Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Karachi (Agenzia Fides) - "A report on the status of religious minorities is part of our initiative to promote full democracy in Pakistan. The report documents the deteriorating status of religious minorities and the rise of extremism in the country". These are the words Sherry Rehman comments the publication of the report to Fides "A Question Of Faith", published by the prestigious "Jinnah Institute, study center based in Karachi which works for democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan (see Fides 06/06/2011). Sherry Rehman, President of the Jinnah Institute, is a Muslim Pakistan People's Party MP, the party currently in power in the country. In recent months she submitted a bill to Parliament to modify the controversial "blasphemy law". For this reason she was threatened to death, and for many observers, she is now targeted by extremists, after the assassinations of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti ".
The Report, Rehman explains to Fides, "raises two critical questions. The first is: will Pakistan continue to discriminate against citizens and turn a blind eye to the spread of cultures of cruelty and vigilantism? Second, will the majority of Pakistanis continue to condone and collude in the discrimination and persecution of minorities? These questions have become particularly relevant over the past year which saw an increase in violent attacks against minorities, especially the Christian and the Ahmadi communities".
The report, continues Rehman, “serves to provide examples of: Mob violence against members of religious minorities, attacks on places of worship, problems faced by minorities in employment, problems faced by minorities in education, abductions and forced conversions of minority women”. However, "voices are raised from civil society to denounce violence and oppression and that challenge extremism". "At the Jinnah Institute - she explains - we do it for the equality of all citizens of Pakistan, on behalf of the democratic vision of our founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah." Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876 - 1948), known in Pakistan as "the great leader" was the founder of Pakistan (promoter of the partition of British India). In Pakistan, the anniversaries of his birth and his death are public holidays. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 08/06/2011)
