madam president the constitution of pakistan differentiates between muslims and non-muslims thereby enabling discrimination on the basis of religion
in this context it is important to recall that in december two thousand and nine president asif ali zardari reiterated the pledge of the ppp pakistan people's party to uphold the rights of minorities to be treated as equal citizens
unfortunately reports and surveys done by independent agencies reveal that minorities in pakistan are deprived of basic civil liberties and equal opportunities in jobs education and political representation
so the overall picture concerning religious freedom in pakistan even without going into the details is controversial and gives a lot of ground for concern
i would also like to stress the contradiction between the pakistan government's commitment to freedom of religion and its leading role in the organisation of islamic countries in endorsing their combating defamation of religion agenda at the united nations
in this context i would like to recall the eu council conclusion of sixteen november two thousand and nine on the relationship between international human rights law which protects individuals and groups of individuals and the concept of defamation of religion
