By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chauhdri on Tuesday rejected the reported allegations of forced conversions in the country as “fictitious, politically motivated or based on mala fide intent of our detractors to malign Pakistan in the international community.”
“As per principles of Quran and Sunnah, there is no forced conversion in Islam,” the Foreign Office Spokesperson stated in response to queries from some media colleagues.
He said no institutionalized or consistent pattern of forced conversions existed in Pakistan. “Most of the reported allegations, when investigated revealed that they were either fictitious, politically motivated or based on mala fide intent of our detractors to malign Pakistan in the international community,” he added. He said that a case in hand were the disclosures of EU DisinfoLab regarding the disinformation spreading network being operated by the Indian intelligence agencies.
“There have been few incidents of forced conversions by individuals and non-state actors, but there is no evidence of complicity of any state institution. Whenever such case has been reported, all state institutions have taken swift action against the perpetrators,” he added. In some instances, the Spokesperson said that the state became party to the case against the perpetrators in the court, in order to ensure speedy and effective justice. He said, “Foundations of our State are firmly laid on the principles laid down by our Founding Father Quaid-e-Azam and appropriately reflected in our Constitution.”
The Spokesperson said that minorities were equal citizens of Pakistan and were free to profess, practice, and propagate their religion.
