US raps Pakistan on religious freedom

The criticisms were contained in the State Department's annual report on international religious freedom, which categorized Pakistan with countries that exhibited state hostility to minority religions.

Pakistan's archrival, India, however, earned broadly good marks in the report, but was accused of failing to counter effectively attacks against minorities.

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Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal won mostly good ratings, despite some areas of concern.

According to the report, Pakistan "failed in many respects to protect the rights of religious minorities, due to both public policy and the government's unwillingness to take action against societal forces hostile to those who practice a different faith.

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It said discriminatory laws at national level had fed an "atmosphere of religious intolerance" which contributed to violence against minority Muslim groups and against Christians and Hindus.

"While the government did not encourage sectarian violence, there were instances in which the government failed to intervene in cases of societal violence directed at minority religious groups, particularly Shias," the report said.

Predominantly Hindu India was also accused of failing at times to effectively counter attacks against minority groups.