IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 764 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on the importance 
of inter-religious dialogue and the protection of religious freedom and 
related human rights for persons of all faiths and nationalities in the 
Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009 
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. MCGOVERN) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives on 
the importance of inter-religious dialogue and the protec-
tion of religious freedom and related human rights for 
persons of all faiths and nationalities in the Islamic 
Republic of Pakistan. 
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a multi-religious 
society comprised of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, 
Ahmadis, Parsis (Zoroastrians), Sikhs, Buddhists, Ba-
ha’is, and others; 
Whereas support for religious freedom and related human 
rights in Pakistan will help ensure the future of Pakistan 
as a free, strong, and vibrant society and that enduring 
stability in Pakistan will come from an active civil society 
in which religious freedom flourishes; 
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•HRES 764 IH 
Whereas there is a correlation between the lack of religious 
freedom protections for all, the persecution of religious 
minorities, and the rise of religious extremism, which 
threatens Pakistan’s national security and ultimately 
United States national security interests; 
Whereas Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Paki-
stan, envisioned a nation of religious plurality and equal-
ity; 
Whereas while Islam is the state religion, the Constitution
states that ‘‘subject to law, public order and morality, 
every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice, and 
propagate his religion’’ and that there shall be no dis-
crimination in rights based on religion in the provision of 
government services, property rights, education and pub-
lic access; 
Whereas the government of President Asif Ali Zardari and 
Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani appointed the first 
cabinet-level official on religious minorities, Minister of 
Minorities Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti, on November 3, 2008, 
to protect the rights of minorities as envisioned under the 
1973 Pakistan Constitution; 
Whereas the Government of Pakistan allocated a quota of 
five percent of all federal jobs for members of minority 
religious groups through a law passed and implemented 
on May 26, 2009; 
Whereas, in 2008, the Government of Pakistan for the first 
time recognized the holidays of minority religious groups 
in addition to Muslim holidays; 
Whereas, on August 11, 2009, President Zardari declared 
August 11 as ‘‘Minorities Day’’ to celebrate and recog-
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•HRES 764 IH 
nize the role that Pakistan’s minorities played in the 
country’s independence and development; 
Whereas the parliament unanimously passed a resolution de-
nouncing the August 1, 2009, attacks against Christians 
in Gojra, Punjab, and affirming that their rights should 
be protected in accordance with the vision of the founder 
of Pakistan; 
Whereas the U.S. Commission on International Religious 
Freedom has found that a number of Pakistan’s laws, in-
cluding those criminalizing blasphemy and restricting the 
rights of Ahmadis, frequently result in imprisonment on 
account of religion or belief and/or violence against the 
accused; 
Whereas blasphemy allegations, which often are false and for 
which due process is lacking, result in the lengthy deten-
tion of and sometimes violence against Muslims, as well 
as Christians, Ahmadis, Hindus, and members of other 
religious minorities; 
Whereas extremist groups have used the blasphemy laws to 
trigger sectarian violence, intimidate members of religious 
minorities and others with whom they disagree, and ex-
ploit these laws for their own political ends; 
Whereas Prime Minister Gilani has expressed support for re-
viewing the blasphemy laws for which prescribed penalties 
include life imprisonment and the death penalty, saying 
‘‘a committee will review the laws detrimental to religious 
harmony to sort out how they could be improved’’; 
Whereas education is a major vehicle for the transmission of 
ideas, attitudes, and beliefs, and some madrassas (reli-
gious education institutions) in Pakistan have taught ex-
tremist doctrine in support of terrorism; 
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•HRES 764 IH 
(B) supporting efforts by the Government 
of Pakistan to foster inter-religious dialogue by 
using 
its 
civilian 
financial 
assistance 
to 
strengthen initiatives by the Ministry of Minori-
ties Affairs to promote inter-religious respect 
and tolerance at the national level, and to es-
tablish at the district and local levels interfaith 
councils designed to promote respect among dif-
ferent religious communities and to counter re-
ligiously motivated enmity and violence; 
(C) supporting Pakistani civil society insti-
tutions that work to uphold and guarantee reli-
gious freedom and related human rights and 
ensuring that nonmilitary assistance emphasizes 
respect for human rights, religious freedom, 
civil society, constitutional processes, and demo-
cratic institutions; 
(D) using its nonmilitary financial assist-
ance to Pakistan to strengthen institutions cru-
cial to Pakistan’s democratic development, par-
ticularly the judiciary and police; 
(E) expanding programs leading to the 
sustained engagement of the United States with 
the Pakistani people, such as the Fulbright 
Program, the International Visitor Program, 
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•HRES 764 IH 
and other exchanges for professionals, students, 
and religious and civil society leaders from all 
of Pakistan’s diverse communities; 
(F) urging the Government of Pakistan to 
set national textbook and curriculum standards 
that actively promote respect for the religious 
beliefs of others; and 
(G) ensuring that the United States Em-
bassy and the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development (USAID) mission support 
these initiatives; 
(2) support efforts by the Government of Paki-
stan to protect the religious freedom of all Paki-
stanis and prioritize the prevention of religiously mo-
tivated and sectarian violence and the punishment of 
its perpetrators by— 
(A) investigating acts of religiously moti-
vated and sectarian violence, and punishing per-
petrators in a timely manner; and 
(B) repealing the blasphemy laws; and 
(3) urge the Government of Pakistan to review 
other legislation that restricts the right to profess, 
practice, and propagate religion or that constitutes 
discrimination on the basis of religion or belief in 
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•HRES 764 IH 
order to bring Pakistani law into conformity with 
international human rights standards. 
Æ 
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