Pakistan’s Voice for Religious Freedom Earns International Recognition
The Man Who Keeps Going Home: Kashif Mirza Named Recipient of the America 250 IRF Courage Award
Fifteen years of interfaith roundtables, a landmark minorities-rights bill, and a fight for justice in Jaranwala — from a man who advocates from the place where the danger is highest.
Last September, in Karachi, a man named Imtiaz Mir was shot on his way home. Gunmen on motorcycles pulled alongside his car. He had spent his career on religious freedom. He died eight days later.
Kashif Mirza lives in that city. He does that work.
In Memoriam: Imtiaz Mir
Mir’s killing is a reminder of the risks faced by those who work in defense of religious liberty in Pakistan — the same work Mirza has continued in the months since.
From Karachi, Mirza convenes roundtables across Pakistan — Muslims, Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Ahmadis at one table, which is itself the danger. Fifteen years of it.
From Advocacy to Legislation
Mirza doesn’t stop at raising concerns. He writes law. His advocacy helped move Pakistan’s National Commission for Minorities Rights Bill through Parliament last year. He is now pressing Punjab toward something Pakistan has never had: an enforceable ban on forced conversion.
When mobs burned churches in Jaranwala, he did not move on when the news cycle did. He is still on that case, still pressing the courts.
Some in this movement advocate from safety. Kashif Mirza does not. He comes to Washington — and every time, he goes home.
A Courage Award
Those words introduced Mirza as the recipient of the America 250 IRF Courage Award, recognizing advocates who carry the work of religious freedom back into the communities where it is most contested — and most dangerous.
Key Facts
- RecipientKashif Mirza, Director, IRF Roundtable Pakistan
- AwardAmerica 250 IRF Courage Award
- BaseKarachi, Pakistan
- Years of advocacy15
- Legislative milestoneNational Commission for Minorities Rights Bill
- Ongoing caseJaranwala church burnings
Rooted in Unity Staff
Rooted in Unity is a Houston, Texas-based interfaith and civic advocacy organization dedicated to dialogue and Abrahamic unity among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.