FAISALABAD: A seminar “Elections 2018 and rights of religious minorities” was organized under the auspices of Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM).
The event was also joined by politicians including; MPA Sheikh Ejaz (PML-N), Latif Nazar (PTI) and Rana Naeem Dastagir (PPP). They made commitment to make efforts to resolve issues that minorities face.
The speakers including; Hina Jilani (HRCP), Peter Jacob (CSJ) and Naseem Anthony (AWAM) encouraged the participants to engage meaningfully during elections 2018 in order to resolve issues concerning rights and protection of religious minorities in the country.
The speakers emphasized that a vibrant democratic process was crucial to address the issues of deprivation and exclusion of the religious minorities.
The discussion focused the way forwards to ensure the economic, political and social inclusion of
The discussants pointed out that the successive governments have failed to address issues such as; religious discriminations in the education system, implementation of job quota, and institutional protection for minorities’ rights.
The participants of the seminar passed a resolution affirming that they will participate in upcoming general elections and shall support political parties that manifest determination and capacity to address issues faced by minority communities.
A large number of people including community leaders, social and political activists from different constituencies of Faisalabad participated in the seminar.
Published in Daily Times, June 2nd 2018.
