Minorities under attack in Pakistan: Maryam Nawaz says ‘hang my head in shame’
Lahore: Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Wednesday acknowledged that the minorities in Pakistan have gone through difficult times that forced to hang her head in shame. “There have been incidents in the past that forced me to hang my head in shame. I want to call on all people of Pakistan, that just because minorities here are less in number, it is everyone’s responsibility to protect them, safeguard them, respect them and also their religious beliefs,” she said.
“Today, I see here such beautiful dresses and colourful bangles as people celebrate Diwali. It makes me so happy to see such lovely colours of Punjab. My father (Nawaz Sharif) always used to tell me to never call the minorities of our country as ‘minorities’ as they are part of our country and remain our pride,” said the Punjab CM.
“If anybody thinks that by hurting any member of the minority community, he or she is serving the cause of their religion, then I want to tell them that they are completely wrong,” she added.
Pakistan’s inability to tackle the dangerously-increasing number of attacks and threats on Hindus, Shia Muslims, Christians, Ahmadis and Sikhs has been criticised by several countries and also the United Nations.
On October 19 2024, a report by the United Nations Human Rights Committee raised serious concerns over the spread of religious intolerance, blasphemy, forced kidnappings and conversion of Hindu and Christian minority girls, curbs on media and freedom of expression in Pakistan.
The committee had also expressed its astonishment over the fast-increasing numbers of cases of Hindu and Christian girls being abducted and later being forced to convert to Islam by the abductors, or their relatives.
Pakistani Christian community attacked after blasphemy accusation- May 2024
At least 10 members of a minority Christian community were rescued on Saturday after a Muslim crowd attacked their settlement on a blasphemy accusation in eastern Pakistan, police and a community leader said. The crowd, which accused the Christian group of blasphemy, also hurled stones and bricks at the police, said Shariq Kamal, the police chief of Sargodha district.
A Christian rights group - Minority Rights March - said a 70-year-old man accused of the blasphemy was beaten and dragged by the mob. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the Christian community was "at grave risk to their lives at the hands of the charged mobs".
It said video footage showed that the police did not intervene. The police have denied the claim. Attacks against the minority communities are a regular occurrence in Pakistan.
The international community must unite in support of the suffering Baloch population - 23rd September 2023
The continued grave human rights violations against the Baloch people are alarming.
Baloch people are facing brutal genocide including numerous enforced disappearances, killings, torture, intimidation & house destruction the Pakistan army. These atrocities persist and require immediate attention & action.In the last 17 years, over 15,000 people have been confirmed as extrajudicially killed or missing, while almost half a million have been forced to flee their homes. Many have sought refuge in countries such as the UK.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) revealed that from 2003 to 2019, at least 7,000 people went missing or were killed in Balochistan, with many of them being political activists, students, and intellectuals. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) claimed that since 2001, approximately 8,000 Baloch individuals have gone missing, and many are presumed to have been killed. According to Amnesty International, over 1,000 Baloch people were killed by state security forces between 2010 and 2016, while more than 600 remain missing.
The world must not continue to remain silent in the face of such injustices.
Emergency briefing at the Houses of Parliament - 11th September 2023
SHHRINE convenes an emergency briefing at the Houses Parliament to address the horrifying plight of minorities in Pakistan.
Participating in the briefing were Hon. Jim Shannon MP, Hon. Martyn Day MP, Lord Sahota and representing the Pakistan Minority Rights Commission, Gerald Vincent Singh along with other representatives.
Case studies on the plight of minorities were presented and recommendations were put forth.
September 11th is a reminder that we must work together to tackle hatred and intolerance.
Minorities constantly under attack in Pakistan - September 5th 2023
In yet another shocking case of atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan, a 23-year-old woman, Seema Devi who had been receiving treatment in the kidney ward of Indus Hospital in Tando, Muhammad Khan City of Sindh, has been allegedly subjected to sexual assault by doctors.
Seema’s parents registered a complaint in connection with the case, however, the accused doctors and staff managed to escape from the hospital.
RELIGIOUS MINORITIES ARE NOT SAFE IN PAKISTAN.
SHHRINE condemns the human rights abuses of the Baloch people - 29th August 2023
Police are baton charging people who are protesting against the increasing number of forced disappearances of the Baloch people.
Pakistan has a terrible record in human rights. The year 2022 was a dreadful year for Balochistan as the forcibly disappeared record touched 629, extra-judicially killed 195 and tortured 187 people, according to the annual report released by Paank, the human rights organization of the Baloch National Movement.
SHHRINE will continue to raise awareness of the injustices meted out to the Baloch people.
SHHRINE calls for swift action against the perpetrators of violence against Pakistani Christians - 19th August 2023
The Christian community in Jaranwala, Pakistan, is reeling in the aftermath of an attack by a Muslim mob last week that vandalized hundreds of homes, churches, and businesses and left familis destitute. The violence has sparked international outrage, spread fear among Christians and fomented underlying tensions between religious groups.
Religious intolerance and prejudice have played a significant role in these attacks.
A Christian graveyard was also desecrated, residents and community leaders said, adding that the mob armed with iron rods, sticks, bricks, knife and daggers went on the rampage without any intervention by police and administration authorities who were present there for over 10 hours.
The Jaranwala incident along with many others are tragic events that have brought immense suffering to Pakistan’s Christian community. This has further exposed the challenges faced by religious minorities in the country. SHHRINE calls for urgent action to protect their rights.
International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples - 9th August 2023
Indigenous Peoples have the right to make their own decisions and carry them out meaningfully and culturally appropriate to them. Let us work to stop the violations of the rights of the world's Indigenous Peoples.
78th Anniversary of Hiroshima - 6th August 2023
There is a direct link between Human Rights and nuclear disarmament.
The existence, the threat or the actual use of nuclear weapons, independently by which country or under whatever circumstances, is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Let us pledge to work together towards a world without nuclear weapons and fully realised human rights today on 6th August 2023.
Formal launch of SHHRINE - January 2023
SHHRINE launched in the British Parliament by Debbie Abrahams MP and special guests.