ISLAMABAD, July 14: There was no provision for dictatorship in Quaid-i-Azam’s Pakistan, as such President Pervez Musharraf should quit with immediate effect.

Speakers of all Pakistan minority convention on Sunday deplored that dream of a free country could not be fulfilled since minorities of Pakistan were not given their due rights.

“During Ziaul Haq’s dictatorship, several draconian laws were made to further suppress religious minorities of the country,” they added.

The function was organized by Christian Liberation Front (CLF) to gather representatives of all minorities of the country: Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Bheels, Balmeeks, Maingwals, Bhais and Kelashes to chalk out a joint strategy for the forthcoming general elections.

The participants passed a resolution urging the government to repeal blasphemy and other discriminatory laws, so that constitutional discrimination against minorities could come to an end and an atmosphere of religious harmony and tolerance could prevail among the people.

The resolution added that the government should restore the seats reserved for minorities in the National and provincial assemblies vis-a-vis the joint electorate, keeping in line with the provision of the 1973 Constitution.

The participants demanded that women from the religious minorities should be given a share in 33 per cent reserved seats for women in all elected bodies.

The resolution asked all political parties to accommodate minorities in the joint electorate to ensure their representation in the Senate, National and provincial assemblies.

It stressed the need for formation of an alliance of all the religious minorities under the banner of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) to secure, protect and promote the rights of minorities.

The chairman CLF, Shehbaz Bhatti, said courts were also discriminating between minorities and majority. “If the chief justice of the apex court could take a suo moto notice on a rape case, why he did not take any action when a Christian girl was subjected to sexual harassment in front of her parents by a feudal at Kamoki last week.”

He said the police at the Kamoki police station had refused to register a case against the culprits and offered money to the victim’s parents on behalf of the feudal.

Mr Bhatti asked the Punjab governor to visit the victim’s house to express sympathy, condemn the incident and give exemplary punishment to the culprits.

Bishop of Rawalpindi and Islamabad Anthony Lobo demanded equal opportunities for minorities in all walks of life.

An ex-member of the Sindh provincial assembly, Saleem Khokhar, said 11 years of Ziaul Haq’s dictatorship had divided the country in the name of religion.