In a passionate speech during the fifth day of the Senate’s budget session on June 18, 2025, Senator Pervez Rasheed condemned the alleged police investigation of an elderly woman’s religious beliefs during Eid-ul-Adha, calling it a gross violation of human dignity and constitutional rights.
Rasheed referred to a video showing the woman being interrogated by authorities in her own home. “In what state is authority given where an individual has to answer as to where the sacrificial meat in their home came from, and what was the faith of the individual who sent it—or the faith of the one who received it?” Rasheed asked.
He described how the woman was reportedly questioned about her belief in the finality of prophethood, the source of the meat in her home, and whether her son-in-law was an Ahmadi. She was further asked if she had given or received meat from an Ahmadi family and was made to recite the Kalima under oath to prove her truthfulness.
A woman is being harassed by police only because they suspect she’s an Ahmadi. They’re forcing her to recite the Kalima and declare she isn’t Ahmadi, and demanding proof she did Qurbani on Eid. This is the face of religious persecution in Pakistan.
pic.twitter.com/jvX610iWCG— Sadia Ahmed (@SadiaTheSadia) June 9, 2025
“Yet here we question the faith instead of looking into giving the sacrificial meat to the poor and needy,” Rasheed stated. He criticized the hardships faced by religious minorities, saying,
“The individuals who have different beliefs and are in the minority, whose beliefs differ from the majority, go through all these hardships. Their worship places are not safe, their homes are not safe, they are in danger, they are falsely implicated and spend years in prison, and sometimes they are killed.”
Rasheed called on Parliament to take decisive action to protect the rights of all citizens.
“We should take an oath today that this Parliament abolish all the laws which are used as an excuse to limit the freedoms of Pakistanis. Let’s strive for a Pakistan where each citizen living in this country would consider it their own—where they won’t be defined by their language, geography, or faith but only as a Pakistani citizen. They should belong to Pakistan, and Pakistan should belong to them,” he declared.
The senator’s speech has reignited debates on religious freedom and minority rights in Pakistan, with activists urging the government to address systemic discrimination and ensure equal treatment for all citizens under the constitution.