ISLAMABAD: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has welcomed the Pakistani government’s decision to establish a National Commission for Minorities, calling it a step in the right direction.
USCIRF Commissioner Anurima Bhargava in a statement said, “We are encouraged by the formation of the National Commission for Minorities as a governmental body promoting the rights of religious minorities within Pakistan.”
The USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan US federal government commission created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.
The USCIRF said that in a June 2014 ruling, the Pakistani Supreme Court directed the government to form a commission “to monitor the practical realisation of the rights and safeguards provided to the minorities under the Constitution and law.”
“USCIRF encourages the Pakistani government to empower the Commission with the proper authority to meet its intended purpose as defined by the Supreme Court,” said USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore said.
“We regret that the March visit scheduled for Commissioner Bhargava and myself to Pakistan had to be postponed because of COVID-19. We welcomed the invitation to visit and are grateful that Pakistan has actively engaged with USCIRF on issues of religious freedom,” USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore said. “The establishment of the National Commission for Minorities is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, though more steps are certainly required. The prime minister, and his government, have the ability to move Pakistan forward, if they so choose, and we will look forward to seeing it,” said Moore.
In its 2020 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended Pakistan to be re-designated as a “country of particular concern” for religious freedom violations due to “the systematic enforcement of blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws, and authorities’ failure to address forced conversions of religious minorities—including Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs—to Islam.” A key policy recommendation for the US government was to encourage Pakistan to “create the National Commission for Minorities’ Rights as mandated by the Supreme Court’s 2014 decision.”
