The US in November grouped Pakistan along with 11 other countries, including China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, as being states that have “engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom”, reported The Express Tribune.
The year 2022 has been alarming for Pakistan’s religious minorities.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement said: “Around the world, governments and non-state actors harass, threaten, jail, and even kill individuals on account of their beliefs.”
He said: “The United States will not stand by in the face of these abuses.” He added that the US welcomes the opportunity to meet all the concerned governments and discuss the matter, come up with steps for their removal from the list.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, however, rejected Pakistan’s listing as a state of particular concern over religious freedoms, questing why India escaped the list.
The US was not alone to raise such concerns regarding the protection of religious minorities in Pakistan.
In September, members of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) asked the Pakistan government to come up with timely reforms and legislative changes on human rights issues and turn them into concrete improvements, especially the prevention of any misuse of blasphemy laws, reported The Express Tribune.
Minority rights in Pakistan were a heated topic for discussion throughout 2022.
The year started with a Sri Lankan national being lynched and his body set on fire by a mob in Sialkot.
A month later, a man accused of burning pages of the Holy Quran was tortured and killed by a mob in Punjab’s Khanewal district.
Pastor William Siraj was shot dead by unidentified motorcyclists while his friend Patrick was injured in the same incident in Peshawar on January 30 which led to widespread protests by the city’s religious minority.
Abdul Salam, 33, a seminary student and a member of the Ahmadiyya community in Okara district was stabbed in May.
Pakistan’s minority communities, including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Ahmadis, continue to live under clouds of fear and persecution by the majority community, according to Pakistan vernacular media.
Abduction, forcible conversion to Islam and marriage of Hindu girls, mostly minors to Muslims, continue unabated in various areas of Pakistan, particularly in Sindh without invoking any concern and attention of the administration, human rights organisations, mainstream media and social media platforms in Pakistan.
Amid the persecution of minorities, rights experts have said Pakistan’s legal system is in need of urgent reform to protect the safety and dignity of the minorities including the Ahmadi community.
Notably, the Ahmadi community in Pakistan lives as second-class citizens. The anti-Ahmadi Muslim sentiment is powerful in Pakistan. It is amongst the most persecuted minority communities in the country.