Islamabad: Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has admitted that the country's minorities are facing "targeted violence in the name of religion" and that the state has failed to protect them. "Minorities are being murdered daily... No religious minority is safe in Pakistan. Even the smaller sects of the Muslims are not safe," the Dawn quoted Khawaja as saying during a session of Pakistan's National Assembly.
Calling the attacks a "matter of concern and embarrassment", Asif called for a resolution to safeguard minorities. He highlighted that many victims had no connection to blasphemy allegations but were targeted due to personal vendettas.
Religious minorities, including Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs are disproportionately accused and convicted under the country's blasphemy laws which are among the strictest in the world. On May 25, a Christian man was beaten and his house was set afire by a charged mob in Sargodha city over suspicion of blasphemy.
In addition, Hindus and Sikh minorities, especially in the Sindh region, reportedly face social discrimination and girls are often abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to Muslim men.
