MANSOOR HUSSAIN LAGHARI
HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE BUILDING UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT FAITHS
Mansoor Hussain Laghari is an American human rights advocate, U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and founder of the Global Youth Unity Project (GYUP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to building bridges between Muslim and Jewish communities while confronting antisemitism, extremism, and hatred through education, dialogue, and courageous leadership. His life's work is driven by a simple conviction: every human being is created in the image of God and deserves to live in freedom, dignity, and peace.
Born in Sindh, now under Pakistani administration, Mansoor was raised in a family that paid an extraordinary price for justice. His father, Ghulam Mohammad Laghari, devoted his life to defending democracy, minority rights, and the poor. For those beliefs, he spent nearly three decades in prison, endured torture, and ultimately died in government custody. Watching his father sacrifice everything for truth taught Mansoor that faith without courage is empty and that silence in the face of injustice is never an option.
In 1999, Mansoor arrived in the United States as a political refugee seeking the freedoms his family had long been denied. Determined to give back to the nation that welcomed him, he proudly served six years in the U.S. Army before continuing his public service as a Connecticut Correction Officer. Today, he has dedicated his life to defending human rights, combating extremism, and building understanding between people of different faiths.
As a practicing Muslim, Mansoor has become an outspoken voice against antisemitism and a passionate supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. He believes that standing with the Jewish community is not only a moral responsibility but also a spiritual calling. His advocacy has taken him to Israel, where he witnessed firsthand a diverse society of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and others living and working together. He has marched in New York City's Israel Day Parade as a Muslim standing proudly beside the Jewish community and has continued to speak out despite threats, intimidation, and personal attacks. His message remains unwavering: hatred can never defeat love, and courage always begins with one person willing to stand for what is right.
Through his nonprofit, GYUP, Mansoor works to empower young people to reject hatred, resist radicalization, and become ambassadors for peace. Through Nabisar Films, he develops films and documentaries that preserve historical truth, expose extremism, and give a voice to those whose stories might otherwise be forgotten.
Mansoor's journey—from the son of a political prisoner, to political refugee, to American soldier, to advocate for reconciliation—has convinced him that God can transform suffering into purpose. He believes that forgiveness is stronger than vengeance, truth is stronger than propaganda, and hope is stronger than fear.
Whether speaking to churches, synagogues, mosques, universities, or civic organizations, Mansoor invites people to choose courage over comfort, compassion over hatred, and faith over fear. His prayer is that his life will honor God by serving humanity, defending the vulnerable, and leaving behind a legacy that inspires future generations to become peacemakers in a divided world.
My Conversation With God
MANSOOR HUSSAIN LAGHARI
Dear God,
There was a time when I didn't know how to pray to You. I only knew how to question You.
Where were You when my father was taken from us? I was just a little boy. I watched my mother cry herself to sleep while I waited for a father who would never come home. He spent twenty-seven years in an Afghanistan prison defending democracy, minority rights, and the poor, because he believed every human life mattered.
He was tortured. He was broken. Then he died. I needed my father. Why didn't You save him?
Years later, I asked You again. Where were You when extremists hunted me? When I fled the only home I had ever known? When fear became my shadow? When nightmares followed me across oceans and into the safety of America as a political refugee?
God... were You listening?
For years, I mistook Your silence for Your absence. Years later, I have come to realize that I was wrong. I now know that You were beside my father in his prison cell. You were holding my mother when I was too young to understand her tears. You were carrying me when I believed I was walking all alone.
Today, many people ask why, as a Muslim, I stand beside the Jewish people. My answer is simple. Because I cannot claim to love You while remaining silent when Your children are hated. You chose the children of Israel for Your purposes in history. They are not perfect—none of us are—but Your covenant reminds me that You never abandon those You call. Every Jewish child, every Muslim child, every Christian child, etc., is created by You; the same loving God.
When I defend Jewish families against hatred, exile, and persecution, I believe I am honoring You. Not because it is popular. Not because it is easy. Because it definitely is not. I do it because I hope it is what You would ask of me.
God, I still carry pain. There are nights when I wish I could ask my own father one more question... hear his voice... hold him… tell him that his sacrifice was not in vain or forgotten.
Since I cannot speak to him, I speak to You. I pray that if he is with You, please tell him his loving son kept going. Tell him I tried to choose courage over fear. Truth over comfort. Love over hatred.
And when my own journey ends, I humbly ask You for only one thing. Please don't have others remember me for my successes or my failures. Have them remember me as a man who spent his life trying to love the people You created—even when the world demanded that we hate them. Until that day, Lord, hold my hand and give me the strength to persevere. Because I am still that little boy looking for your guidance.