Charter to Instil Equal Rights for Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Thousands of people, including leaders of religious minority groups, unanimously accepted a 'Charter of Demands' at a rally on Saturday 11 August in Lahore, Pakistan, three days before the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of its creation.

The Charter of Demands calls on the government of Pakistan to ensure equal rights for religious minorities. This includes revising the school syllabus to remove religious bias, creating a National Commission on Religious Tolerance and establishing other government mechanisms to promote religious tolerance.

The charter also calls for all groups involved in promoting hatred, intolerance, extremism and terrorism to be banned and argues for the repeal of the blasphemy laws which, it says, causes many religious minorities to live in "perpetual fear".

The national rally was organised by the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) to mark the 60th anniversary of a speech by the nation's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the founding of Pakistan.

In this opening address to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan Jinnah declared: "You are free. You are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State ... We are starting with this fundamental principle, that we are all citizens and citizens of one state."

The Charter recommends that Jinnah's words be included in the nation's Constitution.

According to Group Captain (Rtd) Cecil Chaudhry, Executive Secretary of APMA, the protest went extremely well, without any violence or threats to the peaceful nature of the event.

He told Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) that tens of thousands of people from all areas of the country attended the rally, including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsees as well as sympathetic Muslims. Some travelled very long distances by train or bus to reach Lahore for the event.

Prominent religious and political leaders attended,and Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in exile, sent a message of support.

Benedict Rogers, CSW's Advocacy Officer for South Asia, said: "Discrimination against minorities has been widespread for far too long in Pakistan. Such discrimination, hatred and persecution flies in the face of the vision that the nation's founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, set out 60 years ago.

"This rally demonstrates that despite the rise of extremism, many people in Pakistan hold onto Jinnah's vision for a nation which accepts its citizens equally, regardless of religious background.

"We deplore the misuse of the blasphemy laws and other discriminatory tools, and the violence perpetrated by extremists against minorities. We hope that the Pakistani authorities, and the international community, will hear this cry for a return to Jinnah's vision for Pakistan, and will act to ensure equal rights for all and a new era of religious harmony and tolerance."