Islamabad, Oct 2 (IANS) Pakistan’s systematic and severe human rights abuses against religious minorities are not merely a matter of leadership issue but a broader societal issue rooted in Islamic traditions and a process of full Islamisation, a report detailed on Thursday.

“Pakistan is the ultimate case that demonstrates what happens when a society is fully Islamised. The West, however, instead of challenging Pakistan — particularly for its support for terrorism and ethnic cleansing campaigns against non-Muslims — consistently enables the brutality of Islam in Pakistan and welcomes the same genocidal ideology into its own lands,” a report in PJ media detailed.

Citing a report from Christian Daily International, it stated that on September 8, a radical Islamist group murdered a Catholic individual and wounded another as they were travelling to a pilgrimage site in Pakistan’s Punjab Province.

Speaking to Christian Daily International, Aurangzeb Peter, a member of the travelling group stated that Afzal Masih of Punjab Province, and his cousin Harris Tariq Masih were among the Catholics travelling in a passenger van to the annual Feast of the Nativity of Mary shrine in Sheikhpura District in Lahore, when an Islamist group with a Kalashnikov assault rifle attacked them, killing Afzal and critically injuring Harris.

Citing several human rights organisations, the report stated that at least 1,000 Christian, Hindu, and Sikh girls are annually abducted in Pakistan. Many of them, it said, are forcibly converted to Islam and coerced into marriage, as child marriages under the age of 16 are widely considered acceptable under Sharia law in the country.

“For instance, 14-year-old Chahat, a Hindu girl, went missing in Quetta this past April. A few days after her disappearance, Chahat claimed that it was of her own free will that she decided to convert to Islam and enter into a marriage. However, she made this claim over a video message, raising the possibility of being coerced into making this statement,” the report in PJ media detailed.

“Additionally, Chahat’s parents presented her birth certificate and B-Form to prove that she was well below Balochistan’s legal marriage age of 16,” it added.

According to the report, violent hate speech against religious minorities and their defenders in Pakistan has also been on the rise.

It noted that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court received death threats for granting bail to an Ahmadi individual, while an elected senator was subjected to public humiliation and had his patriotism questioned by many on social media platforms for speaking in defense of religious minorities.

–IANS

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