- Sherry Rehman says India-Israel nexus with PTI stands exposed behind May 9 mayhem
- SAPM Tarar says Hakeem Saeed had indicated Jewish lobby would impose a leader on Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Tuesday termed a statement by Israel on human rights situation in Pakistan during a United Nations (UN) session “politically motivated” and “fundamentally at variance with the positive tone” with the agenda of the meeting.
The FO rebuttal came after Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN Adi Farjon said during a sitting of the UN Human Rights Council that the country was “deeply concerned about the overall rights situation in Pakistan where enforced disappearances, torture, crackdown on peaceful protests and violence against religious minorities and other marginalised groups remain prevalent”.
FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch stated t: “Israel believes that it is essential that Pakistan heeds our recommendations to take all appropriate steps to prevent arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment and bring perpetrators of such acts to justice and end the widespread use of the death penalty, especially against children and persons with disabilities.”
The envoy said Israel also called for Islamabad to “decriminalise same-sex activities” in line with international human rights standards and adopt a “comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation” in this regard.
Concerns of #Israel on human rights issues in #Pakistan …. 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/dwPfZBS4WA
— Fakhar Yousafzai (@fakharzai7) July 11, 2023
She further mentioned that Israel was also concerned over the National Assembly passing amendments in January to tighten the blasphemy law in Pakistan, which she claimed was “often used to target and persecute religious and other minority groups”.
In its rebuttal, the Foreign Office (FO) noted that Pakistan’s Universal Periodic Report — a process which involves a review of the human rights records of UN member states — was adopted unanimously in the same session.
“Several states and civil society organisations commended Pakistan on the progress achieved in promoting human rights,” the statement said, adding that Israel’s “politically motivated statement is fundamentally at variance with the otherwise positive tone of the session and the statements made by a vast majority of states”.
“Given Israel’s long history of oppression of Palestinians, Pakistan can certainly do without its advice on protecting human rights,” the statement added.
‘India-Israel nexus with PTI stands exposed behind May 9 mayhem’
Meanwhile, government representatives linked the statement by Israel’s envoy to UN with the PTI, with Climate Change Minister Sherry Rehman seeing criticism of the country’s human rights situation as Tel Aviv’s “support for Imran Khan”.
Addressing a press conference alongside Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Interior Attaullah Tarar in Islamabad, she said Israel had issued a “highly condemnable” statement on the alleged violation of PTI’s human rights.
وفاقی وزیر شیری رحمان اور وزیراعظم کے معاون خصوصی عطاء تارڑ پریس کانفرنس کر رہے ہیں https://t.co/WULwqT9JvH
— PML(N) Media (@PmlnMedia) July 11, 2023
“It is now evident that they have a nefarious alliance, they have a collusion that is an old one,” she alleged.
Sherry went on to say that “it was a collusion in which Pakistan’s enemies, who spew venom against Palestinians, Muslims and Kashmiris at every international forum across the world, were now together supporting the PTI.”
The minister also linked the statement to the events of May 9, when countrywide protests had erupted after Imran’s arrest during which several properties, including military installations, were vandalised.
“Everyone now knows who benefitted from May 9. Everyone knows why there was foreign funding. Everyone now knows why Imran Khan is called a foreign agent,” she said.
Sherry also berated Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.
Speaking on the occasion, SAPM on Interior and Legal Affairs Attaullah Tarar said the fake narrative of the Israeli government at a United Nations meeting about the human rights violations in Pakistan was the clear evidence that the Jewish state extended support the PTI chairman in carry out the May 9 arson and mayhem.
“We have been pointing out since the first day that those who carried out the mayhem have links with the enemy,” he added.
SAPM Tarar said Hakeem Saeed Shaheed had indicated decades ago that a leader would be imposed on the country with the nexus of Jewish lobby. In the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s foreign funding case, it also transpired that the money trail was from Israel.
The PTI had close links with anti-state elements since Israeli would not have funded any pro-Pakistan party, he added.
Tarar said May 9 mayhem was the darkest chapter of Pakistan’s history and its culprit would have to face the law since no one was supreme to the state.
