Pakistan rejects US blacklisting as politically motivated biased move

Pakistan turned down the biased, unilateral and politically motivated blacklisting by US in the background of the exponential rise of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in United States of America.

The Foreign Office (FO) today issued Islamabad’s reaction to the listing, saying: “Pakistan rejects the US State Department’s unilateral and politically motivated pronouncement … Besides the clear biases reflected from these designations, there are serious questions over the credentials and impartiality of the self-proclaimed jury involved in this unwarranted exercise.”
The FO explained measures that the government had taken to safeguard the rights of its citizens, including the use of legal and administrative mechanisms, adding that Islamabad submits compliance reports on its obligations with respect to fundamental freedoms as a party to seven of nine core human rights treaties.
How Pakistan safeguards its minorities, according to FO:
Equal treatment of minorities enshrined in Constitution
Special seats reserved for minorities in Parliament
National Commission on Human Rights addresses concerns over violations of minorities’ rights
Successive governments make protection of minorities a priority
Judiciary has made several landmark decisions to protect the properties and places of worship of minority communities
“Pakistan does not need counsel by any individual country how to protect the rights of its minorities,” the statement asserted.
The FO suggested that honest introspection on Washington’s part would have been a timely move in order to ascertain the causes behind the exponential rise in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in the US.
“Sadly, the proponents of human rights worldwide close their eyes to the systematic persecution of minorities subjected to alien domination and foreign occupation such as in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement added.
The FO described Pakistan as a “multi-religious and pluralistic society where people of diverse faiths and denominations live together.”
Last year, Pompeo had placed Pakistan on a special watch list — a step short of the designation — which is used to persuade the targeted nation into introducing reforms suggested in annual US reports for religious freedom.