Full-fledged security for minorities' worship places demanded

Participants at a consultative meeting with Civil Society on 'Minorities' condemned the Yuhana Abad incident and demanded provision of full-fledged protection to worship places of non-Muslims across the country.
They made the demand during the meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), titled, "Religious Freedom and Minority Rights" organised by South Asia Partnership of Pakistan (SAP-PK) held here at a hotel on Thursday.
They said due to lack of protective measures for minorities by the government, such shocking incidents were happening.
Those spoke at the meeting including Pastor Shehzad Murad of Diocese Church of Peshawar, Redesh Singh Tony, Baba Jee Gorpal Singh, Dr Sarfaraz, Naeema Naz of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), Shakeel Khan and Aneela Tajik and others from CSOs, Shahida Shah of SAP and a senior journalist Shamim Shahid.
They said the Constitution of Pakistan had defined rights of the non-Muslim communities, but, lamented that no implementation was being made and that was the reason they were facing different kinds of ordeals.
They said their property particularly lands and temples of Hindu communities had been grabbed either by influential or government in the name of archaeology and commercial purposes, which was sheer injustice with them because a large number of Hindus living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"We did not migrate from India to Pakistan during partition and have been living in Pakistan since our forefathers," Bishan Lal explained and added that being Pakistanis they were deserved for all rights.
Criticising the policy-making institutions, he said they were not consulted when policy regarding minorities was devised, the communities was taken into confidence in that regard.
Regarding quota system in jobs and selection of MPA and MNA from minorities, Shehzad (Pastor) demanded of the PTI-led provincial government to increase jobs quota from three to five percent, added that system of elections instead of selection be made for non-Muslims so that the elected representatives could raise voice of the communities in a fitting manner.
Radesh Singh Tony and Baba Gorpal Singh sharing their views about issues of Sikh community, said people of their community were also facing worst sort of problems and the main issue of them was fearing of target killings of the community by unknown armed men while the Sikhs' representative in the provincial assembly Sardar Suran Singh was playing of silence spectator over the ordeals of the community.