Pakistan’s Parliament has passed a law to establish a commission entrusted to protect the rights of religious minorities in the Islamic nation. Source: UCA News.
The National Commission for Minority Rights Bill 2025, in its introduction, said that Pakistan “is bound to promote respect of religious diversity and create favourable conditions” for all.
The bill aims to ensure that religious minorities are “enabled to freely practice, express and develop their own culture as it is guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973,” it said.
The bill’s passage “is a significant and historical moment for Pakistan’s polity and society,” said Peter Jacob, a Catholic human rights activist in the country.
“The law provides a strong basis for creating an empowered and autonomous human rights body,” said Mr Jacob, who heads the Lahore-based rights group, Centre for Social Justice.
Mr Jacob, who campaigned for such an independent rights commission amid anti-Christian violence in the country, said the law brings “the huge democratic potential for the inclusion of religious minorities into the policy making in the country”.
The commission aims to ensure that religious minorities enjoy human rights in all spheres, including the religious, economic, social, and cultural spheres, as outlined in the national constitution and international covenants and declarations, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
It also provides “an opportunity for correcting exclusionary societal trends that have been plaguing our system”, Mr Jacob said.
The law grants the commission the authority to summon witnesses, inspect detention facilities, and initiate suo motu inquiries, enabling it to issue binding recommendations to both federal and provincial authorities.
Additionally, it is mandated to have its own budget for operations without requiring prior approval from the government. It should report its audited annual report only to the parliament.
Christian leaders acknowledge that while they view the new independent commission as a step forward, it may ultimately fail if it fails to exercise its authority and becomes a tool of its political masters.
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Pakistan enacts law to ensure religious minorities’ rights (By Anee Muskan, UCA News)
