Pakistan on Friday rejected a report on religious freedom inthe country by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom terming itas “biased” and “unsubstantiated”.
Among the key findings of the report issued by the USCommission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) were, in 2018, religiousfreedom conditions in Pakistan generally trended negative despite thegovernment taking some positive steps to promote religious freedom and combatreligiously motivated violence and hate speech.
During the year, extremist groups and societal actorscontinued to discriminate against and attack religious minorities, includingHindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadis, and Shi’a Muslims, the report said.
It said that the Pakistan government failed to adequatelyprotect these groups, and it perpetrated systematic, ongoing, egregiousreligious freedom violations.
Also forced conversions of non-Muslims continued despite thepassage of the Hindu Marriage Act, which recognises Hindu family law, and theseoccurred despite some optimism about the potential for reform under the newgovernment of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the report said.
The USCIRF recommended that Pakistan should be designated asa “country of particular concern, or CPC, under the InternationalReligious Freedom Act (IRFA).
Pakistan Foreign Office, in a statement, said “Pakistanhas seen the recent report issued by the US Department of State onInternational Religious Freedom.
“The report’s segment on Pakistan is a compendium ofunsubstantiated and biased assertions. As a matter of principle, Pakistan doesnot support such national reports making observations on the internal affairsof sovereign States. Pakistan, therefore, rejects these observations.”
It said Pakistan is a multi-religious, multi-cultural andpluralistic society where people of different faiths are living together andtheir contributions to the society add to its richness and diversity.
FO said the right of people with different faiths areguaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan and these constitutionalguarantees are underwritten by a vigilant judiciary that has demonstratedresolve to protect the fundamental rights – including religious freedoms – inrecent high profile cases.
It also said that Pakistan was implementing a comprehensive”National Action Plan on Human Rights” with focus on policy, legalreforms, access to justice and international UN Treaty implementation.
The government has also allocated Rs 750 million for theimplementation of the Plan.
It said Pakistan has always played a positive role andengaged the international community, including the US, with a view to havebetter and mutual understanding of the issue of religious freedoms, which areunder stress around the world.
“Pakistan is of the view that all countries are obligedto promote religious harmony and have a duty to protect their citizens inaccordance with national laws and international norms,” said FO.