‘Minorities entitled to all fundamental rights, freedom to practice their faiths’

Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair has said that religious minorities living in the country are entitled to all fundamental rights and complete freedom to practice their faiths on par with the majority Muslim population in accordance with the guiding principles of the country’s founding founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The governor was talking to the minority wing president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sindh chapter, Sham Sunder Advani, at the Governor House on Friday.

They discussed the current situation of minorities’ rights, development works being carried out in minority-populated areas, and the role being performed by minorities in development of the province.

Governor Zubair said religious minorities were contributing well towards the cause of progress and prosperity of the country on par with the country’s majority population.

He said minority communities possessed immense love and affection for their native country Pakistan and that the government had been taking steps for resolution of their issues and for provision of security to them.    

Zubair said the government had been giving full attention to provide financial assistance and carry out development works and other projects for promotion and uplift of the status of minorities living in the province.

In this regard, the government had taken initiatives for launching scholarship schemes for students, medical facilities and other schemes to repair and rehabilitate places of worship belonging to religious minorities, he said, adding that the government had been giving due attention to development of areas inhabited by religious minorities.

The governor said religious minorities had always played an important for promotion of education, health, and other important civic services and facilities in the province. He added that the role of religious minorities in development and progress of the country could never be negated or forgotten.

Zubair said seats had been reserved for members of minorities both in the parliament and provincial assemblies so that their elected representatives could play an active part in the process of legislation and national development.

For this reason, the legislators belonging to minorities had not just been promoting the cause of rights of their respective communities but had also been taking part in the process of legislation, he added.

Sham Sunder Advani thanked the Sindh government for taking interest in resolving problems of the religious minorities.

Dr Naushad meets governor 

In a meeting with vice chancellor of the Liquat University of Medical and Health Science, Prof Dr Noshad A Shaikh, the governor said provision of the best of health treatment facilities to masses was the foremost priority of the present government.

The governor said education and research-based activities being conducted by health universities played an important role in promotion of health care facilities for the general good of the public.

The public sector universities in the province had played a commendable role for promotion of the higher education, he said, adding that the federal government would provide them full assistance.

He said medical universities dedicated had also played an active part for development of the society.

Zubair said medical universities should compete with their competitors from around the around world.

He said the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Science had been performing well its obligations regarding promotion of higher education in the fields of medicine and providing health facilities without any discrimination or prejudice among the people of local communities.