September 9, 2026
By Shoukat Korai
KARACHI
Pakistani citizens of diverse faiths have lived here for generations, yet full equality remains an open question. Forced religious conversions, unfulfilled job quotas, and daily discrimination are longstanding grievances. Yet each time they are raised, official promises follow, yet rarely translate into tangible change for minority communities.
Workng group discusses minorities’ issues
Recently a working group of Sindh Assembly members held a meeting in which the problems facing the province’s religious minorities were discussed in detail.
The meeting was told that Minority Facilitation Desks had been established in 10 districts of Sindh. The purpose of these desks is to register complaints from minority communities, forward them to the relevant institutions, and take steps toward their prompt resolution.
Mukesh Kumar Hasija, a member of the Sindh Assembly and of the Minority Parliamentarians’ Caucus, told media that during the meeting he was briefed that more than three thousand complaints had been registered at the facilitation desks across various districts of Sindh over the past year, and letters had been sent to the relevant institutions seeking their resolution.
He said the purpose of setting up these desks was to ensure that the case of any affected individual or family could be brought to the attention of the relevant authorities, and that the facilitation desks had made good progress in this regard.
He added that the working group of parliamentarians had also directed the relevant institutions to improve their contact and coordination with members of parliament and to send monthly reports on the desks’ performance.
According to Mukesh Kumar Hasija, “There are many cases where implementation is the problem. The law exists, and the relevant departments issue instructions too, but despite that, the issue still doesn’t get resolved.”
He said that a large number of people from religious minorities live in the Thar region.
During police recruitment there, some candidates qualified on merit and were also eligible for selection under the minority quota, but, according to him, the names of some who had qualified on merit were removed and they were instead given jobs under the minority quota.
Mukesh Kumar Hasija said the interior minister and relevant police officials acknowledged this mistake and assured that it would be corrected, but the matter has still not been rectified. In his words: “The real problem is implementation. If the law were implemented exactly as written, many problems could be resolved.”
Is it enough to register complaints?
Human rights and minority rights activists ask whether merely registering complaints will actually resolve the underlying problems.
That question remains as relevant today as ever.
They argue that the problem cannot be reduced to simply filing complaints or setting up a new administrative desk. A lasting solution requires constitutional reform, effective legislation, and the impartial implementation of existing laws.
Professor Dr. Tauseef Ahmed, affiliated with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, says the roots of the problems facing minorities lie in constitutional and legal shortcomings.
He said, “The root of the problem lies in constitutional and legal flaws. When there is division and discrimination built into the constitution, the entire structure will be built on that same foundation, because the constitution is the foundation.”
According to him, certain provisions in Pakistan’s constitution create discrimination among citizens. He noted that the fact the president of the country cannot belong to a religious minority group is itself a major form of discrimination.
Dr. Tauseef Ahmed also said that religious extremism poses a major problem for minorities. He said that religious fanaticism has led to the burning and destruction of places of worship, while cases also continue to emerge of young girls being abducted and then forced to convert their religion.
He said the problems of religious minorities need to be viewed not merely at the administrative level but also within a constitutional and legal context, and that effective implementation of laws is equally necessary — otherwise, complaints will keep increasing.
Why is the sense of discrimination growing?
Seema Maheshwari, a member of the National Commission on the Status of Women, says that while nations around the world are progressing, Pakistani society remains divided along majority-minority lines.
“We are moving through the twenty-first century, nations of the world are progressing, but even today we remain divided along lines of discrimination, between minority and majority. It’s worth reflecting on why we find ourselves facing this kind of situation.”
According to Seema Maheshwari, minority communities are equally residents of this country. They were born here and have lived their entire lives here but certain elements bent on causing mischief are deepening divisions in society and pushing people further apart from one another.
She said minorities here are targeted for discrimination sometimes in the name of religion, sometimes over conversion, and sometimes simply because of their minority status, and that places of worship are attacked.
Referring to a recent incident, she said that posters bearing Arabic script and verses were put up outside a temple in Karachi, in an apparent attempt to create the impression that the site belonged to one particular group. She said places of worship are the shared heritage of everyone, and that the God who created all people is one and the same — but actions of this kind only wound people’s sentiments and create a feeling among them that they are not equal members of this society.
Seema Maheshwari said that incidents of forced religious conversion are common in Sindh and Punjab, and that a particular “mindset” has taken root in society around this issue.
Beyond assurances
The list of problems is long, and the demands are not new. Minority communities want not just assurances but the practical protection of their constitutional rights. Minority Facilitation Desks can certainly serve as a channel for forwarding complaints to relevant institutions, but the true measure of their success will be how many of the registered complaints are actually resolved.
Ultimately, the question remains whether state institutions can ensure the impartial implementation of existing laws and constitutional guarantees. Because for minorities, equality should not merely be a right recorded in the statute book — it should be a reality felt in everyday life.