Minorities' protests more frequent, widespread in Pakistan: Report

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 18 : Amid the already deteriorating conditions of the minority communities in Pakistan, the protests in the country has become more frequent and widespread, said a Canada-based think tank, adding that religious minorities in the country are on the edge and protesting publicly.
In its report, International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) said, "acquiring cumulative effect, this year protests erupted in many cities across Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sahiwal, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Vehari and Multan. Old census records show the religious minorities were 10.23 per cent of the population after its erstwhile east-wing separated in 1971. Presently, they add up to less than five per cent of the 220 million population."
The report said that on December 11 every year, International Human Rights Day is observed when hundreds take to the streets to register their fears at the falling standards of living and safety for the country's minorities.
Significantly, they are also gathering ethnic (Pushtun), provincial and linguistic (Sindh) dimensions as never before, it added.
According to the report, protests have been staged over some old issues, while some others have cropped up. One of the new issues is the fear over the return in the neighbourhood in Afghanistan of the dreaded Taliban, whose record against the religious minorities has been a few shades worse than in Pakistan.
Another recent issue that added to the concerns of the minorities, especially the Christians who form 1.6 per cent of the population was the lynching and burning of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot earlier this month. Priyantha Kumara was accused of blasphemy and mob took the law into its hands to publicly execute him, IFFRAS reported.
The report said that like Kumara, several people, mostly religious minorities in Pakistan are targeted in the name of blasphemy, a law that prescribes nothing short of death penalty.