ISLAMABAD: State Minister for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik has strongly denounced Israel’s comments on Pakistan and said that Israel came in defence of those people who betrayed Pakistan, ARY News reported on Wednesday.
While addressing a press conference in Islamabad today, Musadik Malik slammed Israel’s comments on Pakistan regarding the human rights situation.
He said that Israel itself has a history of massive human rights violations and oppressing Palestinian people for decades and mercilessly killing innocent civilians and children.
He criticised that Israel’s comments came in favour of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which planned and carried out violent attacks against state institutions on May 9.
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He added that it was surprising to see Israel’s comments on Pakistan after the May 9 riots in which it favoured the culprits behind the attacks on state institutions in betrayal of the country.
Malik vowed that the events like May 9 riots won’t happen again. He added that recent developments in Pakistan are good and there would be more good news in the coming days.
Regarding the imports of petroleum products, the state minister said that Pakistan’s deal with Russia will be beneficial in all aspects. He added that more agreements with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Azerbaijan will be finalised soon.
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Yesterday, the Foreign Office (FO) termed Israel’s statement, criticising ‘human rights situation’ in Pakistan, during a United Nations (UN) session ‘politically motivated’.
In a statement, FO Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch noted that Pakistan’s Universal Periodic Report — a process which involves a review of the human rights records of UN member states — was adopted unanimously in a session of UN Human Rights Council.
“Several states and civil society organisations commended Pakistan on the progress achieved in promoting human rights,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the FO spokeswoman said Israel’s “politically motivated statement is fundamentally at variance with the otherwise positive tone of the session and the statements made by a vast majority of states”.
“Given Israel’s long history of oppression of Palestinians, Pakistan can certainly do without its advice on protecting human rights,” the statement added.
During the session, Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN Adi Farjon said the country was “deeply concerned about the overall rights situation in Pakistan where enforced disappearances, torture, crackdown on peaceful protests and violence against religious minorities and other marginalised groups remain prevalent”.
“Israel believes that it is essential that Pakistan heeds our recommendations to take all appropriate steps to prevent arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment and bring perpetrators of such acts to justice,” she added.
