Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Thursday declared Pakistan’s rejection of the US report on religious freedom, criticising it for lacking transparency.
Commenting on recent International Religious Freedom report, she said that unilateral reports assessing other countries’ human rights situations were not free from political bias and presented an incomplete and distorted picture.
The methodology adopted in preparing these reports and the mandate and expertise of its authors are not transparent, she added.
“It is unfortunate that the report refers to certain incidents in Pakistan last year without highlighting the strong political will shown by the government to hold the perpetrators accountable as well as the remedial efforts undertaken and the legal and administrative protections in place for religious minorities.” It cannot be viewed from the lens of any single country’s social and legal perspective, she said.
The Spokesperson said any kind of operation or activity within Pakistan is a sovereign decision of Pakistan. Pakistan’s decision to conduct an operation against terrorists on its soil is its own.
She told the media that the Indian authorities’ campaign to crush dissent in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir remained relentless. She told a prominent Kashmiri lawyer and former President of the High Court Bar Association, Mian Abdul Qayoom has recently been arrested on fabricated charges. He suffers from multiple chronic ailments and old age.
“His arrest is a clear act of political vendetta. We urge the Indian authorities to release Mian Abdul Qayoom and thousands of other Kashmiri political prisoners, dissenters and human rights defenders.”
She said the Palestinian students from Gaza in batches of 20-30 will soon join medical colleges in Pakistan. The decision will enable Gaza students to complete their medical education in Pakistan in the fields of cardiology, orthopaedics, oncology, paediatrics and surgery to address the critical needs in Gaza’s health care system.
She said Pakistan will host the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Heads of Government meeting in October this year.
She stated that before the October summit, there would be a ministerial meeting and multiple rounds of senior officials meetings to concentrate on fostering cooperation in finance, economics, socio-cultural affairs and humanitarian efforts among SCO member countries.
The spokesperson highlighted the participation of Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Asif Ali Khan Durrani along with a delegation in the Doha-III meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan, held under the UN auspices in Doha from 30 June to 2 July 2024.
Vowing stable Afghanistan, she said, a bilateral meeting between Pakistan and the Afghan Interim Government was held on July 1, 2024. The two sides exchanged views on key issues of mutual concern, including peace and security.
