Pakistan-born Lawyer to lead Biden’s Religious Freedom Commission

Joe Biden, the President of the U.S., appointed Khizr Khan, the Pakistani-American lawyer, as the commissioner for the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, the White House stated. Khan is the father of a soldier assassinated in Baghdad and also a critic of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The announcement from the president is one of four such nominations and appointments. According to CNN, the official website of the White House said that it emphasizes Biden’s commitment to building a government that looks like the U.S.A, which reflects people of all faiths.

On the other hand, the president appointed Sharon Kleinbaum as the commissioner of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Likewise, he appointed Deborah Lipstadt for the post of special envoy to observe and tackle anti-Semitism. Biden appointed Rashad Hussain as ambassador-at-large for global religious freedom. Furthermore, the Office of International Religious Freedom (IRF) said it greeted the appointment. The office tweeted that they look ahead to work together with them to advance religious freedom for all.

We welcome @POTUS appointment of Khizr Khan and Sharon Kleinbaum as independent commissioners with @USCIRF. We look forward to collaborating with them to advance religious freedom for all. https://t.co/RrDyoIFCip

— Office of International Religious Freedom (@StateIRF) July 30, 2021

Who was Humayun Khan?

Humayun Khan was the son of Khizr Khan, was a United States Army captain who was killed in the Iraq war in 2004. Along with his wife, Ghazala, Khan gave a fervent speech at the convention of 2016, in which he asked whether the former president Trump, then the Republican presidential nominee, had ever read the United States Constitution. At that time, he said that he sacrificed nothing and no one. In response, Trump often criticized Khan, and at one point, he suggested that Ghazala didn’t speak during the DNS because of her Muslim faith.

Khizr Khan Short Biography

Khan resettled to the U.S. in 1980, and then he got admission at Harvard Law School, where he earned his Master of Law degree in LLM. Afterward, he was licensed to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court, several federal districts courts, and New York State and Washington, DC.

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