Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) The persecution of minorities in Pakistan, especially the consistent framing of Hindus as the “other”, the manipulation of Islam and anti-India sentiment for political gain, reveal the stark contradictions in the country’s national identity, a report said on Wednesday.
It added that lasting stability in the region can only be achieved by confronting and dismantling these entrenched ideological narratives, without which peace will remain elusive.
“Pakistan’s persistent criticism of internal developments in India is rooted not in concern for minorities but in an ideological framework that requires India to remain a civilizational adversary. Anchored in the Two‑Nation Theory and reinforced by the military–clergy nexus, this narrative sustains radicalisation, legitimises proxy warfare, and preserves elite power. While projecting itself as Islam’s guardian, Pakistan simultaneously suppresses dissent, persecutes minorities, and erases non‑Islamic heritage at home,” a report in New Delhi based-‘International Centre for Peace Studies’ detailed.
“Its anti‑India rhetoric thus functions as a political tool, not a moral stance. Lasting regional stability demands confronting and dismantling these entrenched ideological structures that perpetuate hostility,” it stressed
According to the report, there exists a wide gap between Pakistan’s self-proclaimed religious identity and the reality within its borders. While Islamabad targets India with allegations of discrimination against minorities, its own record reveals persistent persecution.
Citing Lahore-based Centre for Social Justice, the report said 344 blasphemy cases were documented in 2024, and between 2021–2024 at least 421 minority women and girls—mostly Hindus and Christians, with 71 per cent of them minors— were subjected to forced conversion.
“In 2023, civil-society groups recorded 193 attacks on minority homes, businesses, churches, temples, and Ahmadi mosques, while the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (2023/24) reported mob assaults, desecrated Ahmadi graves, arbitrary detentions, and growing insecurity across minority communities. The destruction of Hindu heritage further exposes this hypocrisy,” the report mentioned.
“In July 2023, two Sindh temples were desecrated within 24 hours; the 150-year-old Mari Mata Temple in Karachi was demolished, and another small temple used by the Bagri community in Kashmore was even attacked with rocket launchers. In 2021, a century-old temple in Teri, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was burned down by a mob. A Supreme Court commission in 2021 confirmed widespread neglect and encroachment of historic Hindu sites like Katas Raj Mandir and Prahlad Mandir,” it noted.
Highlighting that of the 428 Hindu temples existing in 1947, fewer than two dozen remain functional today, the report said, Pakistan’s claims ring hollow amid violence, fear, and systematic cultural erasure faced by the minorities.
--IANS
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