In a worldwide humiliation for Pakistan, an activist in Washington DC challenged Ambassador Masood Khan about his country’s mistreatment of minorities. Khan, who is in the United States seeking financial help and support for the flood-ravaged country, was confronted by an Indian-origin woman’s rights activist who addressed the subject of rape and forced conversion of minority girls in Pakistan.
The incident happened on Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, where Khan had been asked to present an update on his country’s historic floods. During the press conference, Manga Anantmula, a former Virginia congressional candidate and Army veteran, put up a poster and asked Pakistan’s envoy to address the problem of forced conversions. She said that in Pakistan, girls of Hindu and other religious minorities were raped in the pretext of flood assistance.
Thank you @JenJudson , President @PressClubDC for graciously hosting and conducting briefing on Pakistan floods. Thank you Mr Bill McCarren @mccarrennews for immense support and solidarity. pic.twitter.com/iKqawV2o9V
— Masood Khan (@Masood__Khan) September 9, 2022
Pakistan has long been chastised for violating minorities’ human rights, with several accusations of abduction, rape, or forced conversions of non-Muslim girls appearing in the nation. However, the population of minorities has decreased from 25% in 1947 to fewer than 5% now, amid charges of intentional extermination of minorities in the Islamic nation.
Pakistan is now experiencing the biggest natural disaster impact, with record-breaking flooding submerging numerous towns and villages. The record rainfall, which began in mid-June, has caused landslides and house collapses, killing 1,355 people and displacing over 600,000 people. At one time, flooding flooded an estimated third of Pakistan for weeks.
Even though the country is already impoverished, 18,000 schools have been devastated. Pakistan’s government has requested the international world to provide more relief to flood victims, claiming that the country is suffering a climate-change-related disaster. During Masood Khan’s visit to Washington, the US Agency for International Development pledged an extra USD 20 million relief cash for Pakistan’s flood response. To date, USAID has contributed nearly USD 50 million for food, housing, currency, water, and other necessities.
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