What Fundamental Rights have been Granted to Minorities in Pakistan? What are Hindrances in the Way of Application of the Constitutional Rights in this Regard? Suggest Remedies.

PMS 2025 Solved Pakistan Studies Past Papers | Fundamental Rights and Minorities in Pakistan

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Question Breakdown

In this question, the examiner has asked about the Fundamental Rights granted to minorities in Pakistan, the hindrances in the way of application of the constitutional rights in this regard, and suggested remedies. You have to give equal weight to all three portions. To gain high marks, support your evidence with legal provisions by explicitly citing provisions of the articles from the Constitution of 1973.

Outline

1- Introduction  

2- Minorities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan  

3- What Fundamental Rights have been Granted to Minorities in Pakistan? 

• ✓ Right to Freedom of Religion 
• ✓Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination 
• ✓Right to Cultural Identity 
• ✓Safeguards in Education 
• ✓State Obligations  

4- What are the hindrances in the Way of the application of the Constitutional Rights in this Regard? 

• ✓Lack of Implementation  
• ✓Conditions on the Constitutional Safeguards  
• ✓Social Hindrances  
• ✓Failure to Enforce Job Quotas 
• ✓Legal Ambiguity and State Identity 

5- How can these Challenges be Diluted?  

• ✓ Empower and Strengthen Institutions 
• ✓End Legal Ambiguity and Reform Education 
• ✓Ensure Equal Economic Opportunity 
• ✓Enforce the Rule of Law 

6- Conclusion

Answer to the Question

Introduction

Minority in a democratic country directly means their limited socio-political standing in a majority-dominant environment, as the stance of the All India Muslim League in undivided India persuaded Indian Muslims to strive for a separate state. As a result, Pakistan, the land of the pure, came into being on Aug 14, 1947, as the first nation to emerge in the name of Islam. It became the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the status got constitutional standing in 1956. However, a small portion of its population consisted of the previous natives of north India, including Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, and Hindus, who did not opt for departure. Jinnah, the founder father of the country, affirms the provision of rights as enunciated in the golden principles of Shariah. However, the early religious versus modernist tendencies depicted the future picture of the minorities in Pakistan. Although protected socially at some levels, the extremist tendencies always pose a recurrent threat. Therefore, the state provided constitutional safeguards to minorities as part of fundamental rights. The Constitution of 1973 provides minorities the right to freedom of religion, the right to equality and non-discrimination, the right to cultural identity, safeguards in education, and state obligations. However, lack of implementation, conditions on the constitutional safeguards, social hindrances, failure to enforce job quotas, and legal ambiguity and state Islamic identity continued to influence the provision of rights. Therefore,  empowering and strengthening institutions is the need of the time, alongside ending legal ambiguities, reforms in education, ensuring equal job opportunities, and enforcing the rule of law.

Minorities in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan  

Pakistan, a part of the Indian Subcontinent, appeared on the world map after its liberation from  British colonial rule in 1947. It was the first ever country that emerged in the name of religion, Islam. The meaning of its name, the land of the pure, also demonstrates that Muslims, the followers of Islam, dominate its population composition. However, Jinnah, the sole spokesperson and leader, always considered the ideology of the country to be about minority rights. The leadership of the newly developed nation decided to add a white strip to the traditional flag of the All India Muslim League, the Muslim representative party in the Indian Subcontinent, representing religious minorities and symbolizing the vision for an inclusive nation. Some of the key communities represented by the white stripe included: Christians, Hindus, Sikhs, and Parsees.

What Fundamental Rights have been Granted to Minorities in Pakistan? 

Fundamental rights are enshrined in the Constitution of 1973 in the provisions of Articles 8 to  28.  

• ✓Right to Freedom of Religion 

To begin, Article 20 of the Constitution of 1973 provided the constitutional safeguards to religious liberty to minorities. The Article 20 of the Constitution of 1973, passed on 10th April 1973, provides freedom to profess religion and to manage religious institutions by stating subject to law, public order and morality, (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. As illustrated in the provision, even propagation is not limited if it doesn’t disturb public order and morality. For implementation, state-supported maintenance is also provided. For example, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), a government body, manages and maintains properties left behind Hindus and Sikhs, namely Katas Raj Mandir, Sadhu Bela Mandir, and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, including other temples and historical monuments.  

• ✓Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination 

Second, the right to equality before law and non- discrimination is provided in the Constitution of 1973. The law also prohibited any form of discrimination in state services, while Article 4 protected the law by declaring it an inalienable right of every citizen. For illustration, Article 5 of the Constitution of 1973 explicitly states all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law; No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence, or place of birth. The country’s law affirms liberty and equality of minorities as enunciated in the golden principles of Islam and Shariah. It is important to note here that these golden principles are not adopted in pursuit of the practising country’s hybrid governance model of democracy, but these laws are supported by Shariah.  

• ✓Right to Cultural Identity 

Although Pakistan was created on the notion that, at any cost, the separate identity of the Muslims must be preserved. It’s the All India Muslim League’s, the Muslim representative party in the Indian Subcontinent, manifesto that directly targeted Muslims despite having a minority status in British India.  However, after the creation of the country, minority rights were preserved as enshrined in Shariah. For illustration, Article 28 of the Constitution of 1973 explicitly provides preservation of language, script, and culture, stating that subject to Article 251, any section of citizens having a distinct language, script, or culture shall have the right to preserve and promote the same, and subject to law, establish institutions for that purpose. Similarly, Article 33 of the Constitution of 1973 states that the state shall discourage parochial and other similar prejudices by stating that the state shall discourage parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian, and provincial prejudices among the citizens. 

• ✓Safeguards in Education 

Next, the constitutional rights also provided for the provision of education. It is an undeniable truth that education develops a nation and forms the basis of society. Its access must not be limited while focusing on the ideological standing of diverse groups. For illustration, Article 22 of the Constitution of 1973 provides safeguards to educational institutions in respect of religion by stating that no person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or take part in any religious ceremony, or attend religious worship, if such instruction, ceremony, or worship relates to a religion other than his own. Furthermore, it provides for non-discrimination against any community in the granting of an exemption or concession in relation to taxation. For illustration, Article 22 of the Constitution of 1973  provided no religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination; and no citizen shall be denied admission to any educational institution receiving aid from public revenues on the ground only of race, religion, caste, or place of birth. 

• ✓State Obligations 

Besides, the law also obligated the state to protect minorities as far as their legitimate rights are concerned. For example, Article 36 of the Constitution of 1973 provides for the protection of minorities by stating that the State shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services. Therefore, significant provisions regarding the inclusion of minorities in the decision-making process enable law-backed standing.

What are the hindrances in the Way of the application of the Constitutional Rights in this Regard? 

As discussed earlier, Pakistan is a Muslim-majority country. Despite constitutional safeguards and established ethical grounds, extremist tendencies hinder the application of constitutional rights. The following points tell the leading hindrances in the way of the implementation of such rights.  

• ✓Lack of Implementation  

To begin, the lack of implementation of established principles is one of the leading hurdles to enforcement.  Much of the cause is attributed to policy inconsistency due to recurrent mandate changes, where attempts to radically change Pakistan on Islamic grounds aggravated the crisis. Although the 2014 Supreme Court Judgment provided for the protection of minorities, its implementations did not cover even one-fourth of the expected success percentage. Besides, the delay in the establishment of the National Commission for Minority Rights Bill in late 2025 restricted the prospects that might be brought with the presence of an oversight body.  

• ✓Conditions on the Constitutional Safeguards  

Second, conditions on the constitutional safeguards create a vacuum for the inclusive forces that hinder the process of implementation of rights. These conditions can be better elucidated as a conditional clause. For illustration, the Article 20 of the Constitution of 1973, provides freedom to profess religion and to manage religious institutions but with a conditional clause stating subject to law, public order and morality, (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion; and (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. 

• ✓Social Hindrances  

Third, the discriminatory practices and violence against minorities limit the implementation of rights. These practices are rooted in religious extremism, and the output of Pakistan’s 1980 s experiment with the Jihadi network amid Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and sectarian extremist tendencies. Christians and Ahmadis are one of the most targeted communities as extremists regard them as a potential threat to Islam. The surprising fact is impunity because law enforcers are left with no option but to maintain social order, which requires their liberty. The blasphemy laws are misused, and extrajudicial killing and mass justice aggravate the situation. Its staunch example was the 2023 Jaranwala Church arson attacks that led to the burning and destruction of 26 Christian churches in Jaranwala, Punjab, Pakistan, by supporters of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). Besides, forced conversions and educational discrimination in schools also pose a looming threat to the enforcement of constitutional rights.  

• ✓Failure to Enforce Job Quotas 

Generally, job quotas help communities get reserved opportunities where they can compete with each other and separate from the majority dominance conundrum. According to the accounts of the Prime Minister’s Office, the premier’s message to minorities states that the Government has reserved 5% job quota for minorities in government services and provided them with reserved seats in the Senate, National Assembly, and Provincial Assemblies so that they are able to convey their standpoint to the national audience. We take particular interest in their religious festivals and celebrate them at an official level. However, there is a huge gap between the formulation and provisions of such principles. It has also been seen that low-level posts are more encouraged than high-level posts in the decision-making process, except for a few cases.  

• ✓Legal Ambiguity and State Identity 

As discussed earlier, the constitutional provisions are provided with conditional clauses that reduce their full potential. Adding to the previous, the state’s Islamic identity with extremist thresholds further creates ambiguity. The second amendment in the Constitution of 1973 declared Ahmadis as non-Muslims. Therefore, their religious practices are also criminalized. The Constitution of Pakistan does not provide for non-Muslims for the post of head of state. In this way, the provision of equal citizenship also has legal ambiguity.  

How can Challenges associated with minorities rights be diluted?  

It is wiser to say that the challenges to the implementation of rights can be diluted through some pragmatic steps, but cannot be eliminated due to fundamental loopholes in the apparatus. The following points help mitigate the issue.  

• ✓Empower and Strengthen Institutions 

To begin, statutory bodies help implement the law as they work closely with the community and understand ground realities. Therefore, it is required to strengthen their standing in a broad context. The National Commission for Minority Rights (NCMR) needs to be strengthened with such statutory powers that help implement the law in the real sense. Besides, good governance is the key to unlocking the full potential of such bodies.  

• ✓End Legal Ambiguity and Reform Education 

Then, conditional clauses need to be interpreted to obstruct their potential misuse. Adding more, the state must clarify the reasons for these restrictions to narrow the trust deficit and prevent the misuse in the coming years. Significantly, the enforcement of Article 22 of the Constitution of 1973 is the need of the hour, which allows minorities to study only their religious text. Although choice is given priority at the university level and job market, secondary education still involves the study of Islamiat for all. Besides, the academic curriculum must be revisited to enhance religious tolerance.  

• ✓Ensure Equal Economic Opportunity and Rule of Law 

Last, the provision of quota must be ensured across all departmental levels from the top tier to the bottom. The inclusion in the decision-making process helps the state navigate the real demands and challenges the minority faces. Besides, the enforcement of existing legal protections against hate speech, violence, forced conversions, and child marriage is inevitable to dilute the intensity of these issues. Last, normalizing impunity must be prevented, and maintaining the social order stance needs a revisit.  

Conclusion 

To conclude, navigating the real standing of the crisis is the requirement as separatist tendencies threaten national survival. Although legal provisions are devised, a lack of implementation and conditions restrict their potential. There is a need to dilute extremist tendencies and encourage religious tolerance. Besides, minorities must be informed about the religious sentiments of people that may hurt them. It is evident that many of the blasphemy incidents witnessed a two-sided clash. Thus, it is high time to take steps that make sense and can be implemented realistically, not just on paper.

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