[van-announce] March 15th Vigil: Protect Human Rights of Minorities in Pakistan!

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March 15th Vigil: Protect Human Rights of Minorities in Pakistan!

Dear Friends and Allies,

As you may know, Pakistan's Federal Minister for Minority Affairs
Shahbaz Bhatti was recently assassinated for speaking out against the
Blasphemy Laws and the resulting ongoing persecution of religious
minorities. This was preceded by the assassination of the Governor of
Punjab Salman Taseer who had taken up the cause of Aasia Bibi, a poor
Christian labourer who is currently imprisoned awaiting death by
hanging under the Blasphemy Laws. Countless other Pakistanis continue
to be persecuted because of these heinous legal relics of the Zia
dictatorship in conjunction with a dangerous and unconscionable
appropriation of Islam, deliberately distorted for the sole purpose of
political or economic gain.

We believe that it is the Blasphemy Laws themselves and the resulting
persecution and violence that are un-Islamic and contrary to both the
tenets of Islam and the founding principles of the nation. We stand in
solidarity with the struggles taking place in Pakistan to ensure
equality for ALL Pakistanis and feel that we must speak out strongly
where other voices are being threatened into silence through
harassment and direct death calls.

Through this vigil, we want to begin building alliances with sister
organizations and supportive individuals for effective lobbying to put
pressure on the Government of Pakistan, the Chief of the Army Staff,
and the leaders of all political parties to repeal the Blasphemy Laws,
and to abolish religious extremism and vigilantism. We believe, the
Blasphemy Laws must be repealed in order to protect Muslim and
non-Muslim lives, minority rights, freedom of speech and democracy.

Please stand with us. This issue requires your urgent support.

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Protect Human Rights of Minorities in Pakistan!
Repeal the Blasphemy Laws!
Candlelight Vigil to Commemorate the Lives of all Victims of Blasphemy Laws
March 15th, 6pm
Outside the Pakistani Consulate, 510 W. Hastings Street
(corner of W. Hastings and Richards, across from SFU Harbour Centre)

Please join us in a candlelight vigil to:
- Protest the persecution of all minorities within Pakistan
- Push for the repeal of the blasphemy laws and all laws that
discriminate against minorities
- Honour all lives lost to extremist violence including the recent
assassinations of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti
- Support the release of Aasia Bibi and all those now being victimized
by discriminatory laws

For more info, please contact us at: repealthelaws at gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150985018294095

Organized by: Ad Hoc Group For the Repeal of Blasphemy Laws in Pakistan

-- 
"Until all of us are free, the few who think they are remain tainted
with enslavement." Lee Maracle
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