Washington Times: Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan and the situation next door in Afghanistan is not that much better, despite an improvement since the country was ruled by the Taliban, a U.S. government advisory commission said in a report released Tuesday.
“Pakistan represents the worst situation in the world for religious freedom for countries not currently designated as ‘countries of particular concern’ by the U.S. government,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its annual report. “The government ofPakistan continues to engage in and tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.”
The report found that violations reached unprecedented levels because of growing incidents of sectarian violence against Shiite Muslims. Thegovernment also failed to protect Christians, Ahmadis and Hindus, it said.
Knox Thames, the commission’s director of policy and research, said the situation in Pakistan is “reaching crisis proportions.”
The commission repeated a recommendation it has made since 2002 that Pakistan be designated a “country of particular concern.”
“The U.S. naming Pakistan as a country of particular concern would bring these challenges to the forefront of the U.S.-Pakistani bilateral relationship and hopefully move Pakistan to make concrete improvements,” Mr. Thames said.