ISLAMABAD: Special Representative of the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi on Monday said there was no dispute on the rights given to the minorities under the Constitution of Pakistan and Islamic laws.

Talking to a delegation of ulema and mashaikh belonging to different schools of thought, he said the one-member Minority Commission comprising Dr Shoaib Suddle did not consult Muslim scholars and respective forums before drafting recommendations for uniform curriculum.

He said the National Minorities Commission had also opposed the Minority Commission’s recommendations.

Mr Ashrafi said there was no content in the educational curriculum that was against religious minorities. “Students belonging to the religious minorities have a choice to study Islamic history and Islamic teachings in the curriculum and it is not forced upon any individual,” he said.

“No one will be allowed to usurp the rights of minorities in the country.”

Mr Ashrafi said Prime Minister Imran Khan had given special instructions that all possible efforts should be made to provide protection to the minorities and they should be given the rights envisaged in the Constitution.

He said that the Supreme Council comprising 40-member Interfaith Harmony Council was being constituted to ensure that religion was not used for personal or political gains.

The special representative urged the clerics to extend their support to discourage false blasphemy accusations.

He said some institutions and individuals were making propaganda regarding minorities in the country and urged the ulema to ensure that cases of forced conversion and misuse of blasphemy law were discouraged.

He said instances relating to forced conversion and misuse of blasphemy law were being restrained in the country.

Among those who called on Hafiz Ashrafi were Maulana Tahir Aqeel Awan, Maulana Aslam Siddiqui, Maulana Ashfaq Potafi, Allama Tahir-ul-Hassan, Qari Shams-ul-Haq, Qari Mubashir Rahimi, Maulana Aslam Qadri, Allama Zubair Abid, Pastor Aminul Khokhar and Nayyar Mushtaq.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2021