Coalition for the Rights of the Minorities (CRM), a network working for the rights and protection of minorities in Pakistan, has expressed grave concern on the status of minorities living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged the provincial government to ensure their equal rights and protection.
In a statement issued during a press meet in Peshawar on Friday, National Co-ordinator of CRM, Sameena Imtiaz narrated the various incidents which reflect the maltreatment of minorities in KP province such as the targeted attack on Sikh community members in Peshawar which resulted in the death of one Sikh youth. She mentioned the state of minority communities' IDPs where the government had failed to guarantee their equal treatment as citizens of Pakistan.
She informed the press that more than 200 families of Christian and Hindu communities, who had been living in North Waziristan Agency before the independence of the country, had been displaced due to ongoing military operation. She added that these families were facing multiple challenges with regards to provision of relief goods and services and had to take shelter in missionary schools and temples in Bannu. She asked the federal and provincial governments to ensure equal treatment of minorities' IDPs and stressed that their safe return to NWA should be ensured after the end of military operation.
Sameena Imtiaz said that equal treatment of minorities and protection of their rights is the responsibility of the government and must be ensured to alleviate the growing mistrust in the ill-treated minority communities. She said there is dire need to address the discriminatory laws against minorities which made them feel as second class citizens of the country and ask the civil society organisations, media, politicians and the government to play their due role.
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