Pakistan on Monday \u201ccategorically rejected\u201d its designation as a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern (CPC)\u201d by the US State Department under the International Religious Freedom Act, stressing it is a \u201cpluralistic country, with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reacting to the designation, the Pakistani Foreign Office issued a press release, saying it was \u201cdeeply dismayed\u201d that the categorisation was based on \u201cbiased and arbitrary assessment\u201d and was \u201cdetached from ground realities\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement adds with deep concern that India, the biggest and serial violator of religious freedom, has \u201conce again been excluded from the US State Department\u2019s designation list\u201d, despite public concerns raised by international human rights constituencies, about India\u2019s maltreatment of religious minorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan on Monday \u201ccategorically rejected\u201d its designation as a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern (CPC)\u201d by the US State Department under the International Religious Freedom Act, stressing it is a \u201cpluralistic country, with a rich tradition of interfaith harmony.\u201d Reacting to the designation, the Pakistani Foreign Office issued a press release, saying it was \u201cdeeply dismayed\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":100123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[6375],"class_list":["post-100122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-religious-freedom-watch-list"],"yoast_head":"\n