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PAKISTAN: Christians Concerned After Minorities Ministry ‘Devolved’

 

Bhatti_killing_large_pakistan

PAKISTAN:
Christians Concerned After Minorities Ministry ‘Devolved’ 

"Pakistan has abolished its Federal Ministry for Religious Minorities as part of a larger plan of government decentralization approved by the Parliament of Pakistan in February. The move against this specific ministry had been delayed at the urging of the Minister for Minority Affairs Shabhaz Bhatti before his assassination on March 2.

"A source in the Pakistan government said the decision to proceed with the ministry’s closing was like killing Bhatti “a second time.” According to the plan, the responsibilities of the ministry will be devolved from the federal level to the provincial level. But this source worried that in practical terms that may mean "removing from the agenda of the central government issues related to minority rights.""

Read more HERE.

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4 responses to “PAKISTAN: Christians Concerned After Minorities Ministry ‘Devolved’”

  1. omar

    The news item makes too much of a connection between this act and Bhatti’s assassination. The ministry itself (like most “minor” ministries in Islamabad; such would include sports, culture, tourism, education, health) was little more than a place to find a job for your friends to make money. Bhatti himself was a very brave man and his efforts to help minority communities were stellar, but the impact was in the media, not in the ministry (which is mostly staffed by the same corrupt small time crooks as any other “unimportant” ministry..and where Bhatti may not even have had the power to transfer a reasonably well-connected clerk).
    Devolution is actually a very important and positive step, for which very progressive legislators (some do exist) like Raza Rabbani have worked very very hard. Overly centralized government is one of Pakistan’s biggest problems. Devolving this particular ministry may not do much good, but it is not the equivalent of killing Bhatti again…

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  2. Ruchira

    I agree with Omar that the closing of a minor bureaucratic institution (which probably wasn’t doing anything useful anyway) in the south Asian political arena is probably as insignificant as the US govt. changing the color scheme for terror alerts. We should be much more worried about news like this. (Some of us had learnt of it when it happened but the NYT reported it only yesterday.) Given this kind of mentality among the public as well as the ruling elite, minorities in Pakistan are not about to see their human rights protected any time soon.

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  3. Norman Costa

    Omar and Ruchira: Thanks for the perspective. As you can see, there is much anxiety over this matter.

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  4. razib

    they’re screwed. religious minorities in most muslim countries* are screwed in the near term. it is what it is.
    * most of the exceptions are in sub-saharan african and the former C.I.S.

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