Paul KeenanCross-party support for equality move
All parties in Pakistan’s national parliament have agreed to establish a commission tasked with the protection of minority rights.
The new National Commission for Minorities will bring together representatives of different religions present in Pakistan to form a 10-person panel towards creating inter-faith harmony in addition to enforcing protections for minority communities. The panel will comprise four Muslims, two Christians, two Hindus, a Parsi and a Sikh.
The issue of inter-faith violence has dogged Pakistan for years but the latest concrete move comes only after an order from the nation’s Supreme Court, which instructed the government, in a 32-page document, to immediately enact a range of measures to better protect non-Muslims. That Supreme Court ruling was itself prompted by the devastating 2013 suicide attack on Peshawar’s All Saint’s church which killed 85.
There was a broad welcome for the new commission announcement from religious and human rights groups.
Fr Arif George, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Lahore described the commission as “a step forward in terms of security” and expressed the hope that the body would be allowed to work effectively towards a truly inclusive Pakistan.