Pakistan Minorities
Pakistan: Minorities seek inclusion in policymaking process
Peshawar, Pakistan/IBNS: Speakers participating in a consultative meeting on the rights of minority groups on Monday stressed the need for taking non-Muslims on board in the legislative and policy-making process, media reports said.
The meeting was arranged by National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR)'s Regional Office Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, wherein representatives of different groups shared their views about the rights of minorities and significance of interfaith harmony. They suggested necessary legislation in that regard, reports Dawn News.
NCHR member Tariq Javaid, its minority member Manzoor Masih, All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement president Haroon Sarabdial, Peshawar’s chief Khateeb Maulana Tayyab Qureshi, Church of Pakistan Bishop Humphery Sarfaraz Peter, MPA Wilson Wazir and NCHR chairperson Rabia Javeria were the keynote speakers at the event.
They condemned all types of religious extremism and stressed the need for taking pragmatic and immediate steps to control fanaticism, reports Dawn News.
A reference to the recent lynching of a Sri Lankan national in Sialkot over allegations of blasphemy was mentioned.
Giving suggestions for effective measures to protect rights of minority groups, the speakers asked for including the representatives of non-Muslims in the policymaking bodies.
They demanded the government to review the national syllabus as it also gave ‘rise’ to religious extremism, and allow the minorities to contest elections on general seats as nominees of the political parties to play an effective role in the legislative process, the newspaper reported.
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