KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party MPA Surendar Valasai has accused the federal government led by Imran Khan of inflicting negative discrimination against the Dalits or Scheduled Castes communities of Pakistan by completely ignoring them in the proposed nominations for National Commission for Minority Rights (NCMR).
In a statement issued here on Friday, Valasai said that Scheduled Castes form almost close to half of the total non-Muslim population in the country yet not a single member has been nominated from them by PTI government in the proposed NCMR, which was a sheer form of negative discrimination against the marginalized majority.
He further said that provincial governments should be taken on board in the formation of the said Commission.
The federal government must induct the best brains from the non-Muslims as per their population ratio instead of making it another political arm of PTI, the PPP MPA added.
The federal cabinet meeting on Wednesday approved the inclusion of Ahmadis in the minority commission, prompting a backlash from certain political and religious quarters.
The cabinet had considered the summary titled ‘Re-Constitution of National Commission for Minorities’ dated April 15, 2020 which was submitted by the Religious Affairs Division, and approved the constitution of the commission in principle.
It subsequently directed that the National Commission for Minorities be reconstituted while keeping following aspects in view: majority of members in the commission shall be from the minority communities; chairman shall be from minority communities; Ahmadi community, being a minority, should also be represented in the commission.
The commission would comprise nine official non-Muslim and eight non-official Muslim members if the inclusion goes ahead without any hiccups.
However, the religious ministry has already opposed the decision. Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri told federal secretary Mushtaq Ahmad to approach the Cabinet Division for a review to get the decision reversed.
The Ahmadiyya community of Pakistan is included in the commission for the first time since 1974, when they were declared non-Muslim by the then Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government to appease the religious lobby.
