'Minorities have ‘complete freedom’ in Pakistan'

Sindh minister lauds minorities' role in Pakistan's development

KARACHI: Comparing the situation of minorities in India and Pakistan, provincial minister Nasir Hussain Shah claimed that while members of minority groups were suffering immensely due to the Modi government's policies in India, they could practice their religion and move about with complete freedom here.

Visiting the Swami Narayan Temple in Karachi on Sunday for the on-going religious festival, Shah, the provincial information, local government, housing, town planning, religious affairs, forests and wildlife minister, vowed to protect the rights of minorities.

He commended the role and contribution that minorities have played in the development and progress of the country, adding that he had come to the temple with a message of peace.

Shah maintained that, in line with the example of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had always been committed to protecting minority rights, adding that the party had reserved more seats for minorities than any other political party in the country, while its leaders themselves also participated in their religious festivals.

On behalf of the government, he also announced that 10,000 copies of the Bhagavad Gita would soon be distributed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2020.