TOBA TEK SINGH: Minorities Alliance Pakistan Central Chairman Akmal Bhatti advocate has said that in the proposed 26th constitutional amendment bill, the constitutional discrimination imposed on nearly 10 million religious minorities should be abolished as minorities are not given equal status in the Constitution.

In a press conference on Monday at Faisalabad, he said a non-Muslim cannot become the president or prime minister of Pakistan, nor can a non-Muslim lawyer practice in the Federal Shariat Court.

An undesirable and undemocratic electoral system is imposed on minorities and the minority parliamentarians who have allegedly been ‘favoured’ remain silent and are enjoying the perks for their inaction and their continued silence is being rewarded. He said minority MNAs and senators have failed to jointly present any proposed legislation to protect the rights of minorities and their disconnect from the minority community is extremely shameful and unforgivable.

He said the major political parties and their leaders have also failed to seriously attempt to meet the trust placed in them by their minority voters and have done nothing in practice to give minorities equal constitutional status.

He said, “We, the Pakistani minorities, demand amendments to articles 36, 40, 51, 91, 106 and 203 of the Constitution so that the 10m Pakistani minorities can be freed from the constitutional discriminatory treatment and restrictions on holding constitutional offices and can live as equal and equivalent citizens in the country.”

He has appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, JUI-F leader Fazlur Rehman, PTI founder Imran Khan and other parliamentary party heads to remove the constitutional restrictions on minorities in the 26th amendment.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024