SMC No. 1/2014 etc
12
enshrined in Article 20 is interpreted in the manner which has the
effect of encroaching upon religious freedoms of minority religions
in Pakistan. According to Tayyab Mahmud, Professor at Seattle
University School of Law and Director of the Centre for Global
Justice, “The express guarantees for freedom of belief and practice
of religion, rule of law, due process, equal protection, and a
progressive legislative agenda, proffered by the leadership of the
Pakistan Movement, constitute an implied social covenant with
religious minorities in Pakistan2. The protection of the freedom of
religious belief and practice of all communities was indeed the
predominant right asserted in several propositions and resolutions
passed by the All India Muslim League (AIML). Despite the fact that
members of the AIML were being strongly influenced by secular
liberal thought, the idealogy underlying the Pakistan Movement
was the creation of a separate nation state for the protection of the
interests of the Muslim minority in India. However, these freedoms
were not limited to the protection of the Muslim minority but all
religious
minorities.
One
of
the
famous
Fourteen
Points
enumerated by Mohammad Ali Jinnah on proposed constitutional
changes was that “full religious liberty, i.e. liberty of belief, worship
and observance, propaganda, association and education shall be
guaranteed to all communities.3” Furthermore, “adequate, effective
and mandatory safeguards should be specifically provided in the
Constitution for minorities in these units and in the regions for the
protection
2
of
their
religious,
cultural,
economic,
political,
Feedom of Religion and Religious Minorities in Pakistan; A Study of Judicial Practice, Tayyab
Mahmud, Fordham International Law Journal, 19:1 (1995), p.51
3
Point No. 7
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