PPP believes in protecting rights of minorities: Bilawal

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Friday said that the PPP believes in defending rights of all minorities.

Addressing a memorial held on the 7th death anniversary of former Federal Minister for Interfaith Harmony and PPP leader Shahbaz Bhatti, Bilawal said in his historic speech on August 11, 1947 before the Constituent Assembly, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah laid down the state policy in the following words. "You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with business of the state.” He said, “If we want a stable and prosperous Pakistan we must revert to this foundational principle enunciated by the Quaid.”

He said a great disservice done by dictatorship is the drift from the path of the Quaid. He said it was a great disservice to privatise Jehad and the project "private jehad" has brought the state and society face to face with existential threat. “We must dismantle the project ‘private jehad’. We must drive out from our midst the militants, extremists and religious fanatics. We will. We will fight sectarianism, militancy and extremism. We will fight it for peace and security. We will fight it and restore the confidence of the people, Muslims and Non-Muslims alike,” he said.

He said Shahbaz Bhatti's assassination at the hands of bigots was not just a loss of a political party; it was a loss of the nation. “In his own words, Shabaz was a man who wanted to ‘make this world beautiful by delivering a message of peace, togetherness, unity and tolerance’," he said adding that to make Pakistan and this world more beautiful and more tolerant, Shahbaz Bhatti launched interfaith initiatives.

The PPP chairman said, “Today we have a broad based national consensus against on terrorism and extremism. But a decade ago there was no consensus. As a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party and the first minister of minorities. Shahbaz Bhatti, strove to build a national consensus and finally in July 2010 religious leaders issued a joint statement denouncing terrorism. Shabaz Bhatti played a critical role in it,” he said.

He said Shahbaz Bhatti wore several hats as in 1985 he founded the Christian Liberation Front (CLF), whose aim was to restore rights of religious minorities and to promote tolerance and the country then was under a bigoted dictatorship.

Bilawal said the fraud on the Constitution was reversed only in the 18th Amendment spearheaded by the PPP. “The word ‘freely’ in relation to professing religion by every citizen has been restored,” he said. He said the Christian Liberation Front of Shahbaz Bhatti was a bold initiative and the Front launched the first national campaign against misuse of blasphemy laws. “No wonder that it was violently opposed. But he was not deterred,” he said.

Bilawal said, “May I take this opportunity to say that we share the concerns over the misuse of blasphemy laws. This is the concern of not only the Christian community but of all of us. It is my concern too. These laws have been used as a tool by extremists to settle personal scores. They have been used to grab properties of Christians and other non-Muslims. The blasphemy laws carry mandatory death penalty. We must prevent their misuse. We will.” He said the PPP believes in defending the rights of all minorities and for the first time it provided for four seats in the Senate for non-Muslim Pakistanis. He said the Senate elections are due today (Saturday) and the PPP has nominated Anwar Lal Dean, a Christian, to the one reserved seat from Sindh and in addition they have nominated Krishna Kohli to a general seat for women.

He said during the last PPP government it was decided that August 11 will be observed as the ‘Minorities Day’ every year and it was done to imbibe the true meaning of the Quaid's speech on August 11, 1947 before the Constituent Assembly. He said he wishes to pay tribute to those courageous individuals who have suffered for the cause of interfaith harmony. “Those who have suffered for upholding the right of the non Muslims freely to profess and practice their religion. They are the heroes and heroines of the nation,” he said.

He said the bigots and extremists continue to exploit religion-based laws as they want to impose on the people their own version of religious edicts. “The PPP rejects their narrow and bigoted narrative of Islamic tenets. We will continue to oppose and resist them,” he said. He said Shahbaz Bhatti's assassination at the hands of bigots was not just a loss of a political party; it was a loss of the nation.