ICC Note: Christians in Pakistan are still concerned with the stance of the new government, led by Imran Khan, on the issue of religious freedom. When Khan and his PTI party took over last month, Pakistani Christians responded with caution. Many members of the international community, including Human Rights Watch, have urged Khan and his new government to promote religious freedom and uphold the rights of religious minorities.
09/06/2018 Pakistan (Christian Today) – When cricket star Imran Khan rose to power last month after securing the popular vote in Pakistan’s elections, minorities responded with caution rather than jubilation, uncertain as to how he would approach the country’s sensitive minorities question.
For Christians, Pakistan is a harsh and even deadly place to live and the source of a lot of their misery is the loathed blasphemy laws. Weeks after Khan took office, concerns remain that his government will not stem the violence of the last decade.
This week, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to Khan urging him to take steps to address Pakistan’s human rights situation, including upholding freedom of religion and amending the blasphemy law.
‘In the past two years, Pakistan has witnessed an increase in blasphemy-related violence while the government continued to encourage discriminatory prosecutions and other forms of discrimination against vulnerable groups by failing to repeal discriminatory laws and using religious rhetoric, inciting hatred against minorities,’ it said.
‘Human Rights Watch urges the Pakistani government to amend the blasphemy law, as a first step towards its repeal.’
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