PESHAWAR – The Center for Social Justice (CSJ) on Tuesday called on the government to make concerted efforts to curb religious intolerance and introduce fundamental measures to promote equal rights and citizenship.
The Center organized a conference on “Strengthening Democracy: Fulfilling Human Rights Commitments”, which was attended by human rights defenders and representatives of political parties.
Peter Jacob, Dr Khadim Hussain of Awami National Party, Bishop Earnest Jacob, Asiya Jehangir, former Social Welfare Minister, former MPA Wazir Zada, Dr Sawera Parkash of Pakistan People’s Party, Shakeel Waheed Ullah of Qaumi Wattan Party, journalists Mehmood Jan Babar and others Muhammad Faheem, Dr. PTI’s Nadeem, Suneel Malik, Augustine Jacob and Nasir William were among the speakers.
Speaking on the occasion, Peter Jacob, executive director of the Center for Social Justice, noted that discrimination rooted in religion fuels hatred and violence against minority groups, with perpetrators often misinterpreting religion to justify hate crimes.
He stressed that the establishment of a commission of inquiry is necessary to identify the factors and hold these actors accountable for inciting violence and abusing blasphemy laws.
Awami National Party representative Khadim Hussain highlighted the systemic obstacles that prevent equal human rights for citizens, including disparities in citizenship, unequal distribution of resources, poor governance, terrorism and religious intolerance.
He emphasized that entrenched discrimination in governance structures perpetuates divisive attitudes based on religious, ethnic, racial, linguistic and gender identity.
Bishop Earnest Jacob emphasized that political parties should prioritize the fulfillment of their commitments to the voters that they gave in the election program and take concrete measures to solve the human rights problems faced by religious minorities.
The representative of the Pakistan People’s Party, Dr. Sawera Parkash called on citizens to raise their voices together against human rights violations against minorities.
