Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada attended as Chief Guest the Interfaith Iftaar Dinner hosted by the British High Commission in Pakistan. He appreciated the Acting British High Commissioner to Pakistan H.E Mr. Andrew Dalgleish for arranging this gathering to bring together community leaders from across Pakistan belonging to different religious backgrounds. While addressing the guests, Minister said that he was very proud of our rich traditions and cultural heritage where we have extreme reverence for diversity of faith and beliefs. For us, respecting and promoting the freedom of religion or belief and promotion of interfaith harmony is not only a duty to our citizens as a functioning democracy; it is also a way of life. Minister added that Articles 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 33 and 36 of Pakistan's Constitution provide guarantees to minorities regarding freedom of religion, equal participation as well as right to preserve and promote their cultural identity, values and practices. He said that Pakistan and the UK enjoy a long-standing partnership grounded in historic connections. Pakistan deeply values these relations and look forward to further broaden the horizon of our cooperation in times ahead. A strategic relationship between Pakistan and the UK, with a robust economic partnership, best serves our mutual interests. Pakistan is grateful to the United Kingdom for showing solidarity and humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of devastating floods. Minister mentioned that Pakistan is deeply concerned over the contemporary issues of human rights that the whole world is facing. He particularly mentioned the global surge in intolerance, xenophobia, discrimination and violence against individuals and communities because of their religious beliefs. People of all faiths and religions have been victims of this menace in a very large number of countries. However, Muslims and Islam have particularly borne its brunt, especially in aftermath of 9/11.In addition to this Minister said that Islamophobia has emerged as a new form of racism characterized by xenophobia, negative profiling and stereotyping of Muslims and their faith. The recent vile acts of desecration and burning of Holy Quran in some European countries testify this disturbing trend. We strongly condemn such abhorrent acts, which serve no purpose other than to hurt sentiments of Muslims and wilfully incite discrimination and violence against them.Minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada emphasized that Pakistan and UK should continue their close collaboration in these contemporary areas of human rights concerns. The alarming rise in state-sponsored persecution of Muslim and other minorities under the current Hindutva-driven BJP-RSS government in India is a matter of grave concern. The same Islamophobic mind-set is driving India's illegal and unilateral actions to alter demographics of Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, convert Kashmiri Muslims into a minority and deprive them of their inalienable right to self-determination. Minister further expressed that Pakistanis adhering to Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, and other faiths are an integral part of our social fabric. In 2019, Pakistan proudly inaugurated Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, which is understood to be the world's largest Sikh Gurdwara. Further, the national framework for the protection of minority rights has been strengthened by creation of the independent 'National Commission for Minorities'. The Commission is inter alia mandated to look into grievances of any minority community.He also noted that Pakistan has taken wide-ranging affirmative steps to enhance participation of minorities in all walks of public life as policy catalyst to advance interfaith harmony including declaration of 11th August as Minorities Day and Reservation of four (04) seats for minorities in Senate of Pakistan under the 18th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2010. Ten (10) seats have been also reserved in National Assembly. Minister concluded his speech by repeating and affirming the words of honourable Justice Qazi Faiz Essa, during his speech in the National Assembly at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Constitution 1973, that the word ‘minority’ sounds discriminative. He stressed that it should be obsolete now as we all are just Pakistanis and above all humans and there is no relation stronger than humanity. He said that he strongly believe that with the ideals of equality, social justice, interfaith harmony and tolerance we will only be able to build the glorious future of Pakistan.
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