Islamabad: Pakistan’s federal cabinet has approved the Commission for Religious Minorities after a long wait. Religious Affairs Minister Peer Noor-ul-Haq Qadri said the National Commission for Minority had approved the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan yesterday. The first chairman of the commission is Chela Ram Kevlani, a Hindu who is a member of the ruling party from the Sindh province. The commission comprises three Christian members, including Bishop Sebastian Shaw, the Bishop of Lahore.
In addition to Bishop Sebastian Shah, the other Christian members of the commission are Albert David, chairman of the Pakistan Christian United Movement, and Sarah Safdar, Peshawar diocese secretary of the Church of Pakistan. The Ahmadis have not been included in the commission, which has three members each – Christian and Hindu, two Muslims and Sikhs, each from the Parsi community and the Kelash community.
Meanwhile, some religious minority organizations have rejected the proposed commission. The commission was formed six years after the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s 2014 ruling that a government should be set up under the constitution to protect the rights of religious minorities. At the same time, the Sunni Islamist organization is threatening to stage protests if new regulations are not imposed on religious minorities.
