Representatives of the Pakistan’s Christian, Sikh, and Hindu communities, joined by Muslims, commemorated National Minorities Day on August 11. The Servant of God Shahbaz Bhatti (1968-2011), a Catholic cabinet minister who was assassinated, established the day.
Father Qaisar Feroz, spokesman for the bishops’ conference, told the Vatican newspaper that the nation’s founding vision, articulated by Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), was “the vision of a Pakistan where citizenship took precedence over religious affiliation; an approach in which Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other minorities held equal dignity and could contribute to building the country.”
“Over the decades, however, that vision has had to contend with the rise of fundamentalist currents, social discrimination, and laws that have left non-Muslim communities vulnerable,” said Father Feroz.
Islam is the official religion of the South Asian nation of 257 million (map), the fifth most populous in the world. 95% of Pakistan’s people are Muslim, 2% are Christian, and 1% are Hindu.