Islamabad/New Delhi, Dec 17 (NationPress) A recent report highlights the persecution of minorities in Pakistan, notably how Hindus are consistently portrayed as the 'other'. This manipulation of Islam and anti-India sentiment for political advantage underscores the deep contradictions in the nation's identity.

The report asserts that true stability in the region can only emerge by addressing and dismantling these deeply rooted ideological narratives; otherwise, achieving peace will remain a challenge.

“Pakistan’s ongoing critique of India’s internal matters stems not from genuine concern for minorities but from an ideological stance that necessitates India as a civilizational enemy. This perspective, rooted in the Two-Nation Theory and bolstered by the military-clergy alliance, perpetuates radicalization, justifies proxy warfare, and consolidates elite control. While attempting to portray itself as the protector of Islam, Pakistan simultaneously stifles dissent, targets minorities, and erases non-Islamic cultural heritage,” detailed the International Centre for Peace Studies based in New Delhi.

“The anti-India narrative serves as a political instrument rather than a moral position. Achieving lasting regional stability necessitates confronting and dismantling these entrenched ideological frameworks that foster animosity,” it emphasized.

The report illustrates a vast disparity between Pakistan’s self-styled religious identity and the actual situation on the ground. While Islamabad accuses India of minority discrimination, its own treatment of minorities reveals ongoing persecution.

According to the Lahore-based Centre for Social Justice, there were 344 documented blasphemy cases in 2024. From 2021 to 2024, at least 421 minority women and girls—predominantly Hindus and Christians, with 71% being minors—faced forced conversion.

“In 2023, civil society organizations counted 193 assaults on minority properties, including homes, businesses, churches, temples, and Ahmadi mosques. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (2023/24) reported incidents of mob violence, desecrated Ahmadi graves, arbitrary arrests, and increasing insecurity for minority communities. The destruction of Hindu heritage starkly reveals this hypocrisy,” the report noted.

“In July 2023, two temples in Sindh were desecrated within just 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 targeted with rocket launchers. In 2021, a century-old temple in Teri, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was set ablaze by a mob. A Supreme Court commission in 2021 confirmed widespread neglect and encroachment on historic Hindu sites such as Katas Raj Mandir and Prahlad Mandir,” it highlighted.

Emphasizing that of the 428 Hindu temples that existed in 1947, fewer than two dozen are still functioning today, the report concludes that Pakistan’s claims of protecting minorities ring hollow amid the violence, fear, and systematic cultural erasure they experience.