Pakistan to become strong, prosperous when minorities given equal rights: Solangi

LAHORE: Caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Solangi said on Sunday that minorities play an important role in the nation-building process and Pakistan will become strong and prosperous only when the minorities are given equal rights as envisaged by Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Constitution.
Delivering his speech at a seminar organized by the Press Information Department (PID) regarding elections 2024 he said only those nations that have made rapid strides towards development and prosperity believed in diversity.
“Pakistan will be strong only when we give equal civil rights to minorities,” Murtaza Solangi said.
He remarked that the creation of Pakistan in itself was the negation of the concept of majoritarian rule as All India Congress leadership wanted to impose the will of a certain group over the other people on the basis of the majority.
He said that minorities had played a significant part in the achievements of Pakistan, especially as they were playing an active role in the health and education system.
The minister said that the present caretaker government was a constitutional and legal set-up which would ensure the conduct of free and fair elections in the country on February 8.
In the preamble of the Constitution of Pakistan, it is written that this country will be run by its elected representatives who come to power through elections, he maintained.
He said despite all the speculations, the government stood its ground on holding elections on the schedule given by the Election Commission of Pakistan.
Murtaza Solangi said that the caretaker regime would hand over the country to the elected government in a better condition than it was given on August 17 last year.
He expressed the hope that the government coming to power after February 8 elections would focus on the basic problems of the country including the economy.
“No country can become strong and prosperous without economic security and strength,” he said.
He hoped that the new government would vigorously take up the agenda of economic reforms, take steps for increasing the tax base and improve governance.
He said that in the age of social and digital media, artificial intelligence, deepfakes, voice cloning, misinformation etc had become a challenge which were needed to be tackled.
He said the time had come to work collectively for the promotion of unity, rather than spreading hate and disharmony. – APP