Pakistan calls for independent commission on minorities, activating mosques as community centers

This handout photo, taken and released by Pakistan’s religion ministry, shows a meeting of the ministerial committee at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony in Islamabad on December 4, 2024. (Photo courtesy: MORA)
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  • Non-Muslims constitute about three percent of Pakistan’s estimated population of 240 million
  • Pakistan’s minorities regularly come under attack by militant groups, complain of discrimination

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday called for granting financial and administrative autonomy to the National Commission for Minorities and said an interfaith harmony policy should be launched to activate mosques as community centers to promote religious tolerance. 
Non-Muslims constitute about three percent of Pakistan’s estimated population of 240 million people. Pakistan’s minority communities complain of facing discrimination in nearly all walks of life and regularly come under attack by militant groups. They have also sometimes been accused of blasphemy, which is punishable by death in the South Asian nation.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs and Federal Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination, Rana Sanaullah, chaired a meeting in Islamabad to review the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2024. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar proposed at the meeting to make the National Commission for Minorities “independent and autonomous from ministerial pressure.”
“The subcommittee also proposed granting financial and administrative autonomy to the commission. The commission will consist of 13 members, 9 of whom will be from minority communities,” the ministry of religious affairs said in a statement. 
“The committee directed the Ministry of Law and Justice to finalize the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2024 within three days.”
A new interfaith harmony policy for promoting religious tolerance was also reviewed. 
“Sanaullah emphasized the significant importance of mosques in Islam and suggested that the interfaith harmony policy should include a proposal to activate mosques as community centers,” the statement said. 
“The committee directed the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony to present the interfaith harmony policy and the policy for promoting religious tolerance to the federal cabinet meeting for final approval, incorporating the subcommittee’s amendments related to both policies.”