The NGO’s executive director, Kirshan Sharma, said that Jinnah had envisioned a state with equal rights for all even the religious minorities. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
There is a need to revive Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of a secular Pakistan state and treat religious minorities equally, said speakers of a seminar on Wednesday.
NGO District Development Association, Tharparker, organised this seminar on ‘Jinnah’s Pakistan and Religious Minorities’ in connection with the Independence Day.
The NGO’s executive director, Kirshan Sharma, said that Jinnah had envisioned a state with equal rights for all even the religious minorities. However the current state of religious minorities never depicts the picture Jinnah imagined, he said. Sharma proclaimed the protection of religious minorities’ rights is impossible without legislation that ensures freedom of right to expression, assembly and thought.
A renowned writer, Arab Nek Muhammad, said that warfare and jingoism in both neighbouring countries has escalated in fear and insecurity among religious minorities in both countries. Khateeb Jaama Mosque, Maulana Abdur Rehman Jamali, religious minorities here face persecution, intolerance and extremist subjugation. Jinnah’s August 11 speech should be incorporated in the school syllabus, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2013.
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