British MPs slam Pakistan for its treatment of religious minorities

LONDON: A British parliamentary committee has slammed the Pakistan government for persecuting religious minorities such as Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Ahmadi Muslims and called for targeted UK aid backed by diplomatic action for programmes that improve their treatment.
The House of Commons international development committee, which scrutinises the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), published a report titled “UK Aid to Pakistan” on Friday which found that blasphemy laws in Pakistan are frequently misused to settle personal disputes and target religious minorities.
“There have been recent cases of religious minorities being subject to unsubstantiated accusations of blasphemy, some of which have resulted in mob killings,” the report stated. “Religious minorities face obstacles in freely practising their religion and continue to face discrimination and violence within Pakistan society. The FCDO should ensure that programmes that they fund are fully inclusive and make a particular effort to reach religious minorities. The FCDO should also undertake a religious diversity audit of UK aid programmes in Pakistan,” it said.
The inquiry also heard that there were “40 different militant groups operating in Pakistan, with some 40,000 militants in the country” and the targets of these extremist groups are often religious minorities.
The report said that women from religious minorities who wear clothes unique to their religious and cultural background were “experiencing targeted harassment.” “In addition, women and girls from religious minorities can face abduction, trafficking, and child and forced marriage. The majority of forced conversions also involve women and girls from religious minorities being forced to convert to Islam as part of a forced marriage,” it said.
Around 1,000 women and girls have been forcibly converted to Islam in Pakistan each year for the last five to six years.
Lord Ahmad, minister for South Asia, told the inquiry one of the reasons Pakistan is on the human rights priority list is “because we have seen this religious space for minority communities closing down. We have seen churches attacked and minority communities not just marginalised but consistently persecuted, and the rise of extremism.”
The committee inquiry heard how international NGOs struggled to operate in Pakistan and were often harassed and put under surveillance. The report said that in January 2021 former Pakistan PM Imran Khan made mention of “foreign funding” and the promotion of a “foreign agenda” by international NGOs in Pakistan, resulting in Pakistan state agencies intimidating NGO project staff. “UK aid programmes focused on supporting the development of an open society do not always fit with the policy objectives of the Pakistani government,” the report noted, adding that LGBT+ people continue to face violence and discrimination in Pakistan.
Between 2015 and 2019 Pakistan was the largest single recipient of UK bilateral aid but following cuts to the UK aid budget, in 2020 it became the seventh-largest recipient at £200 million (Rs 1,909 crore INR.)