Source: Daily Times
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C08%5C13%5Cstory_13-8-2007_pg7_26
LAHORE: The All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) has issued a thirty-point charter of demands during its National Solidarity Rally, said a press release issued on Sunday.
According to the release, the charter said Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s speech, delivered on August 11, 1947 in the first Constituent Assembly, should be made an integral part of the constitution and anything contrary to the Quaid’s speech should be rescinded.
The government should ensure adequate representation of religious minorities in the National and Provincial assemblies proportionate to the increase of their population, it said. Religious minorities had been denied representation in the Senate, it said. This should not continue and minorities should also be given representation in the policymaking institutions, the charter demands.
The charter demanded complete revocation of the provisions in the sections 295-B and C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which were a source of perpetual fear to religious minorities. Hudood Laws and other discriminatory laws against women and minorities should be completely abolished, it said.
The constitution of Pakistan should be made to uproot the concept of social untouchability, said the charter. The government should ensure religious harmony through legislation and sections in the constitution, it said, including Articles 2-A, 31, 227 and 228, that promoted religious segregation should be abolished. Legislation should be done to discourage hate crimes, it further demanded.