ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged the international community to ensure Muslim women were not denied their religious and cultural rights in non-Muslim societies, during his address at a U.N. conference on Wednesday.
The Pakistani foreign minister was speaking at the "Women in Islam" conference held at the U.N. headquarters in New York. Held on the sidelines of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW), the conference featured senior ministers from countries around the world.
Pakistan, as the chair of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) Council of Ministers, hosted the March 8 conference with Bhutto-Zardari delivering the opening statement.
“We must counter the denial of religious and cultural rights to Muslim women in non-Muslim societies and negative stereotyping and discrimination against Muslim women,” Bhutto-Zardari said during his speech.
The minister said that the world should also not "forget the suffering" of Muslim women in occupied territories such as Palestine and the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Bhutto-Zardari said it is natural for Pakistan and other OIC member states to feel "deeply disappointed" at women in Afghanistan being denied their basic right to work and education.
“I sincerely urge the Afghan Interim Government to reverse these restrictions and enable the women of Afghanistan to make their full and invaluable contribution to the development and progress of their nation," he added.
The minister said Islam does not tolerate discrimination on gender, race, and color, adding that the religion also forbids injustice against people and nations.
“Islam treats women as human beings in their own right, not as chattel,” he added.
