March 2, 2011 was one of the most unfortunate days in the history of Pakistan, when the minister for religious minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated on his way to work, by unidentified gunmen, in Islamabad. He complained of receiving death threats from various religious lobbies for criticising the blasphemy law. The irony is that the culprits responsible for his untimely demise are still at large.

In a country where law and order situation deteriorates by the day and accountability measures are almost nonexistent, minorities live in fear of losing their lives and families for absurd reasons. Religious minorities are unable to practice their religion with full zeal and fervor due to various security reasons and threats. The vigils and religious festivities that remained the main components of Pakistani culture and signs of coexistence have vanished and what is left behind is only pessimism and a dreary outlook for the future.

There were times when Muslims and minorities, representing different faiths, lived congenially respecting each other’s differences and religions. In fact, many of us have studied in non-Muslim institutions, which are still considered the epitome of prestige and dignity in Pakistan, known for educating topnotch business executives, entrepreneurs, politicians and social activists. Our leading healthcare facilities, including the only leprosy center working for the rehabilitation of lepers, are owned by non-Muslim social workers.

However, things have changed drastically over a period of time and bigotry/intolerance towards different faiths reign the country. Many non- Muslims have filed written complaints against the reprehensible state of affairs and claim that they have been forced to convert to Islam, which has resulted in their migration to the neighbouring countries.

Pakistan was created on the principle of empowering people and giving them an opportunity to profess their faith and beliefs. Clause 25 of Pakistan’s constitution gives all minorities significant rights to practice their faith, in accordance with their respective holy doctrine. Simultaneously, the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was known to emphasise on the importance of freedom of speech and religion.

Ms. Nuzhat, National President of Pakistan, For Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) said, “Time after time we have requested the government of Pakistan to stop calling us minorities. We are equal citizens of Pakistan and would appreciate if we are called “people of other faiths” rather than this hideous term which does not represent non-Muslims of Pakistan at all.”

She said that YWCA works for the betterment of women at large and 88 per cent of it’s beneficiaries are Muslim women, whereas only 10 per cent of the women are from various Christian communities. YWCA’s work primarily revolves around empowering women through education, by encouraging them to enroll in adult literacy programmes and raising awareness about their rights as humans. “We advocate and represent women regardless of their caste, colour, creed and religion, considering them our responsibility,” Nuzhat said.

She added: “it is not that we have not received positive response from the Muslim political and social factions. In fact, they have assisted and collaborated with us on various projects including flood and earthquake relief campaigns and we deeply appreciate their efforts.”

If a handful of organisations are actively assisting people from different religious orientations then why can’t we be more accommodating and reciprocate their sentiments positively? Shouldn’t this serve as a cue to change the way we think and indeed build better relationships with people from other religions? Isn’t it time to put our differences aside and think as one nation? Hasn’t enough damage been already done to waylay the foundations of our homeland?

A “selected few” prevailing in our society have stigmatised our religious ideologies to an extent that many of us hesitate to even discuss the most apparent problems constraining our development and growth as a nation.

It is time to give back what we genuinely owe to the people belonging to different faiths, it is indeed time to restore their religious liberty, sense of freedom and security and time to correct our wrongs before it’s too late for Pakistan.

The writer is a Reporter at Dawn.com