Islamabad: A Hindu lawmaker in Pakistan has submitted a bill in the lower house of Parliament, seeking a constitutional amendment that would ensure that religious minorities in the Muslim majority nation are constitutionally identified as “non-Muslims”, in a bid to end the discrimination.
Keeso Mal Kheeal Das of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has issued a notice to Pakistan’s National Assembly Secretariat, for introducing a private member bill.
According to the Hindu lawmaker, the Pakistani constitution currently discriminates against millions of Pakistani non-Muslims by ambiguously referring to them as minorities. The inaccurate reference gives the impression of being second-class citizens, Das added.
Through the bill which is expected to be introduced in the upcoming sessions, the lawmaker has sought an amendment in the preamble of the Constitution of Pakistan, stating that for the word “minorities”, occurring twice in the preamble, the expression ‘non-Muslims’ shall be substituted.
Das has also asked to make an amendment in Article 36 of the Constitution by substituting the word ‘minorities’, wherever occurring, with the expression ‘non-Muslims.’
“It is against the spirit of the Constitution, 1973, to discriminate against a large number of population by declaring them minority, when the sacrifices of that population are remarkable in every sphere of life for the prosperity, growth and bright future of the country,” expressed Das, in the statement of objectives and reasons for his bill.