PAK: A stand for ‘Minorities’, calls to establish National Commission

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is gearing up to stand vocal for the rights of the minorities in the country and therefore, on Thursday the commission called to set up a statutory national commission according to the recommendation of the 2014 Supreme Court Jillani judgment.

Farah Zia, the Director of HRCP,  made the National Commission for minorities look back on its failure to meet the demands of minorities. She stressed to focus on the need for an autonomous commission formed along the lines of the Paris Principles. HRCP in its statement said that the representatives from the minority groups, government departments, political parties, the Ministry of Human Rights, the National Commission for Human Rights, and rights organizations have already given several suggestions regarding the establishment of such a commission.

Pritam Das Rathi, a member of the Hindu community asked to seat maximum members in the commission from the minority group as it must report on the state of minorities’ rights to the Pakistan Prime Minister each quarter a year.
Also, Father Sarfraz Simon from the Christian community said that there is a need for a change in the curriculum of the school to remove hate speech and showcase the role of minorities in the formation of Pakistan, according to the Dawn report.
HRCP council member Hina Jilani comes up with a suggestion to develop a statue for a commission post the discussion. She also called to include the Ahmadi representatives in the commission to uphold their rights.

Previously in November 2023, Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) demanded justice for Mehwish Iram and Irfan Tariq Masih. The two belonged from a Christian minority faced religious persecution at their workplace. The allegations state that Mehwish was harassed and blackmailed while Irfan subjected to violence.

“HRFP is raising and concerned on growing incidents of discrimination, violence and harassment of minority employees at workplaces. Even in high profile jobs, like Shaukat Masih a deputy Commissioner of Jaranwala faced discrimination, he got attacked on August 16, 2023, and his house was burnt but he escaped with his family,” the release stated.

“The Christian, Hindu, Sikhs, Ahmdiyya’s and other minorities have been victimized through different ways, like accusing them of blasphemy and sexual harassments; the theft allegations are the most common on minority employees at minor jobs places, HRFP cases studies revealed,” it added.