Romana Bashir is a Pakistani community activist for women and minority rights and religious tolerance. Bashir is a past executive director of the Peace and Development Foundation in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

and was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

as a

consultor A consultor is one who gives counsel, i.e., a counselor. In the Catholic Church, it is a specific title for various advisory positions: *in the Roman Curia, a consultor is a specially appointed expert who may be called upon for advice desired by ...

for the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims.

Activism

Bashir, a Catholic woman, began working in 1997 at the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

level, working with the community to promote interfaith harmony and women's education. She was a member of the ''Christian Study Centre'', which promotes freedom of expression, justice, dignity and equality. In

, Bashir joined the Christian Study Centre as a trainee and was later promoted to head of programs in 2009. In 2012, she was appointed by

as a consultor of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims within the

Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by ...

of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

. She is the first Pakistani Christian lay woman appointed to such a position. In 2013, she was Executive Director, Peace and Development Foundation in Rawalpindi. In 2021 she was listed in

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (; born November 12, 1978) is a Pakistani journalist, filmmaker and political activist known for her work in films that highlight gender inequality against women. Obaid-Chinoy is slated to direct an upcoming ''Star Wars'' ...

's White In The Flag project as a human rights defender.

Speaker

In 2012 she was a member of a panel of five speakers at a press conference by Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS). The panel called for the Blasphemy law in Pakistan, blasphemy law be revised to prevent its misuse, abuse and exploitation. In November 2012, she spoke at a workshop organised by Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies for young religious scholars representing all sects of Islam and members of the Sikh, Baháʼí Faith, Baháʼí, and Christian communities. In 2013, she was a speaker at a seminar on “Tolerance in Pakistan” held at Quaid-e-Azam University’s (QAU). The seminar urged people to speak up against the rising levels of violence and intolerance related to ethnic and religious differences in the country.

References

External links

Oasis - mutual understanding between the Western world and the Muslim majority world

Punjab Commission on the Status of Women
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bashir, Romana Pakistani human rights activists Living people Pakistani women activists Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Pakistani Roman Catholics People from Rawalpindi District Minority rights activists Pakistani women's rights activists Pakistani Christian religious leaders Punjabi women

Activism

Speaker

See also

References

External links