LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Affairs (HRMA) Ejaz Alam Augustine Tuesday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was taking revolutionary steps for the religious minorities.
Addressing a seminar here at a local hotel on the topic of ‘National human rights protection mechanism, minority rights protection under the treaty obligation’, he said the Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Department was dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights, particularly religious minority rights and taking several initiatives in the light of civil society organisations’ demands.
The provincial minister maintained that primary focus of the department was to ensure protection of human rights and strengthening the minorities, adding that equal opportunities were being provided to all minorities in development and prosperity of the country. He said that representation of religious minorities was being ensured in all government departments.
He said that the department was also in the process of curbing the alleged abduction, conversion and forced marriages of religious minority girls, considering the concluding observations of treaty bodies.
Another keynote speakers of the event, Shazia George highlighted the issues of religious minorities while all the participants presented different proposals to resolve the issues of religious minorities.
Later, Minister Ejaz Alam Augustine attended a district convention of the Women Workers Alliance, organised by the Sangat Development Foundation, with an aim to highlight the problems being faced by women workers at the workplace and to ensure compliance with the relevant labour laws. A reform charter of demands was also presented by the alliance.
The minister, in his address, said that no society could develop unless it protects its women, adding that the PTI government was taking several developmental steps to ensure the safety of women. He said that more similar centres were being set up in different districts on the lines of ‘Daad Rasi Centre’ [Facilitation Centre] in Multan, while effective legislation had been done from the platform of the Punjab Assembly.
The convention was attended by representatives of Labour, Legislature, trade unions, chamber of commerce, and Women Protection Authority.