Religious freedom

Pakistan has reacted to being listed as a violator of religious freedoms by the US State Department by saying the “unilateral and arbitrary designation” is detached from ground realities and also questioning the credibility and transparency of the entire exercise. The “conspicuous omission” of India from the list, as the Foreign Office called it, was a reflection of the “subjectivity and bias” of the US State Department. Pakistan’s listing was for “having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom”. It is inexplicable how India managed to stay off the list, given that this sentence defines what the country has become under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi’s rule has seen hate crime against Muslims soar. India’s own media routinely mentions the massive spike in religious hate crimes since Modi came to power. India’s recent actions in Kashmir and its legislative decisions have also been slammed by rights groups in India and abroad. But President Donald Trump likes Modi and dislikes Muslims, so India gets a free pass.

At the same time, calling the FO statement flawed would be an understatement. Pakistan’s defence is essentially an exercise in whataboutism. The FO mostly blames “selective targeting of countries” for its listing. While true, this would assume that we have not had sporadic reports of crimes targeting members of minority groups. But we have. Even speeches by members of many major political parties contain troubling language when referring to minorities. The government may use incidents such as Aasia Bibi’s acquittal to prove minorities have rights, but the aftermath of that judgment last year actually bolsters the case against us. She wrongfully spent eight torturous years on death row, yet none of her accusers faces punishment. Instead, she wound up staying in jail in ‘protective custody’ for months because the country could not guarantee her safety from her fellow Pakistanis. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2019.

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