Protection Of Minorities' Rights Priority Of Govt: Minister

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Sep, 2019 ) :Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat has said that the protection of the rights of all minorities is a priority of the provincial government and that islam does not allow anyone to force to change his/her religion.

He was chairing a meeting of the Chief Minister's Interfaith Committee at the Civil Secretariat, here on Wednesday.

The meeting addressed the issue of marriage of Sikh community girl of Nankana Sahib and promotion of interfaith harmony. Punjab Auqaf Minister Sahibzada Saeed-ul-Hassan, MPA Mahendra Pal Singh, MPA Musrat Jamshed Cheema, Secretary Law, Secretary Auqaf, deputy commissioner and DPO Nankana Sahib and other members of the committee belonging to all religions were also present.

Raja Basharat said that Chief Minister Usman Bazdar wanted solid measures to avoid Nankana Sahib-like incidents in future.

He said that legislation would be done for prevention of such incidents which would also take into account the proposals of minority representatives.

He directed the Secretary Law to immediately draft the proposed law.

Saeed-ul-Hassan said that the issue of inter-religious marriages persisted in all countries, but every effort should be made to avoid any unpleasant situation in the country.

MPA Mahendra Pal Singh said that in view of the current situation in Occupied Kashmir, India tries to politicise such incidents.

MPA Musrat Jamshed Cheema suggested that all concerned should be taken into confidence to deal with such incidents.

President Hindu Council of Pakistan Munawar Chand said, "Pakistan is our country, and interfaith harmony must be promoted for its unity."The Bishop of Lahore Rev Irfan Jamil emphasised that giving religious colour to social issues causes differences in society, therefore this attitude should be avoided.