HYDERABAD: The Christian and Hindu leaders highlighted the issues of minorities and called for the protection of their rights on the Minorities Day celebrated on Friday in parts of Pakistan.
The Minorities Day is celebrated across the country on August 11 by the minority groups officially, where events are organised to highlight their rights and mark the speech of August 11 of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The participants highlighted the speech of Founder of Pakistan Mohammad Ali Jinnah in which he said that everyone has a right to practice his or her religion freely and we all are free to go to churches, mosques, temples and every worship place. This day urges us to promote and protect rights of minorities and to advocate equal rights and a pluralistic Pakistan.
Talking to APP on the occasion of Minorities Day, Pakistan Minority Commission Chairman Advocate Parkash, Programme Manager at Development Awareness and Management of Natural Resource (DAMAN), Krishna Lal, Bishop of Hyderabad Church of Pakistan Reverend Kaleem John, eminent educationist and social worker Dadi Leela, Physician and Professor of Medicine and Pulmonology at LiaquatUniversity of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro, Dr.Santosh Kumar, journalists were part of the event.
Paying tributes to the services of minorities for the social and economic development of the country, they said that minorities have equal rights under the Constitution of Pakistan and Quaid-e-Azam in his speech on August 11 had highlighted their role as Pakistanis.
They said that dedicating a special day for minorities also promotes the image of Pakistan.”By observing this day, we want to give a clear message to the world that the Pakistani society is based on religious harmony, social justice, and human equality”, they added.
Besides the efforts of freedom fighters belonging to various classes of the country, the minorities have played a remarkable role in achievements to their credit in making of Pakistan.
There is a need to highlight the contributions of the minorities during the freedom movement for promoting interfaith harmony, peace and brotherhood in the country, they said.
They said that since the formation of Pakistan, minorities have been contributing in every sphere of life and their political involvement is also worth appreciating.
They said that the history of Islam is full of examples in which the minorities enjoyed peace, protection and equal social status and every political party of Pakistan stands committed to the preservation of rights of minorities in Pakistan.