True religious harmony is spiritual in nature. It can best be achieved by building intellectual infrastructure in an environment of freedom of expression instead of administrative orders or judicial pronouncements. This was stated by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Farhatullah Babar on Wednesday. He was addressing a seminar titled: ‘Protecting Minorities’ Rights – A Long Wait for Justice’, organised jointly by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and the Centre for Social Justice. “Laws, executive orders and court verdicts will not end militancy and hate speech as was witnessed in the murder of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer by his own guard and state surrender before violent extremists of Faizabad dharna,” he said. He said that the state nurtured snakes in its backyard hoping that they would only bite neighbours. “The snakes turned on the state itself. We need to take the bull by the horns. Hate speech will not end as long as hate mongers are nurtured and protected. During the last five years since the SC verdict of 2014, the state and society have veered away rather than towards the principles laid down and directions given in the verdict,” he said. Giving examples, he said a judge of IHC in March last year asked that citizens declare their religion when applying for identity documents, jobs or voting. “Separate electorate system was abolished in 2002 and a specific minority was excluded by stating that their status will remain unchanged. The Election Act 2017 has also retained this provision despite the June 2014 verdict of the SC,” he said. He said that reportedly an attempt was made to amend the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Law to punish anyone with three years in jail for remarks considered derogatory about religious leaders and shrines, the trajectory of the amendment was clearly in violation of the 2014 SC verdict. He lauded the court for upholding international human rights standards as moral checks and directing that national laws should be geared towards this goalpost. “The court verdict may not have been implemented, but at least it has created a new opportunity to agitate issues of minorities’ rights and remind the state institutions to implement it.” He said that Pakistan was both a majoritarian and a security driven state. “In a majoritarian state, the minorities suffer, while in a security state the selective application of laws are determined by the security establishment,” he said. The seminar was also addressed by IA Rehman, Justice Nasira Iqbal, Peter Jacob, Haris Khalique and others.