Pakistan marked a long-overdue milestone on Tuesday when a joint session of Parliament approved the National Commission for Minorities Bill 2025, finally implementing a Supreme Court order calling for a watchdog to monitor the rights of non?Muslim citizens. The new law’s passage is historic, which can easily be gauged by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar’s remarks about the bill being delayed for 10 years.
Minority communities (around 3.5% of Pakistan’s ~255 million population) have long lobbied for this. In the wake of vehement opposition by PTI and JUI(F) members, the law minister reassured Parliament that the legislation “cannot contradict the Quran and Sunnah.”
The commission’s mandate is broad. It can monitor how guarantees like Article 20 (freedom to profess and practice one’s faith) are implemented, and flag gaps in laws or enforcement. It can press charges against hate speech or online bigotry, prepare reports for Parliament, and even liaise with international rights bodies. Still, the real measure will be in action, not just words. The bill’s passage must not be a mere box?ticking gesture. After all, Pakistan has had bodies for women’s rights, child rights and human rights on paper, but all have struggled to make a dent in deep?seated problems. The new minorities commission will, ergo, need teeth to investigate crimes and the courage to hold officials (even at senior levels) accountable for abuses.
That vigilance is sorely needed. In recent years, Pakistan has seen a surge of violence and discrimination against minorities, often with impunity. All it takes for violent mobs to charge on churches and dozens of homes is a single unsubstantiated blasphemy allegation. Attacks on Ahmadis have been especially brutal. Human Rights Watch and others have urged Pakistan to repeal or reform such laws so that minorities are not automatically blamed or punished, turning every accusation into a potential lynching. The new bill cannot itself change popular attitudes. Still, it should aim to break the cycle of mob rule.
Recall Quaid-e-Azam’s charge that Pakistan must start from the “fundamental principle” that “we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State.” So far, our policies have often fallen short, from reserved parliamentary seats to minority quotas; some formal steps have been taken. Yet beyond laws, societal mindsets lag far behind.
In practical terms, the new commission will be judged by its early moves. Will it push to revise schoolbooks that erase non?Muslims? Will it press prosecutors to act on attacks instead of pressuring victims? Will it urge the repeal of laws that bar Ahmadis from simple civil rights or that treat dissenting Muslims as traitors? *