Texas Recognizes "Pakistan Day" As Pakistan Destroys Human Rights - by Uzay Bulut for the Gatestone Institute - 16.04.25

The problem is that at the same time as Texas was celebrating "Pakistan Day", in Pakistan, Christian citizens were being arrested and sentenced to death for "blasphemy," and Muslims were abducting young Christian girls to sexually abuse, forcibly "marry," and coerce into converting to Islam.

Pakistan's national and provincial parliaments have given their consent to these atrocities.... Christians, Hindus and other non-Muslim communities in Pakistan have been enduring increased levels of violence and persecution....

Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam, its prophet or other religious figures can be imprisoned and sentenced to death.... The police are often biased and refuse to file reports from Christians and Hindus.

The Texas House of Representatives might instead have dedicated March 23 to Pakistan's abduction victims and abused children.

"The introduction of a 'Single National Curriculum' in schools denigrates religious minorities and enforces the teaching of the Quran and subjects like Mathematics and Science in an Islamized manner. Thus, religion is permeating school education... Radical Islamic groups are flourishing...

Such groups are innumerable and even a ban will only make them re-organize, re-brand and re-emerge. The default option for dealing with radical Islamic movements (who are able to mobilize millions for street demonstrations) is appeasement and even accommodation..." — Open Doors, December 2024.

"Occupations that are deemed low, dirty, and degrading—such as cleaning sewers or working in brick kilns—are reserved for Christians by the authorities. Many believers are referred to as 'chura', a derogatory term meaning 'filthy'. Christians are also vulnerable to being trapped in bonded labour." — Open Doors, 2024.

Have Pakistani Texans done anything to help the victims of these horrific human rights abuses in Pakistan or raised awareness of them in any way while in the US? In what areas have they effectively cooperated with the US government? Have they used their resources to fight Islamic terror groups; if so, to what extent? Has Pakistan been a great US ally? What has the government of Pakistan actually done to deserve being celebrated with an official day by the Texas House of Representatives?

At the same time as Texas was celebrating "Pakistan Day", in Pakistan, Christian citizens were being arrested and sentenced to death for "blasphemy," and Muslims were abducting young Christian girls to sexually abuse, forcibly "marry," and coerce into converting to Islam.

The Texas House of Representatives passed a resolution on March 28, officially recognizing March 23 as "Pakistan Day." The resolution, introduced by State Representative Dr. Suleman Lalani, claims that Pakistani Texans have made "significant contributions in the state's social, religious, linguistic, and economic spheres." Pakistan's Consul General in Texas, Muhammad Aftab Chaudhry, was present at the event.

The problem is that at the same time as Texas was celebrating "Pakistan Day", in Pakistan, Christian citizens were being arrested and sentenced to death for "blasphemy," and Muslims were abducting young Christian girls to sexually abuse, forcibly "marry," and coerce into converting to Islam.

Pakistan's national and provincial parliaments have given their consent to these atrocities. In 2019, the Sindh Provincial Assembly rejected a bill criminalizing forced religious conversions. This was the second attempt at enacting a law against forced conversion in the province. In 2016, the Assembly had passed a similar bill, but the governor did not agree to it.

In 2021, a committee in Pakistan's National Assembly rejected a bill against forced conversion after the Ministry of Religious Affairs opposed the proposed law.

Christians, Hindus and other non-Muslim communities in Pakistan have been enduring increased levels of violence and persecution.

On March 25, Muslim gunmen attacked 34-year-old Adnan Masih and his wife in Faisalabad District, robbing them at gunpoint. According to Masih: "When I told them that I was a poor Christian and an ordinary worker at a brick kiln, they started whispering something into each other's ears... One of them grabbed my wife's arm and pulled her into a nearby sugarcane field... and took turns raping my wife."

On March 21, a Muslim in Punjab Province, Zohaib Iftikhar, slashed the throat of a Christian co-worker, Waqas Masih, on allegations that he had committed blasphemy by touching an Islamic textbook "with unclean hands."

On March 20, police arrested a social media influencer on allegations of blasphemy from the country's Muzaffargarh District. A complaint was filed against the woman for "posting derogatory remarks."

"Police registered a case against the TikToker under Sections 295-A (Deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298-A (Uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). She was later arrested... and she was sent to jail on judicial remand..."

On March 17, Federal Investigation Agency officials arrested 24-year-old Arsalan Gill, a Christian, "under a blasphemy law mandating the death penalty in relation to material that appeared on Facebook groups without his knowledge."

"The impoverished Catholic family was shocked when an FIA official told them late that night that their son was arrested and charged with sharing blasphemous content on Facebook groups. The FIA officials did not let them meet with him that night..."

These are not isolated cases. Under Pakistan's blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam, its prophet or other religious figures can be imprisoned and sentenced to death.

In January, a Pakistani court sentenced four Pakistanis to death for "posting sacrilegious material on social media about Islamic religious figures and the Quran."

"Along with the death sentences, the judge imposed collective fines of 4.6 million rupees (around $16,500) and handed down jail terms to each of the four should a higher court overturn their death sentences."

For his nine page article please click here and after that please click on the second link for the pdf file:

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21551/texas-recognizes-pakistan-day

Texas Recognizes - Pakistan Day - As Pakistan Destroys Human Rights - by Uzay Bulut for th.

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Uzay Bulut, a Turkish journalist, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

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