Scientology in Pakistan
Scientology in Pakistan is said to be followed among a very small number of people, mainly from the middle and upper classes of Karachi.[1][2] The Dianetics Centre of Karachi for Personal Excellence, located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, is affiliated with the Church of Scientology. The center provides introductory courses, individual counseling and life improvement courses.[3]
Several Scientology-affiliated organisations are active in the country. Youth Together for Human Rights Education (YTHRE), affiliated with Youth for Human Rights International, promotes human rights education and has conducted workshops on character development for thousands of participants.[4][5] The Criminon program, run by the Scientologist community under the coordination of the Society for Advancement of Health, Education and the Environment (SAHEE), has been used to rehabilitate over 1,500 prisoners in Pakistani jails. Over 12,000 policemen have also attended Criminon workshops.[6][7][8] The Study Tech teaching method developed by L. Ron Hubbard has been adopted in schools in Pakistan, a program for which Applied Scholastics has trained many teachers.[9][10][11] Scientologist-run Assist teams have aided in several relief operations throughout the country in times of natural disasters.[12][13]
Religion[]
References[]
- ^ Ahmed, Durre S. (1994). Masculinity, Rationality and Religion: A Feminist Perspective (Volume 3 of Women's studies journal series ed.). ASR Publications. p. 44. ISBN 9789698217198.
...The increasing popularity of 'scientology' among the middle and upper class in Karachi. It is not clear whether the writer is a psychologist or not, but his report and analysis belies an attitude of suspicion and condescension insofar as dianetics and scientology make use of symbols far removed from mainstream psychology.
- ^ Bhutto, Fatima (23 July 2015). "Inside Karachi's strange North Korean embassy". GQ India. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
Karachi is home to Parsis and Burmese, Chinese and, of course, North Koreans. There are Seventh Day Adventists and Mormon missionaries here, Africans that came from Zanzibar and Kenya as warriors and have stayed on to set up Sufi shrines. “Did you know we have Scientologists here?
- ^ "Directions". Dianetics Centre of Karachi for Personal Excellence. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ "About Youth Together for Human Rights Education". Youth Together for Human Rights Education. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Pakistan: Human rights education". Youth for Human Rights. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ Ali, Rabia (6 April 2015). "Serving a sentence: Helping Karachi's prisoners, the Criminon way". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ Bhutto, Fatima (5 November 2013). "Exclusive: Fatima Bhutto on falling in love with Karachi". VOGUE India. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
By the autumn of 2010, I began to spend my time in archival libraries and museums and interviewing a motley crew of Karachiites — from the scientologists who have infiltrated the city's jails (who, understandably, don't like to be known as scientologists, so they hide behind the cover of a health NGO curiously led by the principles of L Ron Hubbard) to South Korean evangelicals, urban planners and transgender rights activists.
- ^ Mustafa, Zubeida (15 May 2015). "Changing mindsets". Dawn. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
- ^ "Study Technology Projects". Modern Teaching. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
An Applied Scholastics representative recently returned to the UK from Islamabad where she was working with the Minister for Education, the Permanent Secretary and the Federal Directorate of Education. She has been training teachers within the Federal Directorate of Education where the Director General selects teachers for training as trainers.
- ^ "Education". Bonafide Scientology. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
Today, more than 3 million people have participated in these educational programs. Mr. Hubbard’s study technology is used by hundreds of organizations and schools in 30 countries on six continents, including China, Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, the United States and much of Europe.
- ^ Church of Scientology International (1998). Scientology: theology & practice of a contemporary religion. Bridge Publications. p. 81. ISBN 9781573181457.
- ^ "International Dianetics Assist Team Responds to Pakistan Floods". Scientology News. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Countrymen aiding countrymen: flood relief in Pakistan". Scientology. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
External links[]
- Religion in Pakistan
- Scientology by country