Islamabad: The vicious cycle of discrimination and violence against minorities continues in Pakistan and extremists have been targeting and accusing them of blasphemy or being Islam's adversaries, according to Global Order.
Recently, on May 4, six teachers belonging to a minority community were killed. According to Geo News, several teachers of the same school were killed in two separate incidents in Upper Kurram Tehsil of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Teachers on exam duty shot by unidentified gunmen
According to the local police, unidentified gunmen shot the teachers in the staffroom of Government High School Tari Mangal, according to a news report. All the teachers were present in the building and were carrying out their exam duties at the time of the incident. The authorities have imposed emergency in all the hospitals in the region.
The demolition of an Ahmadiyya mosque in Mirpur Khas, Sindh, and the murder of a young member of a minority group in Astore, Gilgit Baltistan, are indicative of the suppression of minority rights in the nation.
Moreover, the protests by minority communities against false blasphemy cases and forced conversions outside the Lahore press club on April 26, 2023, highlight the issue of pervasive discrimination against minorities, reported Global Order.
Situation of minorities deteriorating
In recent years, the situation for Pakistan's minorities has only deteriorated amid political disarray and rising sectarian tensions. Frequently, the government has failed to defend minority communities or hold violent offenders accountable. In some instances, authorities have participated in the persecution of minorities, such as the government's assault on the Ahmadiyya community, which under Pakistani law is considered non-Muslim.
In a 2021 report on Human Rights Practices, the US Department of State had previously expressed concerns regarding the treatment of minorities, including Christians and Hindus. Since 1974, Pakistan has prohibited the Ahmadiyya Muslim community from identifying as Muslims, which has resulted in systematic discrimination and harassment. Legislators, diplomats, and institutions in Pakistan have been accused of denying the existence of religious hatred and discrimination while concealing a veil of presumptive ignorance.
Although some international organisations and officials have raised concerns about the persecution of minority communities in Pakistan, the Pakistani government has denied the allegations and accused the United States of favouritism. Concerned by the lack of attention paid to the grave human rights violations committed against the Ahmadiyya community, UN human rights experts have called for increased efforts to end their ongoing persecution, Global Order reported.
TTP influence
There is a growing concern about the expanding influence of TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) in Pakistan because the extremist group has a history of targeting them. The TTP is a militant organization responsible for several terrorist attacks in Pakistan, primarily against the state and security forces. However, the group has also subjected Christians, Hindus, Ahmadiyyas, and Hazaras to violence and persecution. Non-Muslims and even some Muslim sects are viewed as enemies by the TTP's extremist ideology, which is based on a distorted interpretation of Islam.
The group has committed bombings, shootings, and other acts of violence against minorities, frequently targeting their houses of worship, institutions, and homes. For instance, TTP claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on a church in Peshawar, which resulted in the deaths of over 80 people, the majority of whom were Christians, as per the report in Global Order.
