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The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on Friday expressed deep concern over the continuous abduction of minorities in Pakistan.
The rights group pointed an incident from February 21, where a person belonging to the minority Hindu community was abducted by 'unidentified persons' while he was on way to India with his family members. "HRCP is greatly concerned by reports that a Pakistani Hindu citizen, Prakash, was allegedly abducted by unidentified persons near Wagah on 21 February while on his way to India with family members to attend a religious festival. Prakash's family have claimed that this occurred during the immigration process. We demand that he be recovered immediately and, at the very least, his family informed of his whereabouts," the HRCP stated in a post on X. https://x.com/HRCP87/status/1895110719080669448 Recently, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) released a report titled "Under Siege: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2023/24," which emphasizes the continuing assaults on religious minorities in Pakistan, including violent mobs attacking their homes and places of worship, the desecration of Ahmadiyya graves, arbitrary arrests, and the forced conversion of Hindu and Christian women and girls. The report indicates that as of October 2024, more than 750 individuals were imprisoned on blasphemy charges, with at least four faith-related killings recorded, three of which involved the Ahmadiyya community. One of the significant issues highlighted in the report is the extensive use of social media to provoke violence, especially concerning blasphemy cases. It also underscored the ongoing impunity for those behind hate crimes and violence, with little accountability. However, it acknowledged some positive developments, such as occasional judicial relief for victims and suspects of faith-based violence. According to an earlier statement, HRCP's National Interfaith Working Group, which advocates for the rights of religious minorities, stressed the need for changes to discriminatory laws and recommended constitutional amendments to grant religious minorities the right to hold the offices of President and Prime Minister. Additionally, last year, a government minister in Pakistan acknowledged in a National Assembly session that the state had failed to protect minorities, as the parliament's lower house overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning the recent incidents of mob lynching across various locations in the country, according to a report by Dawn. "Daily killings of minorities occur; no religious minority is safe in Pakistan," stated Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, as reported by Dawn. "Our Constitution offers safeguards for minorities, yet we see them being murdered in Swat, Sargodha, and Faisalabad" (ANI)
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