Pakistan celebrated its fourth National Minorities Day on August 11 to commemorate the services of the minorities in the creation of Pakistan and later in nation building. It was Shahbaz Bhatti, the slain Federal Minister of Minorities who initiated the celebration of the Day. He picked the date wisely to reinforce the message of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, which he delivered three days before the creation of Pakistan. It was on August 11, 1947 in the constituent assembly of Pakistan that Jinnah delineated the political and societal contours of the new state, where everyone, irrespective of caste, creed, religion would be treated equally, as citizens of Pakistan. Jinnah believed that a people that had suffered as a minority in undivided India could not subject its own minorities to the same fate. That would contradict the philosophy of its demand for rights and later statehood. The message was soon forgotten as Pakistan took upon itself the responsibility of becoming the leading state in ‘Islamisation’. This self-proclaimed responsibility, created a narrow, bigoted and unsophisticated creed of leaders who unleashed the Muslim and non-Muslim divide by first declaring the Ahmedis non-Muslims through the Second Amendment and later by discriminating against other minority groups and subjecting them all to different ordeals, the main being the blasphemy law with its sections 295-B and 295-C. The blasphemy law would soon become a tool to settle personal vendettas, feuds, and provide a cover for land grabbing. The law made it possible to condemn people through false accusation, accompanied by mob vigilanteism. Its victims included Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who were murdered in cold blood when they dared speak against the misuse of the law. It is unfortunate that Pakistan celebrates the National Minority Day without providing the right direction to the country on its treatment of the minorities. The homes of Christians have been burnt. Ahmadis continue to be violently targeted. Hindu girls have been converted to Islam through forced marriages with Muslims. Many Hindus have migrated to India because of this. And the state is silent. It is therefore imperative that the Minorities Day be celebrated to remind the state of its responsibility towards minorities as enshrined in the first speech of Jinnah to the constituent assembly of Pakistan. *