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Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

UIN 8109, tabled on 24 May 2022

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with her Pakistani counterpart on the promotion of (a) community cohesion and (b) right to freedom of religion and belief in that country.

Answered on

6 June 2022

The UK Government made clear its condemnation of the murder of two members of the Sikh community last month, in statements by Lord Ahmad, Minister of State for South Asia, and by the British High Commissioner to Pakistan. We regularly raise our concerns about Freedom of Religion or Belief at a senior level with the Government of Pakistan. Lord Ahmad discussed the need to promote respect for all religions with then Governor of Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on 28 November and with Shaikh Hasan Haseeb Ur Rehman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, and Pir Naqeeb, Custodian of the Eidgah Sharif Shrine in Rawalpindi on 6 January.

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