recent years in diplomatic and economic hot water with the United States over its mounting human rights and religious freedom violations, including the persecution of Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Protestant Christians. But the ongoing invasion of Ukraine…
World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later
World religious leaders, policymakers and human rights activists gathered virtually March 2 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Christian politician targeted by the Taliban for championing religious freedom. His killers never were prosecuted….
The Taliban in the self
Shots rang out. Blood was everywhere. Bodies hit the floor. Children screamed. The images and descriptions of the scene at a school in Pakistan are more than horrific. Over 130 children are dead over an extremist religious ideology. From terrorist…
I get tired of writing laments
Driving in to work yesterday morning I heard the news that the school in Peshawar, Pakistan had been attacked by the Taliban. They killed more than 130 children. They burned a teacher in front of the students in a classroom….
Reflections of Easter
I sit in expectation of the horror of good Friday and in hopeful expectation of the work of Easter Sunday. This time of year is always the most contemplative for me, perhaps because it offers the fullest range of emotion…