What is even more startling is that in a recent interview with ABC.pk, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, speaking of the persecution of Shias, ‘admitted that minorities are persecuted in the country’. While attending the session of the National Assembly, Asif was noted by the Dawn News to have stated, “Minorities are being murdered daily … the situation in Pakistan is that no religious minority is safe … even the minor sects of Muslims are no longer safe.”
The Respondent had noted that the coalition government had moved a motion to condemn recent cases of mob violence connected with blasphemy accusations. Terming the incidents a ‘matter of concern and embarrassment,’ Asif stressed the need for a resolution to spare the minority, pointing out that many an unfortunate was not a blasphemy culprit but an identity card holder against which someone had a grudge.
However, the opposition party of ‘Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’ protested against the government and could not put the resolution to the house. Blasphemy laws are strictly enforced in Pakistan and Impose heavy penalties, ranging from life imprisonment to death for different types of blasphemy. Prophets of regressive legal decisions count different strands of religion, for instance, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs, as prominent offenders of these laws.
That Asif became a Christian to escape persecution shows the extent of oppression religious minorities in Pakistan face and how desperate the government is to meet this pressing need. This neglect implies that these vulnerable population groups are not protected, and it raises concerns about Pakistan’s human rights record.
