Condemning the attacks on Lahore’s two churches last Sunday, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called upon the federal and provincial governments to act decisively to protect the religious minorities’ interests if greater disasters are to be avoided. In a statement issued here on Monday, the commission said The Sunday’s attacks on two […]
ISLAMABAD: Marriage and separation-related complications have increased for non–Muslims after the 18th Amendment, under which religious matters and marriage issues were devolved to the provinces. As none of the provinces has drafted its own laws on the matters, the members of the minority communities feared the worst if they came up with any legislation. “The […]
LAHORE: Pakistan’s human rights record might be contentious on several levels but in March last year, at its Universal Periodic Review with the Human Rights Council, Pakistan was lauded for its “commitment” to defending human rights. It had accepted 126 proposals put forward by member countries, rejected seven and claimed that 34 of them were […]
Karachi: Patron-in-chief of Pakistan Hindu Council and Member National Assembly Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani on Sunday proposed establishment of an active committee at federal level under Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif to prevent increased atrocities against minorities as well as to ensure formation of a violence-free society and promote religious harmony. These suggestions were unanimously […]
PESHAWAR/LANDI KOTAL: Members of various organisations of minority communities on Sunday demonstrated outside the Peshawar Press Club here against increasing incidents of violence against members of minorities and demanded of the government to arrest the culprits involved in the heinous crimes. The All Minority Alliance, Peshawar chapter organised the protest, where the participants asked the […]
KARACHI: Expressing their discontent over the performance of political parties, participants in a panel discussion said on Tuesday that repairing the country’s pluralistic fabric would be a long-drawn effort. The gathering was organised to discuss how much certain mainstream political parties that returned to power in Islamabad and provinces managed to implement their ambitious manifestos […]
National Minorities Day was celebrated on August 11 in order to highlight the services, sacrifices and contributions of minorities in the creation of Pakistan. Unfortunately, August 11 went by silently, except for being celebrated by the minorities themselves. The reason: our mainstream national media seemed inclined towards highlighting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan’s […]
ISLAMABAD: The treasury and opposition in the National Assembly on Wednesday agreed to constitute a fact-finding committee to probe the growing incidents of violence against religious minorities in various parts of the country. The violence spree against the religious minorities in the country dominated the proceedings of the house when Deputy Parliamentary leader of the […]
LAHORE: The recently published annual report of Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS) Pakistan for the year 2013 has revealed that 1,000 females (700 Christian and 300 Hindu girls) from minorities are forced into marriage every year in the country. Additionally, the report states that till date 70 churches have been attacked in […]
KARACHI: Over 27 incidents of desecration of temples and holy books of religious minorities in the past six months have been causing insecurity among them, a conference on minority rights was informed on Wednesday. At the programme, organised by South Asia Partnership, speakers said that Pakistan had signed International Convention on Civil and Political Rights […]
Rashid Rehman’s brutal killing — for doing his duty as a lawyer — must be viewed along with the (similar) assassinations of Justice (R) Arif Iqbal Bhatti, Governor Salmaan Taseer, and federal minister Shahbaz Bhatti. A judge, leading members of government, and now a defence counsel have been killed for trying to ensure that no […]
One way to judge the character of a people is by observing its majority’s behaviour towards minorities. A country which fails to safeguard the basic rights of its religious minorities cannot claim to be civilised. In Pakistan, attacks on members of the minority communities and their places of worship occur frequently, and go unpunished just […]
” 
” 
” 
” 
