Federal minister for minorities : Christians put forward Michael Javed’s name

Says they will feel insecure till they are represented in the National Assembly.

HYDERABAD:

Christian leaders in Hyderabad have nominated a candidate to fill the post of the federal minister for minorities, a chair that fell vacant when Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated in March this year.

They include the Minority Rights Council’s M Prakash, All Pakistan Minorities Alliance’s Riaz Nazir, Bishop Younis Gul of the United Baptist Church of Pakistan and Pastor Amjad Imtiaz Khan of the Churches Council, Sindh. They held a press conference on Tuesday and put forward Michael Javed’s name for the post. They said the Christians in Pakistan have been feeling insecure since Bhatti was killed and they need to be represented properly in the “corridors of power”.

On March 6, 2011, the Election Commission had declared the candidature of Michael Javed successful on the vacant seat of the late Shahbaz Bhatti under Article 224 (6) of the Constitution.

According to them, Javed’s name was third on the list of candidates submitted by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) to the Election Commission in November 2007, right after Shahbaz Bhatti and Senator Dr Khatu Mal Jeewan.

Ten seats are reserved for minorities in the National Assembly, apart from the 60 reserved for female candidates.

“Dr Khatu Mal was elected a senator by the PPP, therefore, by virtue of the priority list, Michael Javed is the next candidate,” they said. The Christian representatives also produced a copy of a letter written by Senator Mal Jeewan, which was addressed to the secretary of the Election Commission.

Jeewan’s letter reads: “My name occurred next in the list for non-Muslim candidates to be elected for the seats reserved for non-Muslims, in accordance with the provisions of Article 51 of the Constitution.

Since I have been asked to convey my intention regarding the retaining of the seat, I hereby intimate that I would retain seat as Member of Senate of Pakistan, as desired by my party leadership”.

Senator Jeewan was elected a senator on the general seats from Sindh in February 2009.

The Joint Christian Action Committee has appealed to the president, the prime minister, the Election Commission and the chief justice of the Supreme Court to take notice of the matter and to ensure that an official notification nominating Michael Javed as member of the National Assembly on reserved minority seats is issued soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th,  2011.