WHILST turning a blind eye to the plight of minorities especially Muslims in India, the United States has once again designated Pakistan amongst the countries that are of particular concern regarding religious freedom. Undoubtedly, the assessment of the US State Department is totally biased which has nothing to do with the ground realities.
The fact of the matter is that religious freedom conditions are far better in Pakistan when compared with neighbouring India where the RSS-BJP regime and their leaders openly disregard and discriminate against minority communities in an institutionalized manner. In our country, the minorities including Christians, Hindus and Sikhs enjoy complete freedom with regard to their faith. Apart from isolated incidents of violence against them which indeed need to be curbed, our minorities are largely satisfied and living a peaceful life. The whole world saw as to how Pakistan opened Kartarpur Corridor for the Sikh community to perform their religious rituals. The recent establishment of a National Commission for minorities headed by a Hindu is also a step further in the direction to protect as well as provide welfare to the members of various religious minorities. On the contrary, the situation in India is quite disturbing. The world has witnessed as to how Muslims are being targeted there under one pretext or another every now and then. Modi-led Junta has recently introduced legislation to further marginalize the Muslims. It is no secret that attacks by cow vigilantes and mob lynching of Indian Muslims take place regularly, with complete impunity for the perpetrators. Thus by not designating New Delhi, the US has put the credibility of its report into question. By doing so, however, the US cannot hide the crimes of its ally. The omission of some European countries where mosques are being shut has further exposed the double standards of the US authorities. We will suggest Washington to stop coming up with such reports if it cannot maintain impartiality and neutrality on such sensitive issues. Ignoring the plight of Muslims especially in India amounts to rubbing salt on their wounds and it will only add to anti-US sentiments. While our Foreign Office has condemned the US designation, our government must actively take up this matter and convey its concerns to the US authorities at every level.
