Dr. Mark O'Doherty Healing Pakistan ? Improving Human Rights, Gender Mainstreaming and Religious Education in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Even though Pakistan has taken a zero-tolerance approach to ISIS, recent polling data suggests that support for ISIS within Pakistan hovers around 8%, while 62 per cent of Pakistani?s said they ?don?t know?; (representing over 120 million people) such a large percentage of ?don?t knows? indicating a lack of familiarity with the issue; underlining the importance of religious education in Pakistan, as the line between Islam and violent extremism seems to be blurred in the country. Hence this book focuses on improving human rights-, ethical- and Islamic education in Pakistan; also in view that Pakistan's blasphemy laws carry a potential death sentence for anyone who insults Islam ? Salman Taseer governor of Punjab, and Shahbaz Bhatti, minorities minister, both assassinated by extremists in 2011 for asking for the law to be reformed. Critical, but also deeply sensitive and humane, this book endeavours to improve public policy in Pakistan, so that a just social peace can be manifested in the country.