Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday condemned the New Zealand mosque shootings in the harshest terms and laid the blame for increasing violence at the feet of “Islamophobia post-9/11.”

“Shocked and strongly condemn the Christchurch, New Zealand, terrorist attack on mosques. This reaffirms what we have always maintained: that terrorism does not have a religion. Prayers go to the victims and their families.” (RELATED: Erdogan Uses New Zealand Mosque Shootings To Condemn Whole World For ‘Hostility’ To Islam)

Shocked and strongly condemn the Christchurch, New Zealand, terrorist attack on mosques. This reaffirms what we have always maintained: that terrorism does not have a religion. Prayers go to the victims and their families. — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 15, 2019

In a follow-up tweet, Khan continued, “I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim. This has been done deliberately to also demonize legitimate Muslim political struggles.”

I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11 where Islam & 1.3 bn Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror by a Muslim. This has been done deliberately to also demonize legitimate Muslim political struggles. https://t.co/5bBREoayLz — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) March 15, 2019

Khan, meanwhile, presides over a nation with one of the most abysmal human rights records in the world. According to a 2013 report published by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), “religious freedom violations in Pakistan rose to unprecedented levels due to chronic sectarian violence […], and the government continues to fail to protect Christians, Ahmadis, and Hindus.” (RELATED: Islamists Going Door-To-Door Looking To Kill Asia Bibi)

The report also highlighted the Islamic Republic’s repressive blasphemy laws, which “are widely used to violate religious freedoms and foster a climate of impunity.” USCIRF recommended over a decade ago that the U.S. State Department designate Pakistan as a “Country Of Particular Concern” because of its treatment of religious minorities, especially Christians. Christians make up less than two percent of the population in Pakistan, according to the Library of Congress.

Pakistan has drawn international attention in recent months for its continued imprisonment of Catholic mother Asia Bibi, who was twice acquitted of blaspheming Mohammed. Bibi, an illiterate field hand, spent nearly a decade on death row and has become a symbol of the suffering inflicted by Pakistan’s blasphemy law, which deems insults to Mohammed a capital offense. (RELATED: Persecuted Christian Woman Asia Bibi Remains Trapped In Pakistan Despite Acquittal)

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul called on the United States in November to cut off all foreign aid to Pakistan until Bibi is released. President Donald Trump has likewise expressed disdain for the country that harbored Osama bin Laden, saying in a November interview with Chris Wallace that “they don’t do a damn thing for us.”

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