LAHORE: Students of religious minorities, including Christians, will get two percent reservation in universities in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The reservation for students of Christian, Hindu, and Sikh communities is being done as part of the ‘Punjab Religious Minority Empowerment Project’. Congratulating the decision of the Punjab province, Fr. Kamran Gauri Khan has come on the scene. He hoped this would help religious minority students to reach the social ladder through education. He urged that this should not be limited to paper and should be implemented.
Asif Aqeel described the decision as a journalist and advocate for the rights of religious minorities. At the same time, clergy and human rights activists are worried that the reservation will help the minority students get a higher education and get a higher-paying job, but the order will only be enforced or confined to paper.
Although the central government of Pakistan has set a 5% reservation to address unemployment among minorities, this quota is often left vacant in higher jobs. This is an example of the religious discrimination that religious minorities face in Pakistan. The New York Times came out last week with tales of extreme discrimination suffered by the Christian community in the country. It is customary in Pakistan to seize property and shrines of Christians, abduct Christian and Hindu girls and forcefully convert them.
