Skip to main content

Lawmakers urge formation of new caucus in Senate to promote rights, welfare of religious minorities

A group of non-Muslim senators have written a letter to Senate Chairman Yousaf Raza Gilani for the formation of a minority caucus in the House to represent their rights, it emerged on Friday.

A caucus refers to a formal or informal group within Parliament or provincial assemblies, often focused on specific issues or the interests of particular groups. At present, the most prominent one in the Senate is the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (WPC), a cross-party forum for women parliamentarians to address issues related to women, girls and gender equality.

The letter dated July 24, seen by Dawn.com, was signed by Senator Khalil Tahir Sandhu (PML-N, Punjab), Senator Gurdeep Singh (PTI, KP), Senator Poonjo Mal Bheel (PPP, Sindh), and Senator Danesh Kumar (BAP, Balochistan) and addressed to the chairman Senate.

“We, the undersigned non-Muslim members of the Senate of Pakistan, respectfully submit this joint request for the activation and formal recognition of the minority caucus within the Senate, and for our inclusion as its founding members,” the letter said.

The senators said in the letter that they were encouraged by the effective functioning of the WPC, which had successfully provided a platform for women legislators to collaborate across party lines on issues of national importance. “Inspired by this model, we believe that a minority caucus would serve a similarly vital role in promoting the rights and welfare of religious minorities in Pakistan.”

They said as elected representatives of minority communities, they are “committed to contributing constructively to national dialogue, legislative reform, and policies that foster religious harmony, inclusion, and equal citizenship.”

The lawmakers said a “formal minority caucus would help institutionalise this work, facilitate coordination among stakeholders, and amplify the voices of marginalised communities.”

They requested Chairman Gilani to issue a notification on the formation of the caucus and include all four non-Muslim Senators as its founding members.

In April, the Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights approved a bill to establish a commission on minority rights in accordance with United Nations and international standards and regulations.

The commission would “assess and monitor [the] implementation of the constitutional guarantees and safeguards for promotion and protection of rights of minorities”.

It would also review existing or proposed policies or programmes to prevent discrimination and protect minorities, and provide recommendations to the relevant departments.

The commission established by the prime minister will consist of 13 members, including two minority members from each province.

Human rights groups both in Pakistan and across the world have called on the government to protect the rights of minorities. The government declared August 11 as National Minorities Day to highlight their religious and socio-economic rights.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/QXZDmU2
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Explainer: Iran’s economy faces rocky road amid rising prices, falling currency

Iran’s economy is going through one of its most difficult periods in years, fueled by sanctions, high inflation, and a significant drop in the value of the national currency, the rial. These pressures have had a direct impact on living standards and have also fueled recent protests. The protests began on Dec. 28 in commercial hubs in the capital Tehran, when shopkeepers, merchants, and small business owners staged strikes and demonstrations to protest soaring inflation, the collapsing rial, and deteriorating economic conditions, and have since grown into nationwide anti-government expressions of discontent involving workers, students, and others across multiple cities. The Iranian president said Sunday that his government is determined to address Iran’s economic problems amid the protests. Masoud Pezeshkian said the government admits to “shortcomings and problems” and is working hard to alleviate the people’s concerns, especially on the economy. Currency collapse at the centre of c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitchell Starc surpasses Wasim Akram as most prolific left-arm pacer in Test history

Australian veteran Mitchell Starc became the most prolific left-arm paceman in Test history on Thursday, surpassing Pakistan great Wasim Akram. The 35-year-old bagged England’s Harry Brook at the Gabba in Brisbane on day one of the day-night second Ashes Test for his 415th wicket since his debut at the same ground 14 years ago. It moved him past Wasim, widely recognised as the greatest left-arm bowler the sport has seen. Wasim played 104 Tests for his 414 wickets with Starc reaching the milestone in his 102nd, helped by a career-best 7-58 in the first innings of the opening Ashes Test at Perth. Starc is now 16th on the all-time wicket-taker list and could move above both India’s Harbhajan Singh (417) and South Africa’s Shaun Pollock (421) in the current pink-ball Test. After that he will have New Zealand’s Richard Hadlee (431) in his sights. from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/xclHiX2
Post a Comment
Read more

Global reaction to potential Israel-Hezbollah ‘spiral of violence’

World leaders on Tuesday sounded the alarm over fears of a wider conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in two decades in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds. After nearly a year of cross-border fire since the Gaza offensive erupted, Israeli bombardment on Monday killed 558 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, according to the country’s health ministry. The toll — the highest since Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah went to war in mid-2006 — raised fears of an all-out conflict engulfing the Middle East. ‘Tens of thousands’ flee: UN UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “gravely alarmed by the escalating situation… and the large number of civilian casualties, including children and women,” his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Tens of thousands of people were forced from their homes yesterday and overnight, and the numbers continue to grow,” United Nations refugee agency spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh said in Geneva. ‘Spiral of violence’: US Israel’s clo...
Post a Comment
Read more