Danyal said Pakistan, with a 97% Muslim population, has 2,189 churches, 732 temples and 58 gurdwaras.
Federal Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Danyal Chaudhry speaks to the media on Friday—APP
Parliamentary Secretary for Information and Broadcasting Danyal Chaudhry on Friday delivered “selective sermons” targeting Pakistan on minority rights during his assessment of the GSP+.
“Pakistan’s GSP+ review has once again become a platform for selective conferences on minority rights,” the parliamentary secretary said in a post on X, highlighting religious tolerance and interfaith harmony in the country.
Pakistan’s GSP+ review has once again become a platform for selective conferences on minority rights.
Pakistan, with a 97% Muslim population, has 2,189 churches (1 for 1,206 Christians), 732 temples (1 for 5,669 Hindus) and 58 gurdwaras (1 for 159 Sikhs). The United Kingdom has a mosque for…– Danyal Chaudhry (@DanyalChaudhary) July 17, 2026
“Pakistan, with a 97% Muslim population, has 2,189 churches (1 for 1,206 Christians), 732 temples (1 for 5,669 Hindus) and 58 gurdwaras (1 for 159 Sikhs),” he said, contrasting this with the United Kingdom, which, he noted, has one mosque for every 2,249 Muslims.
In Pakistan, neither the state nor society discriminates against religious minorities, he added.
The parliamentary secretary emphasized that the federal and provincial governments took special measures for the celebration of minority religious occasions, in addition to the maintenance and protection of their sacred places.
He also questioned the tolerance levels of other nations, pointing to France, where a ban on the hijab was imposed in 2004, a ban on the face veil in 2011 and a ban on the abaya in schools in 2023.
Danyal also pointed to restrictions on face coverings in Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
“However, the EU continues to recycle narratives from agenda-driven NGOs while ignoring Pakistan’s constitutional guarantees, legal reforms and sustained efforts to protect minorities,” he said.
