Sindh spokesperson: Minority rights are fundamental, not a favour

Sindh Government Spokesperson Sukhdev Hemnani spoke on National Minorities Day about the provincial government's approach to religious minority rights. He presented those rights as an integral element of Pakistan's democratic identity and listed federal and provincial measures taken under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership to protect, represent and support minority communities.

Hemnani tied National Minorities Day to President Asif Ali Zardari's 2009 declaration and described that move as giving national recognition to Muhammad Ali Jinnah's vision of equal citizenship. He said the state must treat minority rights as fundamental rights, not favors.

Hemnani credited PPP administrations with specific federal steps:

• Establishing a dedicated Ministry for Minority Affairs.
• Introducing a 5% employment quota for minorities in government jobs.
• Increasing reserved seats in Parliament to expand political representation.
• Strengthening welfare and educational support for minority citizens.

Hemnani highlighted Sindh's legislative and policy record aimed at practical protections and institutional recognition. He named two enacted laws:

• Sindh Protection of Communal Properties of Minorities Act, 2013 — intended to safeguard the properties and institutions of minority communities.
• Sindh Hindu Marriage Act, 2016 — a legal framework for the registration and recognition of Hindu marriages in the province.

He also said Sindh ensures minority inclusion across provincial initiatives, specifically mentioning the Sindh Peoples Housing for Flood Affectees (SPHF), the Peoples Poverty Reduction Programme (PPRP) and the province's solar energy programme, so minority communities share in development and welfare benefits.

Hemnani linked ongoing policies to current PPP leaders, saying the commitment continues under Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He presented National Minorities Day as both a reminder of Jinnah's vision and a prompt for renewed commitment to inclusive governance. His closing message emphasized equal citizenship: despite differing faiths, rights and future are shared.

The statement combines symbolic framing (National Minorities Day as recognition of Jinnah's vision) with concrete policy references: federal institutional steps and specific Sindh laws and welfare programmes. The focus is on legal protections, representation and inclusion in development schemes rather than new or additional measures announced in this statement.

Readers looking for concrete measures will find specific legal and program names to research further: the 2013 communal properties act, the 2016 Hindu marriage law, the federal Ministry for Minority Affairs, and the 5% employment quota. Hemnani's statement is a summary of existing initiatives framed around equal citizenship.