ISLAMABAD, April 24 Participants of a seminar on Friday stressed the need for bringing a new legislation in the parliament to ensure true representation of minorities after their leaders identified inadequacies in the joint as well as the separate electorate systems.

Organised by the World Minority Alliance, the seminar titled “Parliament without real minority representation” mainly focused on a proportionate representation system under which the political parties on the basis of their strength in the parliament field their members for the seats reserved for women as well as non-Muslim members.

The participants were critical that the members so “selected” in the parliament to represent the minority, an important component of the society, were not accountable because they were not the true representatives.

Presently, the 342-seat National Assembly has 70 reserved seats of which 60 are meant for women while ten for non-Muslims.

The seminar criticised former president Pervez Musharraf for introducing the method of bringing minority representation to the assemblies through, what they called, selection instead of election.

Concerns were also raised against the rising unrest and injustices against the people of Balochistan and the imposition of the strict version of Islam in Swat and Malakand contrary to the founding father`s pledges to do away with all kinds of discrimination in the society.

Speaking on the occasion, former chief justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, who had resigned after the first proclamation of the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) by Gen Musharraf, recalled that Pakistan emerged on the world map after a successful movement by the Muslims of the sub-continent, who were then in minority.

He emphasised the need for raising voice through dialogues to evolve a national strategy to safeguard the rights of the minorities when the government was planning to introduce 18th constitutional amendment in the parliament.

“It is time to ensure autonomy to the people living in different provinces by making them stakeholders in the ordinary judicial system, demographic and social justice by ensuring equality of opportunities through equal distribution of resources instead of depriving them of their own resources,” he said.

Justice (retired) Wajihuddin Ahmed, a candidate against Gen Musharraf during 2007 presidential elections, expressed the fear that if the rights of the minorities were not ensured by attending to their genuine issues, the damage so done would not be of the minorities but of the entire country.

He emphasised the need to devise a system in which the minorities had complete independence to choose their representatives to help form a homogeneous society.

Former Supreme Court Bar Association president Tariq Mehmud deplored that discussion on such a topic “reflects that we have failed the nation since we cannot check the class which had ruled the country always.”

The seminar was also addressed by Justice (retired) Nasira Javed Iqbal, Senator Zafar Ali Shah, High Court Bar Association Rawalpindi chapter president Shahzad Ahmed Gaiba, columnist Haroonur Rashid, Sardar Asmatullah, Hamid Khan and Julius Salik.