‘Laws need to be amended,mindsets changed to give minorities equal rights’

Karachi
The prejudiced representation of religious minorities in the national curricula and the outright imposition on children to study different religions were, according to a report, among several issues worsening the plight of minority communities in Pakistan.
A joint collaboration of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the report, launched at the Karachi Press Club on Sunday, highlights the alarming rate of increase in violence and discrimination against minorities in the country.
Throughout the pattern of religious discrimination, the reported noted that women and girls were found to be the worst victims of human rights violations, notably through the practice of forced conversions and marriages.
The report also identified constitutional laws which further compromised the rights and security of the religious minorities; these included the blasphemy laws, personal status laws, discriminatory policies over issues of land grabbing, evacuee property and land grabbing.
Furthermore, a weak representation of minorities in the parliament, legalised prosecution of the Ahmaddiya community, lack of recognition in the national consensus, forced marriages and the imposition of 'Jizya' on the Sikh community were also some of the major issues reported to be adding to the woes of Pakistan’s minorities.
Over the past several decades, successive governments in Pakistan institutionalised discrimination against people belonging to religious minority groups and minority Muslim sects, the report further stated.
HRCP chairperson and vice chairperson of the FIDH, Zohra Yusuf, observed that keeping in view the vulnerability of the minorities, the organisation decided to form a group in June, 2010 to address the growing faith-based challenges. It later on collaborated with the FIDH which brought together 178 human rights groups from 100 countries, the representatives of which met with faith-based minorities of the country and discussed challenges and discrimination they lived through every day, she added.
Recommendations about measures to end violence, marginalization and discrimination of minorities were then brought about in the shape of this report.
HRCP Secretary General I A Rehman emphasised the need to strengthen the civil society in the country.
“Only the presence of a strong and vibrant civil society can reduce the violence and discrimination against these minorities,” he noted.
He urged the authorities to review national and international human rights obligations and try and implement them in the country.
“Pakistan will go into its next Universal Periodic Review in 2017 with a worse human rights record than before.”