The freedom of religion must be construed liberally to include freedom of conscience
KARACHI: John Stuart Mill, an English philosopher, stated in his book On Liberty that “the great writers to whom the world owes what religious liberty it possesses, have mostly asserted freedom of conscience as an indefeasible right, and denied absolutely that a human being is accountable to others for his religious beliefs. Yet so natural to mankind is the intolerance in whatever they really care about, religious freedom has hardly anywhere been practically realised, it despises the distortion of peace by theological quarrels, has added its weight to the scale.”
The freedom of religion and conscience has been protected in several treaties and declarations. Article 18 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Right 1966 provides that every person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individual or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching.
Religion has played an important role in human history, and faith has influenced the minds and actions of individuals, societies and nations down the ages. The freedom of religion must then be construed liberally to include freedom of conscience, thought, expression, belief and faith. Freedom, individual autonomy and rationality characterise liberal democracies and the individual freedom thus, flowing from the freedom of religion must not be curtailed by attributing an interpretation of the right to religious belief and practice exclusively as freedom of the community.
The protection of the freedom of religious belief and practice of all communities was indeed the predominant right asserted in several propositions and resolutions passed by the All India Muslim League. One of the famous 14 Points enumerated by Mohammad Ali Jinnah on proposed constitutional changes was “full religious liberty, ie, liberty of belief, worship and observance, propaganda, association and education shall be guaranteed to all communities.” Thus, the very genesis of Pakistan is grounded in the protection of the religious rights of all, especially those of minorities.
The right to religious conscience being a fundamental right is not subject to any other provision of the constitution. It is subjected to law, public order and morality. There is a general lack of awareness in Pakistan about minority rights, among the people and those entrusted with the enforcement of law are also not fully sensitised to this issue either. It needs to be reiterated that under Pakistan’s constitution, minorities have a special status. Of all the Articles relating to the minorities’ rights, Article 20 is of prime significance. It would be counter intuitive if the right to freedom of religion enshrined in Article 20 is interpreted in the manner which has the effect of encroaching upon religious freedoms of religious minorities in Pakistan.
Article 20 does not merely confer a private right to profess but confers a right to practise both privately and publicly. Besides, it confers the additional right not only to profess and practise religion but also to have the right to propagate religion to others. The state shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities and the ultimate goal of the state should be to eradicate religious intolerance in Pakistan.
Arsalan Raja
Published in The Express Tribune, August 4th, 2017.
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