FAISALABAD:
The government should crackdown on groups responsible for sectarian killings and for undermining freedom of religion granted to all citizens by the constitution, said a resolution adopted by the National Commission for Justice and Peace at a gathering on Thursday.
Another resolution passed at a talk titled Eidain and Pakistan’s Social and Political Background stated that the parliament should scrutinise all laws and amend the ones that discriminated against people associated with minority religions.
The gathering also asked the government to expedite the establishment of a National Human Rights Institution in accordance with the Paris Principles on Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Commission in October 1991.
Speakers at the event appealed to the government to provide rule of law and to check violence against women, forced conversions, kidnappings for ransom and targeted killings.
They urged all major political parties to gather on one platform to prevent violation of human rights in the country.
They condemned terrorism and called upon the government to bring the perpetrators to book and ensure impartial and fair investigation of such incidents.
They also asked the government to review the syllabus taught at public schools to purge it of religious and gender prejudices. They said teaching of on civic values should be made mandatory at schools.
NCJP National Director Father Emmanuel Yousaf; Father Khalid Rashid Asi; Jamiat Ahle Hadith Ameer Maulana Yousaf Anwar, Jamat-i-Islami’s Ameerul Azeem Randhawa, Faisalabad District Bar Association president Munwar Hussain Sandhu and some Pakistan Peoples Party leaders.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2012.
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