SOAS Pakistan Society is proud to host Asma Jahangir who has kindly agreed to deliver a lecture on:

'The current political environment in Pakistan and the role of legal fraternity.'

A long serving human rights activist, Ms Jahangir will talk on the current political situation of Pakistan, and the role of the legal fraternity within Pakistan.

There will be a Q&A session following Ms Jahangir's talk.

A brief Biography:

Ms Asma Jahangir is the current President of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Pakistan, a long-serving human rights activist, as well as being one of Pakistan’s leading lawyers, advocating at the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Ms Asma Jahangir works both, in Pakistan and internationally, to prevent the persecution of religious minorities, women, and the exploitation of children. She was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief from August 2004 to July 2010 (first attached to the former Commission on Human Rights, now to the Human Rights Council). Previously, she served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. She is also chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

A keynote by Conservative Chairman Baroness Warsi and a Q and A session with Anwar Akhtar, director, The Samosa.

A panel event with Anatol Lieven, author of ‘Pakistan A Hard Country’; Zaiba Malik, author of ‘We are Muslim Please’; Jahan Mahmood, historian specialising in the role of Muslim soldiers who served in the British Military; Anwar Akhtar, director, The Samosa; and Rubia Dar, journalist, Pakistan International Peoples Association. (PIPA)

A panel event at City University London 6.30 pm. Chaired by author Professor Ziauddin Sardar, featuring journalists, bloggers and film makers including; Medhi Hasan, senior editor, New Statesman; Zachary Latif, Brown Pundits Blog; Mobeen Azhar, assistant producer, BBC Current Affairs; Nayha Kalia, editor, The Samosa; and Homa Khaleeli, commissioning editor, Guardian G2.

A panel event with Jehangir Malik OBE, UK director, Islamic relief; Michael Green, author of ‘Philanthrocapitalism’, previously Head of Communications at the Department for International Development; Asif Rangoonwala, chair, British Pakistani Foundation; and Hugh Mclean, director, Open Society, Soros Foundation Education Programmes.

Islam in a Secular Europe is the theme of the 2011 annual Secular Europe Campaign debate, hosted by the British Humanist Association (BHA) and the Central London Humanists, in association with Conway Hall. Using a 'Question Time' format, this timely debate comes one year on from the Pope's state visit to the UK, which prompted the largest ever protests against the policies of the Holy See, and demonstrated the strength of secularist beliefs held in the UK.

This year's event will bring together some of the country's leading thinkers and activists to debate and discuss topics including: whether religious freedom of Muslims in Europe depends on secularism; if veil and burkha bans are secularist or counter-secularist; what the relationship should be between sharia rules and secular law; and if secularism can admit any limitations on freedom of expression in religious matters.

Presenters include:

Yahya Birt, the Commissioning Editor at Kube Publishing and co-editor of British Secularism and Religion: Islam, Society and the State;

Sir David Blatherwick, diplomat, writer, distinguished supporter of Humanism, and current Trustee for the British University in Egypt;

Humeira Iqtida, lecturer at King's College London and author of Secularising Islamists? Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ud-Dawa in Pakistan;

Maleiha Malik, Professor in Law at King's College London teacher of courses in Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Discrimination Law and European Law;

Maryam Namazie, well-known critic of political Islam and commentator on women's rights, violence against women, cultural relativism, secularism, Humanism, religion, and Islam.

Tickets are £5 and can be purchased here

A Humanist Philosophers' Day Conference
In association with British Humanist Association and South Place Ethical Society

Humanists and other secularists – including religious people who believe in a secular state – have long campaigned for an end to 'religious privilege' and 'religious discrimination'; at the same time, many Muslims have claimed that there is a prevalent 'Islamophobia' in society; recently, representatives of some Christian churches are claiming that Christians are being 'marginalised' as a consequence of 'aggressive secularism' excluding them from public life.

The aim of this conference is to promote discussion of the place of religion in public life between people with different religious and non-religious beliefs. It will try to identify misunderstandings, areas of agreement, and any areas of intractable disagreement, as well as to define more precisely what is meant by the rival claims that religion should not be 'privatised' and that it should not be 'privileged'.

Presenters include:

The conference will close with a panel discussion on The Place of Religion in Public Life. Chair: Peter Cave

The BBC South Asian Language service, broadcasting in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Nepali, Tamil and Sinhala, has played a unique role as the trusted source of news for millions of people in South Asia. The first place of call in times and places of conflict, it has also offered a running commentary on everyday events from South Asia and the world, as well as a vital link for the South Asian diaspora. With the development of its website it has also become an essential tool for students and teachers, both for language learning and for properly understanding the social, political and cultural life of the region.

The future of these services is under threat, and we want to offer a forum for openly discussing the challenges and possibilities of this unique resource.

Panelists include:

William Crawley (co-author of Satellites over South Asia: broadcasting, culture, and the public interest (2001)
Professor Marie Gillespie (Open University)
Aamer Ahmed Khan, Head of Urdu Service (BBC)
Priyath Liyanage, Head of Sinhala Service (BBC)
[Chair] Francesca Orsini (SOAS)

Jointly organised by: SOAS Centre for South Asian Studies and CRESC Manchester

Further Information

Website: www.soas.ac.uk/csas

Or contact Centres & Programmes on:

Email: events@soas.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4893 /2

SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG

Mr Najam Sethi has kindly agreed to join the Oxford University Pakistan Society for a talk and Q&A session on the 11th of March, 2011. The focus of the evening will be on the Pakistani media, the way social and political realities of Pakistan are played out on the media and the role it plays in shaping public discourse/opinion.

About our guest:
Najam Sethi is an award-winning journalist and media personality, and editor-in-chief of The Friday Times, a Lahore based weekly. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Geo News where he hosts a popular political program: "Aapas Ki Baat" and is the only journalist in Asia to receive three international press freedom awards within a decade.

Mr. Sethi was a political prisoner from 1975-1977 during the regime of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for protesting military action in Balochistan. In 1984, the regime of General Zia ul Haq put him in prison for one month for publishing "From Jinnah To Zia", a book authored by the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Mohammad Munir. The book was a sort of mea culpa in which the author had admitted his grave error in legitimising the first martial law in Pakistan in 1958, thereby paving the way for General Zia's martial law in 1977.

In 1989, along with his wife, Jugnu Mohsin, he launched The Friday Times (TFT), an independent national weekly, which espouses secular internationalism, human rights, regional peace and democracy. Newsweek Magazine described him in the 1990s as a "crusading editor" for exposing corruption.

Facilitated by Nasreen Rehman, Chair, British Muslims for Secular Democracy.

Biography:

Najam Sethi is an award-winning Pakistani journalist and media personality, and the editor-in-chief of The Friday Times, a Lahore based weekly. He was previously the editor of Daily Times and Daily Aajkal newspapers. He is currently the Editor in Chief of Geo News where he hosts a popular political program: "aapas ki baat". He is the only journalist in Asia to receive three international press freedom awards within a decade.

Sethi was a political prisoner from 1975-1977 during the regime of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto for protesting military action in Balochistan. In 1984, the regime of General Zia ul Haq put him in prison for one month for publishing "From Jinnah To Zia", a book authored by the former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Mohammad Munir. The book was a sort of mea culpa in which the author had admitted his grave error in legitimising the first martial law in Pakistan in 1958, thereby paving the way for General Zia's martial law in 1977.

In 1989, along with his wife, Jugnu Mohsin, he launched The Friday Times (TFT), an independent national weekly, which espouses secular internationalism, human rights, regional peace and democracy. Newsweek Magazine described him in the 1990s as a "crusading editor" for exposing corruption.

Organiser: SOAS Centre of South Asian Studies & British Muslims for Secular Democracy

There are limited spaces, so if you wish to attend, please email director@bmsd.org.uk.

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• Conference page
• Quotes

• Launch article