02 May 2004	Sunday	11 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, May 1: A delegation of the South Asian Peoples' Commission for the Rights of Minorities met Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri here in Islamabad.

Dr Devendar Raj Panday, leading the comission's team, informed the Foreign Minister Kasuri that the commission was set up under the aegis of SAHR - a democratic regional body committed to address human rights issues at both national and regional levels.

The body comprised 10 members, two each (one male and one female) from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The SAPCROM was launched in Delhi (India) in November 2003, where members of the South Asian Human Rights Commission Bureau (SAHR) and the SAPCROM members met to settle the terms of reference and a working plan for the programme.

The commission also met with Christians, Hindus, Bahais and Kashmiri groups in the Islamabad office of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and discussed legal, political and social issues faced by them. The commission also met with different parliamentarians to discuss human rights issues in general and minority rights in particulars.

SAHR was set up in July 2000 in Neemrana, Rajasthan (India) following a convention of delegates from recognized human rights organizations in the five South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka).

Later, SAHR decided to form SAPCROM to facilitate its work in minorities rights.