SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
According to a report Pakistan has been placed among countries where religious freedom is worst. In Pakistan, the Constitution and other laws and policies restrict religious freedom and the government enforced these restrictions. “The government demonstrated a trend towards deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom,” claims the report, adding that “some government practices limited freedom of religion, particularly for religious minorities”. Since the government rarely investigated or prosecuted the perpetrators of increased extremist attacks on religious minorities and members of the Muslim majority promoting tolerance, the climate of impunity continued. There were instances in which law-enforcement personnel reportedly abused religious minorities in custody. The latest report published by Pew Research centre stated that “The highest overall levels of restrictions on religion were found in Myanmar, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Russia, with both government and society imposing “numerous limits on religious beliefs and practices.”
The government took some steps to improve religious freedom and promote tolerance, such as the creation of a Ministry of National Harmony and the appointment of a special adviser for minority affairs . Extremists in some parts of the country demanded that all citizens follow their authoritarian interpretation of Islam and threatened brutal consequences if they did not abide by it. Government should provide maximum protection the minority groups including its own Shiite community against those who want to impose their agenda in the name of school.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
