Pakistan has “emphatically” refuted the claims made in a recent report on religious freedom published by the US State Department, labeling them “unfounded.”
The Foreign Office Spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, expressed this during a weekly briefing, affirming that Pakistan guarantees religious freedom and safety to all its citizens.
Baloch stated, “The baseless allegations against Pakistan in the US Department of State’s International Religious Freedom Report are categorically rejected. These misinformed assessments of sovereign states’ internal matters are futile, reckless, and counterproductive.”
Her comments came after the US state department’s report was released, stressing the need to boost “interfaith tolerance, inclusion, and unity” within Pakistan. Based on various incidents in 2022, the American document observed that “several political figures employed contentious religious rhetoric to target their political adversaries.”
Read: US Urges Accountability for Religious Attacks in India: 2022 Religious Freedom Report
The spokesperson refuted the report’s findings, highlighting Pakistan’s commitment to globally eliminating racial discrimination and Islamophobia.
“Pakistan’s constitution establishes a robust framework for extensive legal, policy, and proactive measures to secure and promote the rights and freedoms of all Pakistanis, irrespective of their faith. An independent judiciary ensures these rights and constitutional safeguards are preserved and reinforced,” she emphasized.
The spokesperson also voiced, “We firmly hold that every state primarily has the responsibility to advocate for and secure its citizens’ religious rights and freedoms. With this in mind, Pakistan has always positively interacted with the global community to promote mutual understanding regarding religious freedom and minority rights.”
The US report, a 44-page document titled ‘Pakistan 2022 International Religious Freedom Report,’ argued for improved cooperation from Pakistan’s police, judiciary, and government to encourage interfaith harmony. The document discussed issues such as forced conversions, misuse of blasphemy laws, and alleged violence against religious minorities. The report concluded with the designation of Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, accusing it of tolerating “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.
