FO rejects ‘arbitrary’ US assessment of religious freedom

Pakistan has rejected what it calls “arbitrary and selective assessment” by the United States of its religious freedom credentials, saying the exclusion of India from the list puts the credibility of the report into question.

“Pakistan rejects the US State Department’s arbitrary and selective assessment under US domestic legislation on religious freedom,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said here at a weekly briefing on Thursday.

Asim Iftikhar’s reaction came a day after the US included Pakistan among the countries of “particular concerns” for alleged religious freedom violations. Other countries include China, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan was first included in the list of countries of “particular concerns” over alleged violations of religious freedom in 2018 and since then it has been re-designated every year.

Read: Pakistan still on US religious freedom blacklist

The US State Department includes countries on the list based on the assessment conducted by the independent US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). But the recommendations are not binding on the US administration as the commission recommended India to be designated a country with particular concern. The State Department, however, overlooked the USCIRF’s recommendation.

The designations do not necessarily come with specific or binding sanctions or other US actions, although the US law states that the government must “take targeted responses to violations of religious freedom”.

“The designation of Pakistan as a ‘country of particular concern’ is completely against the realities on the ground and raises serious doubts about the credibility of this exercise,” the FO spokesperson said.

“Such subjective designations do not contribute towards promoting the cause of religious freedom worldwide. Pakistan and the US have been constructively engaging on the subject at the bilateral level, a fact regrettably overlooked by the US.”

The spokesperson explained that the Pakistani society was multi-religious and pluralistic with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony. “Religious freedom and the protection of the rights of minorities are guaranteed by our Constitution and ensured through a range of legislative, policy and administrative measures.”

The spokesperson pointed out what he said the “glaring omission of India”, where the RSS-BJP regime and their leaders openly disregard religious freedom and discriminate against minority communities in an institutionalised manner.

This, he said, put the credibility of the US report into question.

“State complicity in organised violence against the Muslim minority in India is a matter of record. It is no secret that attacks by cow vigilantes and mob lynching of Indian Muslims take place regularly, with complete impunity for the perpetrators. Systematic demonisation, dispossession, marginalisation and targeted violence against Muslims in Hindutva-inspired India has become commonplace.”

Iftikhar said the findings and recommendations of the USCIRF as well as the US Congressional hearings on the maltreatment of minorities in India and the violation of religious freedom including in the Muslim-majority Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) were ignored by the US State Department.

“We believe the redressal of the rising trend of intolerance, discrimination, xenophobia and Islamophobia requires global efforts based on the principles of cooperation and mutual understanding. Pakistan is sincerely playing its part in this endeavour and will continue to do so.”

Read More: US commission says religious freedom in India deteriorating further

Meanwhile, the spokesperson strongly condemned the spate of extra-judicial killing of Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces in recent weeks including the martyrdom of nine Kashmiris in the last two days.

“At least 30 Kashmiris have been extra-judicially killed in fake encounters and so called ‘cordon and search operations’ since October 1, 2021,” according to the spokesperson.

“It is repugnant that in many instances even the mortal remains of the martyred Kashmiris are not being handed over to their families for religious rites,” he lamented.

The spokesperson said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute has to be resolved in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council and the wishes of the Kashmiri people. “Pakistan will continue to provide all possible support for the realisation of that objective.”