Secretary General of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, while congratulating minority communities on National Minorities Day, said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s address of August 11 is the foundation of the Constitution of Pakistan and that Pakistan belongs to all and every Pakistani is an equal citizen. In his message, he said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s historic address of August 11, 1947 laid the basis for the equal and constitutional rights of minorities in Pakistan. Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that Quaid-e-Azam envisioned a Pakistan where every citizen, regardless of religion, would have equal rights and minorities would consider themselves safe and empowered Pakistani citizens. He said that Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, through the 1973 Constitution, provided constitutional protection to the fundamental, political, religious, social and economic rights of minorities. The Constitution of Pakistan guarantees equality of all citizens and the rights of minorities. Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto took practical steps to give equal rights to minority citizens. Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had a clear vision that non-Muslim Pakistani citizens also have an equal right to the country’s resources, opportunities and benefits. He said that President Asif Ali Zardari, during his first term as President, declared August 11 as National Minorities Day so that the role and contributions of minority communities in the building and development of Pakistan could be acknowledged at the national level. Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that the leadership of Pakistan Peoples Party believes in the rights of minorities, religious freedom, equality and interfaith harmony. The PPP is the representative party of all citizens of the country and considers the minority community an equal part of national life. He said that Pakistan Peoples Party has a Minorities Wing and also provides full representation to minority citizens in Parliament. The PPP has always struggled for the protection of the political, economic, social and religious rights of minorities. Nayyer Hussain Bukhari said that we must rise above religious, color, ethnic and linguistic discrimination to become one nation and make the country strong, stable and prosperous. Minorities in Pakistan are playing a valuable role in the building, development and defense of Pakistan and their services are a source of pride for the entire nation. He said that Pakistan Peoples Party will always protect the rights of minorities and will continue its struggle for a Pakistan where every citizen has equal opportunities, dignity, freedom and constitutional rights.
