I’m a Pakistani by birth, a Canadian by choice and Islam is my spiritual journey. I use the term spiritual intentionally, because it’s important to clarify right at the beginning that faith is not politics, and politics is not faith.

Thank you Roy for inviting me to make a presentation at this seminar, and thank you friends for coming.

Freedom of religion and belief is something we fight for. The UK, where I come from, takes this right particularly seriously, and perhaps that is why it has become one of the most religiously diverse countries on earth. It is also among the least religious.

On 14 March 2012 at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in conjunction with the UK-based National Secular Society (NSS) and India-based news portal New Age Islam, IHEU hosted a panel discussion on Religion, Law, Democracy and Human Rights. The four panellists examined the extent to which the promotion of religious law is undermining democracy, civil law and human rights around the world.

RESOLUCIÓN APROBADA EN EL CONGRESO: Posiciones laicas ante el -->

The conference “Secular Positions in 'Bioethics' -- Assessment and Outlook”, held Sept. 30 to Oct. 1, 2011, at the University of Barcelona has issued a resolution on “Freedom of conscience – freedom for research.”

Despite damage from the recent bombing in Norway, secular activists from more than 50 countries will meet in Oslo, August 12 to 14, to discuss how to build a more peaceful world. The International Humanist and Ethical Union’s (IHEU) Eighteenth World Congress, on the theme of “Humanism and Peace” (www.human.no/oslo2011), will meet at the Oslo Congress Center, damaged by the July 22 bombing, with events also at the home of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.