An Islamist militant religious outfit Jundullah Hafsa took the responsibility of attacking the worshipers of the All Saints Church in the provincial metropolis Peshawar on Sunday, September 22, 2013, which killed 130 and grievously injured 150, including men, women and children. The barbaric action in the name of religion against an extremely marginalised and thin minority further enhanced the vulnerability and exposed the inability of the state to protect the life and property of its citizens. This was the deadliest attack against Christians in Pakistan wherein the loss of human life on such a big scale had to be suffered. On March 9 this year, the religious extremists torched 190 houses of the Christians of Joseph Colony in Lahore, burning their entire household and two churches as well. There have been numerous tragic incidents in the past as well. These gory occurrences have not only shocked the religious minorities but have also shaken their confidence in the state whether it would provide protection to them in future. While owning this treacherous attack on the Sunday Mass, the militants declared that they would continue such brutalities against non-Muslims and foreigners till the drone attacks in the northern areas of Pakistan by the US administration stop. This warning gives a serious turn in the lives of non-Muslim citizens as they have nothing to do with drone attacks and are in no position to help stop this tactic in the ‘war on terror’ against the leaders of al Qaeda and the Taliban and all those who provide them strategic armed support and harbour them. The Taliban tried to distance themselves from the Jundullah organizationally, but the fact remains that different outfits like these operate under the Taliban umbrella. It certainly was a strategic move as this cruel act brought huge embarrassment to their friendly new political force, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), which has been able to form government in Khyber Pakhtunkhua (KP). A move was on for a direct dialogue for peace negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) by the federal government of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, PTI and some religious political parties, whereas other mainstream political parties and progressive political forces are against such dialogue with these religious extremists who have challenged the writ of the state. Hakeemullah Mehsud, the late chief of the TTP, came out with a stand that negated the efforts of the federal and KP provincial government for peace negotiations, as he declared such efforts fruitless unless the drone strikes were stopped. Now this is a tricky game adopted by the TTP. The TTP, as previously, has again provided a list of its high profile members, demanding their release from Pakistani prisons. Those who still think the TTP is serious about peace negotiations within the framework of the state of Pakistan need some serious counselling. The pressure of civil society to take stern action against the militants is increasing and the federal government is now in a tight position to face the challenge of the religious extremists who have taken society hostage. They have been attacking religious minorities, churches, mosques, funerals and the public at large. The TTP and all its supportive forces want to enforce Islamic Sharia over the state of Pakistan. They in fact foster the concept of Pan-Islamism. But the founders of this state had recognised the religious, ethnic and cultural diversity of the people of this land. And its leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in his historic presidential address to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, had made it clear that all citizens, irrespective of caste, colour or creed, would have equal status as citizens, and religion would have nothing to do with the business of the state. However, the unholy alliance of the mullah and military gradually changed the socio-political narrative and brought down the state and governance to the parameters of the security paradigm. The state has been under direct military rule for more than three decades and the rest of the national life had been under indirect rule. This has paved the way for religious extremism and militancy, and of course, promoted the sentiment of jihad in society. These extremist forces have been treated as strategic assets under the security paradigm. Therefore the present devastating situation is the natural outcome of the policy of appeasement that had been shown to the extremist elements. The non-Muslim citizens who are sons and daughters of the land of the Indus Civilisation, which had embraced diversity, peace and social harmony, are now faced with real hard times due to the bigotry of religious fundamentalists. They stand marginalised in every field. They are living in harsh conditions where equality and human dignity is a dream. They were about 25 percent of the population when this country was formed, but now due to persecution of their rights, the non-Muslim citizens have been reduced to less than five percent. They were obliged to leave their motherland with heavy hearts as they migrated to save their life and property. The religious minorities are already subjected to Sharia in civil life. Their personal laws have already been seriously invaded by the application of the Sharia laws. The criminal laws with Islamic punishments under the Hudood laws are applicable to non-Muslim citizens as well. The constitution declares Islam as the state religion under which laws are being brought in conformity with the injunctions of Islam. Therefore, the discrimination against non-Muslim citizens is at the state level, which negates international covenants and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The democratic and progressive forces are faced with a huge challenge to undo this dehumanising situation. Religion has to be separated from the affairs of the state. All the marginalised sections of society are the natural allies of the progressive political forces; therefore they need to come under one banner. It is a long drawn political struggle for building a peace loving, progressive and democratic society. The rulers lack the political will to change the sectarian narrative in socio-political life. The paradigm shift from a security state to a welfare state on true democratic lines has to be made otherwise the state is close to disintegration. The writer is an attorney of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and can be reached at nshakir12@gmail.com