ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan has categorically rejected the baseless assertions made about Pakistan in the International Religious Freedom Report released by the US Department of State.
“Such ill-informed reporting exercises about internal affairs of sovereign states are pointless, irresponsible and counterproductive,” the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in her weekly media briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.
“We are proud of our religious diversity and pluralistic social fabric,” she said.
The Spokesperson said that Pakistan’s Constitution, sets a robust framework for wide-ranging legal, policy and affirmative measures to safeguard and advance the rights and freedoms of all Pakistanis irrespective of their faith. These rights and constitutional guarantees are protected, upheld and reinforced by an independent judiciary, she added.
“We strongly believe that each State itself has the primary responsibility to promote and protect religious rights and freedoms of its nationals,” she said.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that with this understanding, Pakistan has always engaged constructively with the international community in promoting mutual understanding on the important question of religious freedom and minority rights.
The Spokesperson said that in our interactions including with the United States, we have raised serious concerns about the steady surge in anti-Muslim hatred, racism and Islamophobia.
“We hope to work with international partners to counter these pernicious forms of religious intolerance, discrimination and Islamophobia,” the Spokesperson said.
