By Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghouri
Although a cold wave has hit the country, the temperature is rising considerably in Islamabad due to political activities. The ruling coalition and opposition parties have also set up camp in the capital. Meetings are being held day and night to deliberate on the Twenty-Seventh Constitutional Amendment, and this amendment will likely pass easily because the government has the required number of votes. Many people do not want to miss this opportunity to have their demands accepted, as the MQM has approached the government to pass the bill regarding the local government system in Karachi.
Similarly, the ANP is providing conditional support for changing the name of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The driving force behind presenting this bill is minority member of the Senate Khalil Tahir Sindhu, yet he has not demanded any amendment regarding the rights of minorities in this constitutional proposal. However, a few days ago, a speech of his went viral in which he said that if a Muslim can become mayor in New York, then a Hindu, Sikh, or Christian should also be made mayor in Karachi, Lahore, or Peshawar.
Instead of looking to America, they should look at their neighbor India, where three Muslims—Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and Dr. Abul Kalam Azad—have served as President of the country. This is possible because the Constitution of India is secular, and Article 58 of the Constitution gives its citizens the right to be elected to these positions equally, without discrimination on the basis of color, race, religion, and so on. Similarly, Article 3, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that no religious test shall be required for any public office or position of trust. In contrast, Article 41(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan strictly prohibits a non-Muslim from holding any key position.
Respected Senator, you are well aware that the desire you have expressed requires a constitutional amendment, for which you have made no effort. If you are sincere to your cause and your nation, you should have included this point in the current constitutional amendment, because that is the legal procedure. As a lawyer, you understand better than anyone that the system is not going to change merely through speeches.
This situation is similar to the period before the Punjab Local Government Act of 2025, when Christian MPAs used to make fiery speeches in the Punjab Assembly demanding the abolition of the selection system and the right for minorities to elect their representatives through their own votes. But when the act was introduced and minorities were deprived of this right, no objection was raised by them. Instead, they silently voted in favor of the bill. You are now repeating the same pattern.
You are the driving force behind the Twenty-Seventh Constitutional Amendment. If you have influence in your party, have Article 41(2) of the Constitution amended to make minorities eligible for all key positions. I believe the phase of the Twenty-Seventh Amendment has passed, and the Twenty-Eighth Constitutional Amendment is already standing at the doorstep of the House. Have this point included in the upcoming amendment, and your name will be written in golden letters in Pakistani history.
Since the 1973 Constitution was approved, twenty-five successive governments have amended it according to their needs. The current coalition government also approved the Twenty-Sixth Constitutional Amendment recently. The Twenty-Seventh Amendment is close to being passed as well. There are indications that the Twenty-Eighth Amendment may also be approved in the coming days because the government has the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments.
Since 2002, minorities have been demanding the right to elect their own representatives through their own votes. For several years, nationalist organizations have been protesting on the streets, and now this voice is echoing in government chambers as well.
Earlier, when the Supreme Court was approached in this regard, the Court also instructed petitioners to approach Parliament. Now that this series of amendments is underway, political parties should also keep in mind this long-standing issue of minorities.
It is not necessary for only minority representatives to raise their voices for this right. The majority representatives sitting in Parliament have also succeeded by winning the decisive votes of minorities from their constituencies; therefore, it is their duty to represent the rights of minorities. In fact, this problem can only be solved with their help, because minority representatives are not included in the committees formed for electoral reforms and constitutional amendments.
In 2014, the ruling Pakistan Muslim League formed a committee under the chairmanship of the Finance Minister to propose amendments to electoral laws and finalize the electoral reform bill. The committee held 118 meetings—25 parliamentary committee meetings and 93 subcommittee meetings headed by Law Minister Zahid Hamid. In these meetings, 631 different proposals received from opposition parties in Parliament were considered. Since these committees did not include representatives of minorities, no proposal regarding the prevailing method of selection for minorities could be considered.
Similarly, the electoral reforms introduced in 2017 did not include minority representation. The law improved voter registration, electoral dispute resolution, political finance, and the inclusion of women and people with disabilities in the electoral process, but these reforms still did nothing to ensure effective representation of minorities.
No matter how many constitutional amendments and electoral reforms are made in Pakistan, unless biased democratic attitudes change, minorities will not benefit from these amendments.
It is also important that unelected minority representatives—who are undemocratically placed in democratic houses—step out of the race for personal interest, raise the slogan of nationalism, and play their role in ensuring effective representation of minorities.
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