On Minorities Day, Pakistan’s Christians call for equal rights

August 12, 2013 - Minorities Day was marked in Pakistan on Sunday with a mixed Muslim-Christian group staging a peaceful demonstration in Islamabad decrying divisive laws and demanding equal rights for what it called the country’s marginalized minorities. The Pakistan Muslim Christian Unity Forum (PMCUF) staged a peaceful protest in front of the press club in the national capital recalling the founder of the nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah who said that all are citizens of the state, regardless of caste, creed or religion. First observed in 2009, under the Pakistan People’s Party-led government, Minorities Day aims to highlight the sacrifices and services rendered by the country’s non-Muslim communities in nation-building. Since then it is marked annually by federal and state governments as well as private organizations. “Instead of marking a Minority Day, August 11 should be celebrated as a national citizens’ day to demonstrate interfaith unity and harmony,” PMCUF Chairman Sameul Yaqoob told the gathering. “Harsh laws against minorities and controversial topics in the national curriculum have fueled anti-minority sentiments in the country,” he said, adding that the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was adding hate material to text books. “Controversial laws have divided the Christians and Muslims who, otherwise, live peacefully,” he observed referring to the country's blasphemy laws. “It is about time the country moved out of the majority-minority divide and instead focus on the development of the entire population as a whole, as that is the only way to take Pakistan out of its present quagmire,” he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged religious leaders and the public to embrace the value of tolerance towards people of different faiths and also spread the message of harmony and tolerance. “We are living in times of great intolerance. The intolerance towards non-Muslims has spread to sectarianism,” President Zardari said. He said the observance of “Minorities Day” every year “is a reminder to us all to strive to fulfill the promise made to our non-Muslim brethren by the founder of the state Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the very inception of the state.” Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif urged the people to promote democratic values and culture as a necessary tool of promoting tolerance, peace and harmony, besides alleviating violence, extremism and sufferings of non-Muslim brethren. (Source: UCAN)