Congressman voices concern over rights violation in Pakistan.

KARACHI -- US Congressman Brad Sherman has raised concerns over what he claimed was the continuous violation of human rights and democracy in Pakistan and called on the government to ensure freedom of speech and the application of rule of law in the country, Dawn.com reported.

Sherman is a Democrat representing California's 32nd congressional district.

Earlier, he tweeted that he spoke over the phone to former prime minister Imran Khan and met Dr Asif Mehmood, a Pakistani philanthropist and Democratic candidate running against Young Kim in the state's 40th congressional district.

In a video message shared by the PTI on Twitter on Sunday, Sherman, standing alongside Dr Mahmood, recalled that ties between the United States and Pakistan date back to the 1940s, and over the years the two countries had worked together on several global and regional issues.

Growing extremism, dissent are threatening country's prospects for social cohesion, says Sherman

'America must support democracy and human rights around the world and particularly in Pakistan,' he pointed out.

'It is not the role of the United States to involve itself in Pakistan's internal governmental matters with respect to Pakistan's constitutional and democratic process. But we must not shy away from raising our voices for human rights and democracy in Pakistan or anywhere else.

'The Government of Pakistan and every government should respect the right of people to speak, the right to organise, the right to demonstrate,' he said.

The American congressman stated that everyone wanted to see a 'calm, orderly, democratic and prosperous Pakistan where Pakistanis can have the freedom to have an open and political dialogue'.

He went on to say that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - with whom Islamabad is in talks for a long-delayed loan programme - also wanted to see a stable Pakistan that followed the rule of law.

Sherman highlighted that the country was facing a host of internal and external challenges, saying that growing extremism, intolerance, and dissent were threatening Pakistan's prospects for social cohesion.

He also mentioned the recent bombing at the Peshawar Police Lines mosque in...