Pak doesn’t respect human rights: US lawmaker

Last Updated: Saturday, March 16, 2013, 09:58

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Tags: Pakistan, US, Human Rights

Washington: Raising the recent incident where a mob torched scores of homes in a Christian neighbourhood in Pakistan on the floor of the House, a US lawmaker blammoed the south-Asian country for not respecting the human rights of religious minorities.

"Mr Speaker, Pakistan takes our money but they do not respect the human rights of religious minorities. Some radical Muslims believe that other religions should be tolerant of their faith, but they are not tolerant of Christians and other Muslim sects. This ought not to be. But that's just the way it is," Congressman Ted Poe said while addressing the House this week.

"Mr Speaker, Christians are under attack in the Muslim nation of Pakistan. Christians live in fear of being persecuted because of their faith. They also can face life in prison or even death if convicted of insulting Islam," he said.

"Some say that the religious laws are used as a tool to deal with personal vendettas. A Christian man living in Pakistan last week was accused of committing blasphemy. Suddenly, a large group of men from a nearby mosque stormed his home Friday night. The man was arrested," he alleged.

"Fearing for their safety, hundreds of other Christian families fled in the dark of the night. On Saturday morning, the mob, as shown in this photograph, returned and began ransacking more Christian homes and setting them ablaze. According to Human Rights activists, more than 100 Christian homes were burned," Poe said in his remarks in the House.

PTI

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First Published: Saturday, March 16, 2013, 09:58

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jeet - delhi
Dear Ankit, the Indian politician does not look beyond his own family and interests. The Ruling party and the opposition have over the last many years become bum chums. Now since the US is slowly catching up on the true nature of Pakistani morality and mentality, I personally feel the BJP should now not be far behind to consider raising issues in the Indian parliament. What needs to be seen is the response time of the Ruling party because they are focused only for minority development within the country and creating reservations in a manner which will leave the majority community in confusion for years to come. Going by the age of our senior politicians and their fitness levels I would ideally think the year 2016 will witness a small speech against Pakistan. Of course everybody is entitled to their own opinions. But yes it feels good to know that a hindu like yourself is concerned over the fate of other hindus across the border. Also, in my opinion this quality is unknown of people of our race particularly as we appear to have many hindus available the world over for slaughter by other communities especially the people of the Islamic world. Please do keep your conscience alive for it feels good that somebody cares.