{"id":129781,"date":"2026-07-21T17:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129781"},"modified":"2026-07-21T17:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T12:32:11","slug":"pakistan-origin-physician-asif-mahmood-elected-chair-of-us-commission-on-religious-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web desk(National Times)- Dr Asif Mahmood, a physician of Pakistani origin, has been elected as the chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission is a bipartisan body of \u200bthe US federal government that monitors religious freedom around the world and makes policy recommendations \u2060to the president, the secretary of state and the US Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\/news-room\/releases-statements\/asif-mahmood-elected-chair-cece-heil-elected-vice-chair-bipartisan-us\">statement<\/a>&nbsp;on Monday, USCIRF announced the unanimous election of Mahmood as the panel\u2019s chair and of CeCe Heil as the vice chair for the 2026-27 term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mahmood is a practising pulmonologist, human rights advocate, and philanthropist,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscirf.gov\/about-uscirf\/commissioners\/asif-mahmood\">according<\/a>&nbsp;to USCIRF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis global advocacy work and humanitarian interventions have helped save lives in crisis-stricken regions around the world, including Kashmir, Tigray, and other conflict zones,\u201d the commission\u2019s website states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a two-term member of the Medical Board of California, Dr Mahmood fiercely advocates for patients\u2019 rights and works to secure greater access to medical coverage for all communities,\u201d USCIRF highlighted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement after his election, posted on the USCIRF\u2019s website, Mahmood said, \u201cThreats to international religious freedom are occurring every day, making USCIRF\u2019s mandate to analyse and recommend policy solutions to the US government key to advancing religious freedom abroad.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Separately, he posted on X: \u201cIt is a remarkable journey \u2014 from a small rural village in Pakistan to leading one of the world\u2019s foremost bodies dedicated to defending freedom of religion or belief and shaping US foreign policy in accordance with human rights globally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The physician affirmed his commitment to \u201cadvocate for the rights of every person: those of all faiths and those who choose no faith at all\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTogether, let us work toward a world where freedom of religion or belief, mutual respect, human dignity, and peaceful coexistence are protected for everyone,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mahmood was first appointed to USCIRF by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) in 2024 and reappointed for a second term in 2026. He served as the commission\u2019s vice chair during his previous term, and has been living in California&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/drasifmahmood.com\/meet-the-candidate\/\">since 1999<\/a>, according to his website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">USCIRF, which Mahmood will now chair, had last month urged the US State Department to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1998729\">declare India<\/a>&nbsp;a \u201ccountry of particular concern\u201d, citing its 2026 assessment and hearing over \u201congoing, systematic, and egregious religious freedom conditions\u201d in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2025, the panel also highlighted that religious freedom conditions in Pakistan and India had deteriorated over the previous year. It&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1900471\">called for sanctions<\/a>&nbsp;against Pakistani officials and government agencies, as well as against India\u2019s spy agency Research &amp; Analysis Wing (RAW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mahmood has also contributed to efforts to garner support in the US for incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1747390#:~:text=Dr%20Asif%20Mahmood%2C%20a%20Pakistani%20American%20physician%20who%20is%20playing%20a%20key%20role%20in%20the%20campaign%20to%20win%20over%20Americans\">particularly<\/a>&nbsp;during the previous Biden administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of these efforts, PTI supporters have arranged seminars and public meetings and hosted numerous fundraisers for congressional leaders and senators, with one such event in 2024&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1843315#:~:text=One%20recent%20event%20held%20in%20Bradbury%2C%20California%20last%20week%20for%20Vice%20President%20Kamala%20Harris%20was%20hosted%20by%20Pakistani%20physician%20Dr%20Asif%20Mahmood\">co-hosted by Mahmood<\/a>&nbsp;for then-US vice president Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web desk(National Times)- Dr Asif Mahmood, a physician of Pakistani origin, has been elected as the chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The commission is a bipartisan body of \u200bthe US federal government that monitors religious freedom around the world and makes policy recommendations \u2060to the president, the secretary of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web desk(National Times)- Dr Asif Mahmood, a physician of Pakistani origin, has been elected as the chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The commission is a bipartisan body of \u200bthe US federal government that monitors religious freedom around the world and makes policy recommendations \u2060to the president, the secretary of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T12:32:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T12:32:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-29.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/\",\"name\":\"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-29.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T12:32:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-21T12:32:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-29.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-8-29.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129781\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pakistan-origin physician Asif Mahmood elected chair of US commission on religious freedom - Nation","og_description":"Web desk(National Times)- Dr Asif Mahmood, a physician of Pakistani origin, has been elected as the chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). 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