Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Saturday reiterated that citizens of all faiths including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians were enjoying equal rights in Pakistan with dignity and the government would ensure the protection of their places of worship.
Speaking at an event organized to celebrate Christmas here, he felicitated the Christian community on behalf of the government and the people of Pakistan. He said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) signed the treaty of Najran that assured protection to the places of worship of Christians.
In view of that treaty, it was obligatory for the Muslims for all times to come to protect the religious places of Christians, he said adding, “We need to promote harmony, peace and love.”
He recounted that a Christian King was the first one to lend support to the Muslims in their early days. He said it was obligatory for Muslims to have faith in all prophets from Prophet Adam to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
All Prophets were a guiding light for humanity, he said adding spirituality was a cure for the ills of humanity despite all the technological progress that the humans had made. He recalled the first speech of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the constituent assembly in which he outlined the basic principles of the state of Pakistan.
He quoted the Quaid as saying that “in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
In this way, Quaid-e-Azam made it clear that all Pakistani citizens had the same political rights, he stressed. The prime minister said Quaid-e-Azam foresaw that Muslims, Christians and other communities would be denied their religious freedoms in India as Hindutva was raising its head at that time.
“We will resist all kinds of fascism. Pakistan is the flag carrier of inclusiveness and harmony.”
“We are free to choose our faith. God, Prophets and their companions did not force any body to choose their faith.
The free will is awarded by the divine. He said Pakistan had its challenges and it was a victim of terrorism and thousands of its martyrs performed their national duty and defended every inch of the territory of the great nation of Pakistan.
