Persecution of minorities continues in Pakistan: EAM Jaishankar in Parliament

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday told Parliament that they are closely following the treatment meted out to minorities in Pakistan and regularly take it up at the international level.

The Minister informed the House that just last month, 10 cases of atrocities were reported against Hindu community in Pakistan, three against Sikh community, two against Ahmediya community and one mentally challenged Christian man charged for blasphemy.

“We closely track the treatment of minorities in Pakistan and take it up at the international level also,” the Minister said while responding to a question posed by Arun Kumar Sagar, BJP MP from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

Divulging more details, the Minister said of the 10 cases of atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan in month of February, seven of them related to abduction and forceful conversion, two related to abduction and one related to police action against students who were celebrating Holi.

“There were three incidents relating to Sikh community in Pakistan. In one case, a Sikh family was attacked. In another case, a Sikh family was threatened because of the reopening of an old gurdwara, and there was an issue of abduction and conversion of a girl of that community,” the Minister said.

Jaishankar further shared that two cases pertaining to Ahmediya community were also reported last month in Pakistan—in one case, a mosque was sealed and in another case, “40 graves were desecrated”.

“There was one case pertaining to Christian community where a Christian person, who was reportedly mentally unstable, was charged with blasphemy,” he said.

On how the government is taking up the matter at the international level, Jaishankar shared two recent examples where the Ministry officials and Ambassadors had informed the international community.

“Our representatives at the UN Human Rights Council pointed out that Pakistan is a country where human rights abuses, persecution of minorites, systematic erosion of democratic values are state policies which brazenly harbours UN sanctioned terrorists and Pakistan is no position to lecture anyone instead Pakistan should focus on providing actual governance and justice to its own people,” the Minister said quoting the representative.

In another case, Jaishankar said that India’s Ambassador in UN General Assembly underlined the “fanatical mindset” of Pakistan which, he said, is well known and its record of bigotry. “So, yes, we are taking it up at the international level,” the Minister said.