Pakistan got furious after India’s External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, criticised the nation over muzzling the rights of minorities. Pakistan said, “India has no right to speak on the rights of minorities.
On March 28, Responding to a question on ‘Crime and atrocities against minorities in Pakistan’, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said, “We follow very closely and track the treatment of minorities in Pakistan. In February (2025), there were 10 cases of atrocities against the Hindu community and three incidents related to the Sikh community. There were two cases about the Ahmedia community and one pertaining to the Christian community. We take up these cases on an international level. Our representative at UNHRC pointed out that Pakistan is a country where “human rights abuses, persecution of minorities, and systematic erosion of democratic values are state policies.” He said, “India can’t change fanatic mindset of Pakistan.”
Pakistan’s foreign office hit back with allegations against India for “abusing the rights of minorities” in the country. Pakistan’s foreign office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said, “India has no standing to act as a champion of minority rights, given its own serial violations.”
On March 26, a group of independent human rights experts called for the release of detained Baloch activists and the cessation of its crackdown on peaceful protesters, according to the United Nations Human Rights Special Procedures press release.
In a press release, the experts said, “We have been monitoring with growing concern reports of alleged arrests and enforced disappearances of Baloch activists over the past number of months, and the violent incidents in the past few days have significantly increased our concerns.”
The experts expressed concern about an escalating series of actions by the Pakistan police against the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). These actions intensified after a terrorist attack by Baloch separatists on a passenger train on 11 March 2025, after which several prominent Baloch human rights defenders from the BYC were allegedly arrested by Pakistan’s Counter Terrorism Department or forcibly disappeared.
