PIPS Survey Report :Pakistan’s religious minorities believe they are not part of the larger social and cultural mainstream
A research study conducted by Pak Institute for Peace Studies revealed that Pakistan’s religious minorities believe they are not part of the larger political, social and cultural mainstream. The report has tried to understand the lives of religious minorities and their interaction with other communities in Pakistan through a countrywide survey with 327 respondents belonging to Christian, Hindu, Baha’i and Sikh communities from Pakistan’s four provinces. The survey findings also revealed that discrimination against minorities is connected with overall inequality and government inattention. While most of the respondents complained about the lack of effective protection accorded by the state against violence and intimidation, 62 percent of respondents said they did not face faith-based persecution in day-to-day living in society. Meanwhile about 44 percent of respondents were of the view that the laws of the state were discriminatory towards certain minority groups.
Dialogue on Democracy 4 : Constitution is supreme and all Pakistanis are bound to abide by it: religious scholars
Pakistan’s Constitution is a national-level social contract and in the light of Islamic teachings every Pakistani is bound to abide by it. National-level disputes and conflicts, which are shared by all and not linked to certain religious sect or community, should be settled through the majority opinion. A minority cannot be granted the right to impose its opinion on majority. Same principle would apply to interpretation and exegesis of Shariah that would be the prerogative of the elected parliamentarians. Those who believe in the establishment of Islam through the use of force and non-democratic means should be engaged in academic and intellectual dialogue with Pakistan's prominent religious scholars and experts of Islamic law on Islam’s fundamental concepts of jihad, state, legislation and establishment of religion etc.
Religious scholars and religious-political parties will have to work for improvement in the current political system of Pakistan while staying.....read more
PIPS Annual Report 2013
Policy Briefs
Pakistan's Security Landscape
Representing a nine percent increase from the year before, a total of 1,717 terrorist attacks took place across Pakistan in 2013, claiming the lives of 2,451 people, 19 percent more than previous year, and causing injuries to another 5,438. Over 61 percent (1,059) of the total 1,717 terrorist attacks were carried out by the Pakistani Taliban mainly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ... Read more>>
Sectarian Violence
A rise in sectarian violence in Pakistan that started in 2011 continued through 2012 towards end of 2013. First two months of 2013 saw an unprecedented wave of sectarian violence against Hazara Shia community in Quetta. While incidents of sectarian violence continued unabated throughout the year, during November 2013 that coincided with Islamic month of Moharram, ... Read more>>
