Pakistani Christian Lawyer Gets Death Threats for Helping Minorities
The lawyer, Jacqueline Sultan, said she received a letter warning her that she will be killed if she continues to pursue her advocacy of helping Pakistani Christians accused of blasphemy and those forced to convert to Islam by marrying Muslims, according to the Tribune.
Sultan, a member of the Karachi Bar Council, said she found the letter in her office and immediately reported it to the police.
The lawyer also notified Karachi Bar Association President Naeem Qureshi of the threat on her life even as she called on the authorities to take the situation seriously and investigate. The bar association then requested that security be provided to Sultan.
Sultan, who is also the head of the United Alliance Global Human Rights, is a vocal advocate of Pakistani minorities, especially those who have been forced to convert to Islam by marrying Muslims.
The threatening letter told Sultan "not to pursue struggle for the rights of minorities' or else she would be killed," Christian Today reported.
Prior to the ominous warning, Sultan spoke to members of a local news outlet and voiced her disappointment over the revocation of the minority protection bill.
Christians in Pakistan reported that the lawyer called out the government's lack of action towards the plight of girls being abducted and forcibly converted to Islam so that Muslim men can marry them.
Sultan is not the only minority rights advocate that Islamist radicals wanted to eliminate.
She recalled that her fellow lawyer Malik Atta was killed for bringing awareness of the minorities' concerns.
Sultan said the threats on her life would not stop her from fighting for the rights of the minorities in Pakistan. However, she is talking precaution and has decided to limit her social activities.