Convention promotes rights of religious minorities in Pakistan
According to Asia News, a national convention of human rights activists was held on the 11th of August to affirm democratic values and the protection of religious minorities in Pakistan. The convention marked Pakistan’s Minorities Day, a holiday that commemorates Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s famous speech to the Punjab Legislative Assembly regarding religious freedom in Pakistan.
On the 11th of August 1947, three days before Pakistan’s official birthday, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, one of Pakistan’s founding fathers, delivered a famous speech in favour of religious freedom and equality. While Jinnah’s speech painted a picture of a religiously tolerant Pakistan, the founding father’s vision for the country has not been achieved.
Since Pakistan’s founding, religious intolerance and anti-minority violence have significantly grown. Recently, Pakistan was designated a “Country of Particular Concern” by the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom due to the intolerance and violence endured by Pakistan’s religious minorities.
At the convention, the Center for Social Justice (CSJ) and other human rights organisations spoke out to promote democratic values that run against the “tyranny of the majority.”
Source: persecution.org
Image: eeradicalization.com
