Renewing commitment to protect the rights of non-Muslims as equal citizens of Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has urged religious leaders and the public to show tolerance towards the people of different faiths and to spread the message of harmony and tolerance.
“Intolerance towards non-Muslims has grown into sectarianism,” said the president in his message on the occasion of Minorities Day on August 11.
He said the observance of the day every year was a reminder to all to try to fulfill the promise made to our non-Muslim brethren by the founder of the state Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
The President appreciated the role of non-Muslims in the creation of Pakistan.
He called for focusing on the problems and issues faced by non-Muslims.
“Let us also pay tribute on this day to those courageous individuals who have suffered for the cause of inter-faith harmony and for upholding the right of the non-Muslims to freely profess and practice their religion. They are the heroes of the nation. They reflect the progressive, tolerant and humane ethos of our people,” he said.
The President said democracies better protected the rights of non-Muslims, adding that unfortunately the right of non-Muslims to freely practice their religion was usurped during a dictatorship by deleting the word ‘freely’ from the constitution.
Zardari said the right to ‘freely’ profess religion had been restored in the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
He said there was a need to protect and promote democratic values and culture as a necessary tool of promoting tolerance, peace and harmony.
“On this day, let us rededicate ourselves to a modern, progressive and tolerant Pakistan that was enunciated by the Quaid-e-Azam in his historic speech on this day,” he said.
Felicitating all non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan on the day, the president said, “I wish to reiterate our commitment towards a progressive and tolerant society and to work for the protection of rights of non-Muslims as equal citizens of the state.”