This year’s minorities’ fairy-tale summer will end again on a sour note. The profound spirit of Minority Day itself is lost on account of Pakistan’s failure to show the leadership to safeguard fundamental rights and freedom of religious minorities that was promised on August 11, 1947. The reason is obvious, is not it? Why has Pakistan failed to uphold the promise which was everything for minorities? Perhaps, this wound is as fresh as ever. Minorities’ battle over the past decades for their rights suggests Pakistan is probably less kind than it was when our founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, laid the foundation of a vision to see Pakistan a diverse and inclusive nation. Emerging testimonies from Pakistan confirm we have betrayed the historic promise, instead of lubricating the cogs of state with Jinnah’s vision, we carved out an intolerant and bigoted culture of radicalisation that certifies which citizens are more equal to others in terms of civil liberties, status and rights. Shockingly, the same mind-set has certified Al Qaeda’s founder Osama Bin Laden a martyr, who masterminds numerous terrorist attacks. The fallout of betrayals with Jinnah’s vision is still bleeding Pakistan! The dilemma of minorities shows how Pakistan has headed for an ethical car crash which has fashionably amplified the trend of misuse of blasphemy law and rampant violence against minorities stemming from personal enmity to professional or economic rivalry. As a result, religious minorities remain a soft target of non-state actors and religiously inspired extremists. Meanwhile, the dogged persistence of state policies that our rulers prescribed, have failed to reboot the judicial system and rule of law. I dare say, this is what institutional neglect looks like. It is frustrating and saddening when I see for years now, religious minorities in Pakistan continue to face brutal robbery of their rights that not only include the vandalism of their sites of worship, but also lynching of their houses and the illegal acquisition of their property. It is too early to celebrate the Minority Day yet. After years of grieving silently, the victims of arson attacks in Joseph colony, Shanti Nager, Gojra and Sangla Hill are still longing for justice. Yet, the system’s alienation urges them to “learn to live” with total moral collapse. Those victims who thought they could not suffer any further, often discover that fresh pain is indeed available. Perhaps this is a time to say goodbye to justice. This crisis also underscores the existing ruling elite in Pakistan. Especially, after the brutal killing of Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan has failed to emerge as a bridging figurehead, able to blend humanity and modernity to spell out a coherent plan of progressive Pakistan as a matter of urgency. However, the failure arguably lays at the heart of colour-blind dictatorship and civilian rule which failed to see the grip of uncontrolled religiously motivated violence, and religious freedom calamities in Pakistan. Nevertheless, they all want to lead by example, by moving away from a commitment to accountability and shying away from denied truth. Our popularity is undoubted and is indeed related to our faults. Miles away from civilization, our country has become a hotspot of forced conversion and a thriving industry of hate preaching. Around 1,000 girls belonging to minorities are forcibly converted and married to their abductors. At the heart of this paralysis, we have also failed to bring an end to state-approved textbooks and curriculum which fuels an environment of religious fanaticism. According to Human Rights Watch, “Minorities continue to face violence, discrimination, and persecution, with authorities often failing to provide adequate protection or hold perpetrators to account”. The authorities routinely use draconian counterterrorism and sedition laws to intimidate peaceful critics. Perhaps, these truths neatly anticipate the way the spectre of “religiously motivated fascism” was peddled by the performative cruelty, which has aggravated the situation to horror. Similarly, Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP) revealed in a webinar how religious oppression has brutally crushed the values of religious liberty in Pakistan. Extraordinary revelations came as a shock to me, particularly the role of police which often turns a blind eye to reports of forced conversion, setting up impunity for perpetrators. That is deeply uncomfortable, the dark side has become a part of our identity, which is why this goes unexamined. It is too early to celebrate the Minority Day yet. The situation is likely to keep on coming back, particularly, after the rejection of the Protection of Minorities Rights Bill last year by the standing committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony. Nevertheless, it is sufficient to put up the message that minorities are not part of the government’s agenda. In contrast, there are many examples of how governments advance their democracies to bring considerable resources, to develop policies, and provide space for dialogue to address the challenges of religious persecution. Despite the widespread religious freedom disorder, the services of minorities in the armed forces and civil services, and in the fields of medical, teaching and judiciary are second to none. The commendable role of our heroes like Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, Justice Alvin Bobby, Rana Bahubhali Bhagwandas, Robert Cornelius, Johnson Bernard, Dr James Shera, Sister Ruth Lewis, Nadab Gill, Councillor Morris Johns, Miss Nicole, and Dr Peter Johnson David shows minorities are playing a vital role in progression of Pakistan both nationally and internationally. To cut a long story short, the time has proven that Jinnah’s promise with religious minorities was an encouraging one but not a reliable one. We know that there is a yearning for a better kind of Pakistan than the one that serially descends into a wholesale destruction of fundamental rights and freedom. Take the tragic case of a 12-year-old Farrah Shaheen, a Christian girl who was forcefully converted, raped, chained in a cattle pen by her abductor. The deep cuts on her ankles, scars of battle wounds on her body with bruised face melted me into tears and cracked my voice to demand a revolution in how we think about the forced conversion and misogyny. It is an earth-shattering experience that your child is abducted, raped and forcefully converted yet this seems unable to shake off the society. Don’t you think the spirit of the Jinnah’s promise with minorities is wheeled off to intensive care and their custodians deny that any such thing does not exist, whilst the values of religious freedom, human rights and freedom of speech are placed on a ventilator? The writer is based in UK, studied leadership in 21st Century from Copenhagen Business School and has specialization in Health informatics from Johns Hopkins University.