In my 20 years of work as an Academician, Social Worker, Researcher, &
Human Rights Defender I would like to Promote the Recommendations for the Improvement of the Socio-economic and Political Conditions of the Religious minorities in Pakistan.
In the context of Articles 25, 27, 36, and 37 of the Constitution of Pakistan, religious minorities are equal citizens of Pakistan and have the right to equal development. However, despite these constitutional guarantees, the situation of the rights of minorities in the homeland is extremely unsatisfactory.
In today’s press conference, we would like to highlight some of the important and pressing issues facing Pakistan’s religious minorities.
Forced religious conversion and marriages be prevented prevent marriage:
This is a very important problem of the Hindu, Christian, and Sikh minority communities in Sind, KPK, and Punjab, which is increasing day by day, adult women and especially young girls of the said minority communities are forced to convert to majority religion and forced to marriages.
We want to make it clear that we have no any objection to any religious conversion and marriage of any adult person with their own free will and consent, however, the continuation of forced religious conversion by organized groups is a serious concern to us. It is also reprehensible and harmful to religious minorities. We demand that all efforts be made to stop the practice of forced religious conversion for the sake of marriage by the state through legislation, administrative measures, and awareness. In this context, the available laws and executive measures ensuring fundamental rights should be implemented in letter and spirit to end the sense of insecurity and deprivation among the religious minority communities.
Misuse of Blasphemy and religious law should be stopped:
Therefore, under the influence of blasphemy law, there is a rapid increase in incidents of violence and extremism. Because of this, the feeling of insecurity and fear is growing rapidly among persons belonging to minority communities. Although the minorities have been demanding the repeal of such prevailing laws from years, however, if this is not possible at present due to the specific political, social, and cultural conditions of the country, then the misuse of such prevailing laws should be stopped along with making necessary legislation in this regard. Administrative measures should also be taken for the protection of minorities.
It is to be remembered that Pakistan’s minority groups individually and collectively cannot even think about insulting any religion and religious figures and strongly condemns such incidents. However, it should be ensured that if the allegations are proven to be false, the false accuser should also be punished under the relevant legal provisions so that no one can misuse this law for any personal interest or purposes.
Hate speech against minorities should be prevented:
It is important that the government, with the cooperation of the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), Federal Investigating Agency (FIA), and Cybercrime, should not only immediately identify those who spread hateful speech and hateful content on electronic/social media, but also prevent such elements legal punishments. And legal action should be taken.
Hate speech against minorities is on the rise due to which minority communities are under severe cultural and social and religious pressure.
Five percent employment and education quota should be implemented effectively:
The five percent employment quota for minorities should be strictly implemented and its application should be made on the number of sanctioned posts in each department rather than advertised posts.
More importantly, the advertisements issued regarding sanitation, the minorities should not be attributed to such jobs only, because in our view, this is a form of cast and racism Which is not acceptable in the context of the Constitution of Pakistan.
In order to take full advantage of the five percent job quota for minorities, like other provinces, a five percent quota should be given in secondary and higher educational institutions as well as medical, engineering, and law-related educational institutions in Sindh province as well to reduce the gap between the demand and supply in relation to minority jobs.
Need and Importance of Family Laws for Minorities:
We appreciate the promulgation and implementation of Hindu Family Laws by the Government of Pakistan and the Sindh Government and demand that the Hindu Marriage Act be implemented in its full spirit at both Sindh and Federal levels. However, at the same time, we specifically want to raise the demand that necessary amendments be made to the 150-year-old Christian personnel laws namely the Christian Marriage Act of 1872 and the Christian Divorce Act of 1869 to resolve the existing family problems facing the Christian families in their social life. These laws should be brought into line with existing human rights standards and implemented after necessary modifications in the context of human rights to find better solutions to the problems facing, he Christian families.
The Christian personnel laws are the urgent need of the hour because social problems are increasing and to solve them it is necessary for the state to play its effective role as a duty bearer through effective legislation.
The National Minority Commission should be activated and mobilized:
The National Minority Commission at the federal level should be established under an Act of Parliament instead of an executive order, and it should be established with full autonomy in terms of administrative, financial, and human resources under the United Nations Paris Principles, unlike other human rights commissions in the country. Furthermore, in this regard, it is demanded especially from the government of Sindh that the Provincial Minority Commission, which law has been already passed by the Sindh Assembly, should be immediately established under the Paris principle and its chairmanship and membership should be limited to minorities only.
In short, the necessary legislation should be enacted for the promotion of a sense of security among the minority communities, the provision of equal civil rights, and effective public participation to ensure the effective participation of minority communities in public life, as well as the access to the available facilities and initiatives for the minority communities, be ensured so that the state of peaceful co-existence and social stability in the country can be flourished.
