Daily Times

An eight-member delegation of the Sikh community on Thursday paid a courtesy call on Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial. The delegation was headed by Implementation Minority Rights Forum Chairman Samuel Payara and comprising Baba Makhan Singh, Baba Gurpal Singh, Dr Sahib Singh, Sardar Bishan Singh, Amrik Singh, Kaka Singh, Satnam Singh and Dharam Singh, said a press release. The CJP welcomed the delegates and felicitated them on the Minorities Day. He briefed them about the rights of minorities as enshrined in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. He further said that in Pakistan, every citizen had the right to profess and practice their respective faiths.

The chief justice termed the courts in Pakistan the custodian of the fundamental rights of the people, which had always been cognizant of the rights of minorities and had delivered judgments to enforce, implement and address issues faced by the minorities in the country. Considerable strides had been made to safeguard the religious properties of the minorities, in particular the Christian and Hindu communities, he added.

The delegation apprised the CJP about the Sikh history and various issues, including their security and protection of their religious properties. The CJP termed the safeguard of minorities’ rights the fundamental duty of the state and assured the delegates of taking up the matter with the authorities concerned.

He stressed upon a collective resolve and effort to address the prevailing myriad challenges being faced by the country. The delegation presented a souvenir of a golden Kirpan to the CJP as a token of respect and gesture of goodwill.