Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif expressed concern in parliament about the “security of minorities” in the country, news agency ANI reported on Monday. He said minorities in the country are “facing targeted violence in the name of religion.”
“Every day minorities are being killed. They are not safe in the name of Islam. I want to address the issue of safety of minorities but the opposition is obstructing my efforts. Pakistan is facing global humiliation,” Khawaja Asif told news agency ANI.
Asif argued that despite constitutional guarantees, no religious minority, including smaller sects within Islam, is safe in Pakistan. He noted that many victims of violence were targeted not because of blasphemy allegations but because of personal grudges, and stressed the need for measures to protect minorities.
“Even small Muslim sects are not safe in Pakistan. This is a shameful situation. We will introduce a resolution to protect minorities. Our constitution guarantees the rights of minorities, but violence is occurring all over the country. There is no evidence that those killed so far are linked to blasphemy acts; rather the killings appear to be motivated by personal vendettas,” he said.
According to reports by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Human Rights Watch, Pakistan’s Hindus, Sikhs, and other minorities face continuing hardships, including forced conversions, abductions, killings, and attacks on their religious sites.
Religious Persecution in Pakistan
According to ANI, the incidents are widespread across different regions and reflect the volatile situation in which Ahmadiyyas face severe persecution, including legal restrictions on their religious practice, hate speech and violence based on their religious beliefs.
Christians face discrimination in many areas, including employment and education, and are often accused of blasphemy, subject to mob violence and attacks on their churches, making them vulnerable to social and legal persecution.
Recent blasphemy cases
A mob in Pakistan’s Swat region lynched a man inside Madian police station for desecrating the Bible, Dawn reported. The victim, identified as a tourist from Sialkot, was burnt alive by the enraged mob on Thursday, June 20, as seen in a video purportedly circulating on social media.
Dawn reported that people at a local market claimed the man had committed blasphemy and a crowd arrested him and handed him over to police.
According to ANI, this is the second case of a person being lynched on suspicion of blasphemy in recent weeks. Last month, another man was killed in Sargodha on similar charges.
(With inputs from ANI)
