ISLAMABAD - The Supreme Court Monday sought reports from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, provincial chief ministers and relevant ministries regarding non-implementation of the apex court judgment on minority rights.
Former Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani taking suo moto notice of Peshawar blast had authored a judgment on 19th June 2014, which says, “Due to absence of effective State action that despite elaborate textual guarantees for minorities’ rights, empirical realities reflect a mixed bag, rather a dismal state of affairs.”
The court had directed the federal and provincial governments to take various measures. Almost four months have lapsed but no steps had been taken for its implementation, while the SC administration had sent the verdict to relevant ministries on June 20, 2014.
The incident of Christian couple, working in brick kiln in the jurisdiction of Police Station Radha Krishan, Kasur, again highlighted the importance of extra steps needed for protecting the minority community in Pakistan and promoting inter-faith harmony in the society.
The direction given in the judgment includes, appropriate curricula be developed at school and college levels to promote a culture of religious and social tolerance;
The federal government should take appropriate steps to ensure that hate speeches in social media are discouraged and the delinquents are brought to justice.
National Council for Minority Rights be constituted, which has function inter alia to monitor the practical realization of the rights and safeguards provided to the minorities under the Constitution and law.
The Council should also be mandated to frame policy recommendations for safeguarding and protecting minorities’ rights by the provincial and federal governments.
A Special Police Force be established with professional training to protect the places of worship of minorities.
The federal and all the provincial governments also directed to ensure the enforcement of relevant policy directives regarding reservation of quota for minorities in all services.
In all cases of violation of any of the rights guaranteed under the law or desecration of the places of worship of minorities, the concerned Law Enforcing Agencies should promptly take action including the registration of criminal cases against the delinquents.
The 32-page judgment stated: “Mere textual pledges in the Constitution, though important are not enough to ensure that those rights would be honored in practice. It is, therefore, important that the concerned governments/institutions take proactive lead to ensure that those rights are respected and enjoyed in practice.”
The judgment also noticed that generally there is lack of awareness about minority rights among the people and those entrusted with enforcement of law are also not fully sensitized to this issue either.