The European Union (EU) has threatened to halt all trade and subsidies preferences to Pakistan, expressing its concerns over “persecution of religious minorities” in Pakistan, if it doesn’t take concrete measures to “dismantle” its “discriminatory system”.
According to ANI news reports, fifty-one members of the EU parliament wrote a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday expressing its concerns on the oppression of the religious minorities.
The letter stated: “Over the last few years, religious extremist groups, often with the support of the Pakistani State, have grown in influence, further generating religious prejudices against minorities. Concomitantly, instances of attacks against minorities, their places of worship etc. have also increased year upon year.”
The letter added the parliament wished to remind the Islamic Republic of Pakistan that persecution of religious minorities violated the UN pact on the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), a foundation for the International Convent on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The EU compelled to halt all trade and subsidies preferences until the government of Pakistan doesn’t acquire the effective implementation of the Convention.
EP Today reported the commission held the present and previous Pakistan government accountable for encouraging and contributing “acts of violence against minorities by radical Islamic groups”.