ISLAMABAD: National Commission for Minorities (NCM) Chairman Chela Ram Kewlani on Wednesday gave a detailed briefing to Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed on the draft of National Minorities Commission Act 2021.

He called on him as head of a delegation of the Commission called on, here Wednesday.

He also presented ten months performance report and measures taken to prevent cases of forced conversions across the country.

The commission also informed the CJ regarding five percent job quota for members of religious minorities and implementation of the laws to protect places of worships belonging to the minority communities.

Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed assured that as a Pakistani, the non–Muslim citizens have religious freedom, and “Pakistan was the country of all of us, the minorities living here are the citizens of this country. Protecting the minority community is our first responsibility.”

The CJP was informed that the draft of National Minorities Commission Act 2021 will be forwarded to the provinces soon for consultations.

Earlier, the commission commended the uniform national curriculum.

Rafiq Tahir, head of the National Curriculum Council, gave a detailed briefing to the commission, and said the uniform national curriculum would be taught at public and private schools as well as in seminaries to provide equal national thinking and development opportunities to every section of the new generation.

The curriculum has been developed in consultation with representatives of private schools and various seminary boards.

The meeting was attended by the members of the commission including representatives of Federal Ministry of Education, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), Council of Islamic Ideology, Ministry of Law and Justice and provincial education departments.

The Commission asked the representative of Federal Education and Vocational Training and the National Curriculum Council to ensure allocation of 2pc seats for admission for non-Muslim students in all federal and provincial universities.

The commission was also briefed by the ETPB and it was noted that the performance of board has improved but there was room for further improvement.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2021