Pakistan rejects US designation on religious freedom list
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has categorically rejected its designation as a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ on religious freedom by the US State Department
In a press statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said we are deeply dismayed that the designation is based on biased and arbitrary assessment, detached from ground realities.
The spokesperson said Pakistan is a pluralistic country, with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony. The spokesperson said in line with its Constitution, Pakistan has undertaken wide ranging measures to promote religious freedom and protect minority rights.
The statement noted with deep concern that India, the biggest and serial violator of religious freedom, has once again been excluded from the US State Department’s designation list.
The spokesperson said this is despite clear recommendation by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom as well as public concerns raised by international human rights constituencies about India’s maltreatment of religious minorities.
She said Pakistan strongly believes that the contemporary challenge of religious intolerance, xenophobia and Islamophobia can be best countered through constructive engagement and collective efforts.
Countries of Particular Concern
The US has designated China, North Korea, and Pakistan as “Countries of Particular Concern” for engaging in and tolerating “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
Announcing the Religious Freedom Designations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that advancing the freedom of religion or belief has been a core objective of US foreign policy ever since Congress passed and enacted the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998.
Blinken said last week that he has designated Burma, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as “Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
He also designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam as Special Watch List countries for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. The top US diplomat further noted that significant violations of religious freedom also occur in countries that are not designated.
“Governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and their places of worship, communal violence and lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression, transnational repression, and calls to violence against religious communities, among other violations that occur in too many places around the world,” Blinken said.
He added that the challenges to religious freedom across the globe are structural, systemic, and deeply entrenched. “But with thoughtful, sustained commitment from those who are unwilling to accept hatred, intolerance, and persecution as the status quo we will one day see a world where all people live with dignity and equality,” Blinken said.