The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has raised concerns over the continued marginalization of religious minorities in the country.
The incidence of forced conversions in Sindh has remained worryingly consistent. Reports of religious minorities’ sites of worship being desecrated have continued, but with no response from the state when such incidents involve sites associated with the Ahmadiyya community, said Hina Jilani, Chairperson of HRCP.
The minority communities in the country, including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and Ahmadis, continue to live under clouds of fear and persecution by the majority community.
In 2022, scores of cases emerged where members of minority communities were attacked in cities and towns of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for allegedly committing blasphemy.
HRCP has reiterated the need for a representative and autonomous statutory national commission for minorities in the spirit of the 2014 Supreme Court Jillani judgment.
The low threshold of evidence for blasphemy must be raised to ensure that the laws in question are not weaponized by people to settle personal vendettas, as is so often the case, said Jilani.
Unless these measures are implemented urgently, Pakistan will continue to foster a climate of impunity for perpetrators of faith-based discrimination and violence, allowing the already-narrow space for religious freedom to shrink even further, said Jilani. (MILAP NEWS NETWORK)
