Assalam-o-Alaikum\nand Ramazan Mubarak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighteen years ago,\nin 2002, we lost our son, Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered\nin Karachi, Pakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still remember\nthe day Daniel was born, in a hospital in Princeton, New Jersey. He was an\nunusually easy baby, always peaceful, self-assured and self-entertained, even in\ndiscomfort and stillness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We raised Daniel to\nworship truth, honesty and friendship. He was friendly to all strangers. He\ndidn\u2019t know what a stranger was. For him, a stranger meant an opportunity to\ndevelop a new friendship based on mutual respect and trust. He grew up to be a\njournalist, committed to writing the truth and upholding principles of justice\nand humanity throughout his many journeys to the Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the tragic\nevents of September 11, Daniel went to Pakistan as a journalist with his wife,\nMariane. There, in Islamabad, he learned he was going to have a son and chose\nto name his baby Adam, to symbolise the unity of mankind. But Daniel was never\nto see Adam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, while on\nprofessional duty as a journalist, reporting, he met a diabolical criminal\nnamed Omar Sheikh, who lured Daniel to Karachi in a complicated, cruel plot to\nkidnap him for ransom. With Daniel in captivity, Sheikh made all sorts of\nransom demands, all under the threats of death. He wanted Pakistani prisoners freed\nfrom Guantanamo Bay. He wanted the delivery of F-16 fighter jets from the US to\nPakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheikh was helped in\nhis criminal plot by three men \u2014 Fahad Nasim, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh\nMu\u00ad\u00adh\u00adammad Adil. Days after Daniel\u2019s kidnapping, our son was brutally\nmurde\u00adred in cold blood \u2014 in front of a video camera that documented his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These four men are\ndirectly responsible for our son\u2019s murder, and they were convicted in 2002 of\ntheir role in that inhumane, barbaric act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over these 18 long\nyears, we have continued to believe that truth and justice will be upheld in\nPakistan. However, in April this year, the Sindh High Court overturned the\nconvictions and sentences of the four men convicted in Daniel\u2019s murder, ruling\nthat they should go free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We strongly believe\nthis decision is a travesty of justice and that it sends the wrong message to\nviolent extremists and potential terrorists the world over. Therefore, we have\nfiled an ap\u00ad\u00adpeal against the decision in the Honourable Supreme Court of\nPakistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our intention is\nvery simple: to make certain that the four men responsible for our son\u2019s murder\nremain behind bars so that all Pakistanis and journalists are safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In losing Daniel, we\nfound a new purpose for our lives. In our long personal journey of 18 years, we\nhave built bridges with Pakistan by hosting Pakistani journalists in our home,\nsponsoring music concerts in Pakistan, initiating interfaith dialogues with\nMuslim colleagues in the US. and nurturing life-long friendships with those who\nshare our values of peace, tolerance and humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, we are\nstanding up for justice \u2014 not only for our son, but also for all of our dear\nfriends in Pakistan and around the world. The men behind Daniel\u2019s murder\nrepresent an extremism that we must challenge, and the world is watching how\nthe courts in Pakistan keep its citizens safe from terrorism and creates a\nfuture of peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As parents, we know\nthat, regardless of differences, parents everywhere want to raise their\nchildren in a safe society, free of the violence and terror that took Daniel\u2019s\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like our son, we\nbelieve in the values of peace, friendship and justice, and we want to do\neverything in our power to realise your hopes of keeping Pakistan safe for its\ncitizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope that you\nwill stand by us and support our appeal for all people of conscience. May\njustice and peace prevail among our people. Ameen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ruth and Judea Pearl\nare the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was murdered\nin Karachi in 2002. They are cofounders of the Daniel Pearl Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newspaper: Dawn<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assalam-o-Alaikum and Ramazan Mubarak. Eighteen years ago, in 2002, we lost our son, Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and brutally murdered in Karachi, Pakistan. We still remember the day Daniel was born, in a hospital in Princeton, New Jersey. He was an unusually easy baby, always peaceful, self-assured and self-entertained, even in discomfort and stillness. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[4],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8979"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pakistanfoemonitor.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}