Ensuring minority rights essential for productive society: Asif

SIALKOT: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Sunday that ensuring equal rights to all the minorities without any discrimination was essential to establish healthy, positive and productive society.

He was addressing a ceremony to distribute Chief Minister Minority Cards, here. Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs Ramesh Singh Arora, MPAs Mansha Ullah Butt and Faisal Ikram, Sialkot Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Zulqarnain and others were also present at the event.

Khawaja Asif said ensuring equal rights and granting all religious liberties to minority were the very basic principles of a society as per the teachings of Islam.

“All the residents of the country are only Pakistanis without any religious, racial, sectarian or lingual bias or discrimination,” he said, adding: “Not only in Punjab but in the entire Pakistan minorities are safe and free to exercise their rights and the federal and the Punjab governments are taking all the measures to ensure the protection of the rights of the minorities.”

The defence minister recalled that in 1947 there were only 10 Sikhs left in Sialkot but at present their number is over 100 due to minority-friendly policies of the governments.

He said the country’s fourth chief justice Alvin Robert Cornelius (late) and many other greats belonged to the minorities but none could raise a finger on their character and loyalty to Pakistan.

“But ironically fingers could be raised in the cases of the chief justices during the last 10 to 15 years,” he remarked. Khawaja Asif appreciated the Punjab government for taking practical steps to ensure religious liberties and provide help and support to the minorities.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Minister Arora thanked the district administration of Sialkot for freeing the property of historic Gurdwarah Babe Di Ber Sahib from the illegal possession and handing it back to the Sikh community.

In the ceremony, Chief Minister Minority Cards were distributed among 1,547 families.