Mutual dialogue urged for harmony

Islamabad: Participants and speakers of a national workshop on ‘Social Harmony’ deliberated that social disharmony largely stem from societal attitudes, banking on misconceptions about each other. These misconceptions, they argued, can be erased by mutual dialogue, which serves as the first step in understanding each other, says a press release.
The daylong workshop was organised by Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think-tank, and conducted in three sessions, attended by religious scholars of all Islamic sects and members of Sikh, Bahai and Christian communities, from northern Punjab, Islamabad, AJK, and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Romana Bashir, a peace-building activist, elaborated that the Constitution bestows equal citizenship upon all Pakistanis, irrespective of their religions, along with allowing them the ‘freedom to profess’ their religions. Yet, she argued, such constitutional guarantees were not followed, making way for extremism.
At the same time, Romana pointed out, some constitutional clauses are seen as discriminatory towards minorities. She expressed reservation over Article 36, which calls for protecting ‘legitimate rights of minorities,’ saying that words like ‘legitimate rights’ automatically create spaces. Similarly, she argued that ‘oath statement’ high officials take, also overlooks minorities. Restricting high offices along faith line, it is hinted that some has “upper hand” while others don’t.
Calling for including minorities in decision-making, she argued it was because of their exclusion from the different committees working on the 18th Amendment, that the concerns of minorities were not properly addressed. Instead, a bar has been set that a minority member cannot become prime minister. Already, non-Muslims find it extremely difficult to rise to the top positions, she said.
Speakers also spoke in favour of more inclusive textbooks. Romana shared that the contribution of non-Muslims in the foundation of Pakistan is completely ignored in our textbooks. “Hindus and Christians, of Pakistan, are indigenous to the country”, she stressed. Likewise, educationist Professor Qibla called media to highlight examples of mutual harmony.