Lahore, Pakistan: The Peoples Commission for Minorities’ Rights (PCMR) has warned the government that establishing another ineffective and powerless minorities’ commission will fail to achieve the purpose of meaningful inclusion of religious minorities in policy-making, hence, the proposed scheme of its constitution will not address the issue of their marginalization in the system. The autonomy of this body will lie in the independence of the constituting instrument and the strength of its composition and quality appointments.
PCMR stated that a rights body failing to meet the UN Paris Principles, including having a competent composition, would be unacceptable to minorities.
In a joint statement given by Peter Jacob, the Chairperson, Justice (R) Kailashnath Kohli, Dr. A. H. Nayyar, and Michelle Chaudhry, provincial heads of Punjab and Balochistan, referred to the ministerial meeting headed by Rana Sanaullah Khan, the Advisor to Prime Minister. The PCMR representative stated that for over 30 years, a powerless minorities’ commission had been set up. As it was toothless, therefore it failed to address the grievances of the religious minorities. It is sad to note that the Federal government is repeating mistakes, which will not serve the purpose of integrating religious minorities.
The proposed commission through legislation, should to be a rights body therefore “we demand that its powers must be equivalent to those of the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR). They cautioned that any attempt to weaken the commission, such as including unnecessary representation from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), would make it contradictory and unequal to other human rights bodies functioning in the country. Since the constitution of Pakistan does not suggest a role of the CII in any matter related to religious minorities, therefore the government should avoid making the CII part of any controversy.
The PCMR statement emphasized that the government must consult relevant rights organizations, especially since the commission will function as a human rights body. Moreover, the autonomy of the National Commission for Minorities’ Rights. The PCMR representatives also demanded that the commission adhere to the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s 2014 judgment, delivered by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani regarding the body for inclusion of minorities in policy-making.
