UN commission slams Imran Khan government over persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan

A report filed by United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) stated that religious freedom in Pakistan is suffering continuos deterioration under the Imran Khan-led government in Pakistan.

The report titled, "Pakistan-Religious freedom under attack"`, released in December by CSW, a commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, stated that the Pakistan government's discriminatory legislation has led people with "extremist mindsets" to launch attacks on religious minorities.

Highlighting the increasing "weaponisation and politicisation" of the blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadiyya legislation, the commission stated that these laws are incentivising Islamist groups to attack religious minorities on political grounds.

The report stated, "The prolonged misuse of the blasphemy laws over the last three decades, combined with the rise of extremism, has had a damaging normative impact on social harmony. The sensitive nature of blasphemy cases serves to heighten religious fervour and has created an environment of mob violence in which people take matters into their own hands, often with fatal consequences," 

It also highlighted that girls belonging to 'religious minority' communities are forced to "convert and marry Muslim men." 

"Each year hundreds are abducted and forced to convert and marry Muslim men. Victims have little or no hope of being returned to their families due to the serious threats and intimidation from abductors against the girls and their families. This is compounded by the lack of police will to take action, weaknesses in the judicial process and discrimination from both police and judiciary towards religious minority victims," the report read.

The CSW report also stated that the victims of these forced conversions are mostly Christian and Hindu girls who hail from rural areas of Punjab and Sindh Provinces.

The report also added that human rights defenders are subjected to 'harassment', 'targeted attacks' and 'enforced disappearance'. "HRDs are subject to harassment, targeted attacks and enforced disappearance, with little protection provided by the government," it read.

The CSW asked the Pakistan Government to take action against the perpetrators of the attacks on religious minorities and to clamp down on sectarian violence.