Human Rights of Religious Minorities in Pakistan

Pakistan is predominantly a Muslim state, having Islam as official religion. The legal, political, economic and social state structures have over the last few decades excluded the religious minorities from participating in national affairs in all fields. They are effectively and systematically denied the rights as enshrined in the constitution of Pakistan (1973). However, there is growing debate in intelligentsia about bringing a model that would allow the minorities to become mainstream actors while preserving the Islamic nature of state and society. Most of the states practices practice and scholarly debates revolve around few policy options for Minority-Majority relationship issues. Pluralism, assimilation, Legal Protection of minorities Population transfer (demographic change), Subjugation and Extermination are to name few. (Simpson & Yinger, 1953) Two models are generally practiced in the world: Pluralism and Assimilation. In United States the official policy of the state is Pluralism that extends not only over religious minorities but also to ethnic and racial minorities. However, much of European countries practice Assimilation tool that stands for merging of identities with local and national culture. Here too, assimilation policy extends to religious, ethnic and racial domains. In developing religious states, where one religious community is predominant, religious minorities expect fairness and equality at two levels: The first is civil and economic rights by means of state policy. Second is societal level. (Fox, 2013) To understand the position of religious minorities in any given country, these two levels of study are critical and this forms the basis of the study under review. The presentation debates on the question of whether or not the democratic model of inclusivity is compatible with the desire to maintain the religious character of state and its laws and the society. The fundamental argument is that striking balance with inclusive participation in state and society can be managed while preserving the Islamic character of society, theoretically and as well as with empirical evidence from Pakistan.