‘Government taking steps for protection of minorities’

Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada said that Pakistan has traditionally strong and strategically significant and long-lasting relations with the UK.

He held a meeting with the parliamentary delegation of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Freedom of Religion or Belief from the United Kingdom at the Ministry of Human Rights in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The minister welcomed the delegates and in response to a question posed by one of the delegates on the steps taken by the state for the protection of minorities, the minister said that there was a strong constitutional and structural framework present in the country for the freedom and protection of the rights of minorities. He quoted articles 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33, and 36 of Pakistan’s Constitution which provide guarantees to the minorities regarding freedom of religion, equal participation as well as the right to preserve and promote their cultural identity, value, and practices.

Whenever any international monitory or human rights organisations visit the country, an untoward incident happens, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2023.