Christians call for equal rights, slam "nation splitting" laws
By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
ISLAMABAD
(ANS) -- Pakistan observed Minorities Day
on Aug. 11 to highlight the sacrifices and services of the country's
non-Muslim communities in the nation-building process.
According to a story by www.ucanews.com,
the day was first celebrated in 2009 by the Pakistan People's Party-led
government. Since then it is marked annually by federal and state
governments as well as private organizations.
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Members of Muslim Christian Unity Forum hold a peaceful demonstration at the National Press Club in Islamabad
to mark Minorities Day |
Addressing
the gathering, UCA News said PMCUF Chairman Sameul Yaqoob quoted
founder of the nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah's address to the nation on
Aug. 11, 1947 in which he said all Pakistanis were equal citizens of the
state, regardless of caste, creed or religion.
"Instead
of marking a Minority Day, (August 11) should be celebrated as a
national citizens' day to demonstrate interfaith unity and harmony,"
Yaqoob said.
"Harsh laws
against minorities and controversial topics in the national curriculum
have fueled anti-minority sentiments in the country," he said, adding
that the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was adding hate material to
text books.
Yaqoob continued, "Controversial laws have divided
the Christians and Muslims who, otherwise, live peacefully," he observed
referring to the country's blasphemy laws.
"It is about time the country
moved out of the majority-minority divide and instead focus on the
development of the entire population as a whole, as that is the only way
to take Pakistan out of its present quagmire."
Meanwhile,
UCA News said, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari urged religious
leaders and the public to embrace the value of tolerance towards people
of different faiths and also spread the message of harmony and
tolerance,
"We are living in times of great intolerance. The intolerance towards non-Muslims has spread to sectarianism," Zardari said.
He
added that the observance of "Minorities Day" every year "is a
reminder to us all to strive to fulfill the promise made to our
non-Muslim brethren by the founder of the state Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad
Ali Jinnah on the very inception of the state."
UAC
News said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif urged the people to
promote democratic values and culture as a necessary tool of promoting
tolerance, peace and harmony, besides alleviating violence,
extremism and sufferings of non-Muslim individuals.
See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net
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