KARACHI : Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) and Legal Aid Society (LAS), on Friday, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for strengthening access to justice by extending legal support to Hindu and other non-Muslim communities across Sindh.
The MoU was signed by Secretary General PHC Parshotam Ramani and Chief Executive Officer LAS Barrister Hayya Emaan Zahid here at a ceremony in the presence of Chairman PM’s Taskforce on Gandhara Tourism and Patron-in-Chief of PHC Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani and other representatives of both the organisations.
The signing ceremony was specifically organised on the International Day of Minorities to highlight the significance and role of minority communities in the development, progress and prosperity of the country while a cake was also cut at the occasion to mark the day.
According to the MoU both organisations will work jointly for ensuring access of minority communities to justice in criminal as well as civil matters and safeguarding the rights of marginalised communities across Sindh. As part of the collaboration, PHC will refer cases of the Hindu community to LAS, disseminate Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) material prepared by LAS among its communities.
On the other hand, LAS has pledged its unwavering support by providing free legal advice, sharing awareness material and other assistance to Pakistan Hindu Council.
Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vankwani speaking at the occasion highlighted the significance of the International Day of Minorities and said that the creation of Pakistan was based on the ideology of “Riyasat e Madina” where all the citizens including religious minorities were guaranteed fundamental rights and equal status.
He said that crimes take place in every country and Pakistan was no exception. Likewise, non-Muslim citizens in Pakistan also become prey of crimes like robbery, kidnapping for ransom as well as forced conversions and marriages, he noted and stressed that such incidents should not be portrayed in the media as maltreatment or repressive acts against any specific religious minority.
Dr. Vankwani said that a number of non-Muslim citizens in Sindh had a weak financial status and they either could not afford fees and charges of litigation or they were afraid of taking the matter to the police or courts due to its repercussions. After the MoU, such aggrieved citizens would be able to convey their issue to PHC or directly to LAS and efforts could be made to ensure remedy at the local level, he added.
Mr. Vankwani further said that the term minorities should be replaced by the term non-Muslim communities as in his opinion the term minority was a discriminatory term and non-Muslims were not inferior in Pakistan.
He said that PHC has been playing an active role for resolving the issues faced by not only the Hindu community but also the citizens belonging to other religious minorities and efforts were made at administrative as well as judicial levels.
Barrister Hayya Emaan Zahid speaking at the occasion informed that LAS was formed under the theme of a public-private partnership with objectives of provision of legal aid to deserving citizens and the society was working in coordination with the Sindh government in all the districts of the province while it has also established a toll-free helpline to ensure access to justice and providing guidance to citizens.
The MoU with PHC would help non-Muslim citizens by reaching out to a forum for legal advice and getting legal aid for solving their issues.
