New research assessing the Pakistan Supreme Court’s 2014 judgment to protect minority rights predicts its implementation will take more than two decades.
“During this period, a Supreme Court bench has conducted 23 follow-up hearings and passed nearly six dozen orders, yet Pakistan stands 21 years away from the finish line of full implementation, considering the existing pace of compliance,” the study states.
“The federal government reported the least number of compliance reports. No report had been submitted from Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Reportage from the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony and Ministry of Federal Education was in particular missing.”
Peter Jacob, executive director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), virtually inaugurated his research titled “Justice Yet Afar” in Lahore on April 30. Speakers expressed concerns at the state’s lack of compliance with the 2014 Supreme Court judgment that mandated the federal government to create a national council for the rights of minorities and provincial governments to create task forces for religious tolerance, protect places of worship and crack down on hate speech, among other measures.