International Human Rights and Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is an immensely plural country characterized by religious, sectarian and ethno-linguistic diversities. It is an overwhelmingly Muslim community with more than 90 per cent of its 182 million inhabitants adhering to Islam, yet they belong to several doctrinal groups with major religious communities with the Hindus, the Christians and the Sikhs. Pakistan’s Constitution stands for equality of all citizens irrespective of religion, caste, region, tribe language and gender.Suppression and discrimination against minorities is as old as recorded history itself. Same here in Pakistan government’s general failure to protect, diminish, and equalize the rights of minorities and there is no affluence religious freedom for minorities and is a congested environment of impunity that fostered intolerance and acts of violence, as professed in the domestic and international human rights organizations. Government policies did not afford equal protection to minority religious groups, and due to discriminatory legislation such as blasphemy laws minorities often were afraid to profess freely their religious beliefs and even oppressed in daily routine life.This paper provides a general picture of minority’s rights situation in Pakistan in light of Pakistan constitution and international human rights. The paper also explains the Policy touching religious minorities with special focus on blasphemy law. After analyzing situation the author reach to the findings and present some possible solutions to equalize the human rights situation in Pakistan.

Keywords: Human rights, Minority discrimination, Pakistan constitution, Blasphemy Law, Equality