Pakistani minorities and a biased democracy. By Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghouri

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When we look at the list of democratic countries on the world map, we see Pakistan's democratic face as ambiguous because democracy here is not the same for everyone. The  benefits of democracy for the Muslim majority are different, while the democracy that comes to the minorities is biased, so in general they are deprived of the benefits of democracy. 
The right to vote is considered a fundamental democratic right in a democratic state. Articles 21 and 25 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights support this. International law and the right to vote Participation in public affairs is more than just a right; it is an essential element of democratic governance. It enables individuals to express their will, thus contributing to the consolidation of sustainable democracies. It includes the rights to equality and non-discrimination, freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, 
Apparently, minorities in Pakistan have the right to vote constitutionally, but they do not have the right to elect their representatives with their own votes. The procedure for electing specific minority seats from parliament to local bodies is undemocratic. What kind of democracy is this in which a few members of political parties have the right to elect representatives of the 10 million minority population? 
Those who are neither related to minorities nor understand the problems of minorities. Due to the lack of real representation of minorities, the problems of minorities always remain unresolved. Minority representatives are not included in the committees that make electoral reforms and legislation related to minorities. 
The 1973 constitution reserved 10 seats in the National Assembly for minorities, while 16 seats were reserved for women. Now the number of seats for women has increased to 60, while despite the passage of 52 years, the number of reserved seats for minorities has not been increased. This is clear evidence of the ineffective representation of the majority political parties and minorities.Candidates nominated by political parties on minority seats are more loyal to their party than the minorities themselves. Although the constitution gives minorities the right to contest elections on general seats as well as reserved seats, this is just an additional facility. I have never seen it in practice. 
Elections are usually held on a party basis. To my knowledge, I have never seen a major political party issue a ticket to a minority candidate on a general seat. Although there are some constituencies in Punjab province where the Christian vote is between 50,000 and 55,000, political parties are still hesitant to field minority candidates because they are well aware that religious prejudice exists in our society. Muslim voters cannot elect their representative by voting for a non-Muslim.There is no example of this from any constituency in Pakistan, which is practical proof that democracy here is biased, due to which minorities can only access parliament through reserved seats.But this method of representation is also retained by the majority political parties. It is not just about parliamentary seats, but the situation is no different in municipalities as well, except for some union councils in Lahore and Faisalabad, which have a Christian majority.No Christian chairman, let alone a general councilor, can be elected in any union council in the entire country 
We have borrowed the proportional system from the developed countries of the world, but we have not taken into account our ground realities, due to which the representation of minorities has been ineffective. The countries from which we have adopted this system, inspired by them, are not biased, they are broad-minded, politics and religion are kept separate, and merit is accepted. A clear example of this is that in the local bodies of various cities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Christians have not only elected Muslims as general councilors but also as mayors of many large cities. In the general elections, major parties there issue tickets to local Muslims on general seats without discrimination on the basis of religion, color, or race. not only this, but the facility is provided to take the oath of office on the Holy Quran upon success, while in the 77-year history of Pakistan, it has not happened that any minority member of the assembly has taken the oath of office according to their faith. Some time ago, when minority member of the Sindh Assembly, MPA Aroma Matto, began her speech with words of her faith, Muslim members of the assembly created a ruckus  after which the Speaker of the Assembly had to delete MPA Aroma Matto's words from the proceedings of the assembly. 
There are about 15 countries in the world where minorities have been given the democratic right to vote on general seats as well as minority seats for effective representation. The details of some of the states are as follows: 
Jordan (Christians and Circassians), • India (Scheduled Tribes and Castes), • New Zealand (Maori), • Colombia ('Black Community' and Indigenous Peoples), • Croatia (Hungarian, Italian, Czech, Slovak, Ruthenian, Ukrainian, German and Austrian minorities), • Slovenia (Hungarian and Italian), • Taiwan (Aboriginal community), • Western Samoa (non-indigenous minorities), • Niger (Turag), and the Palestinian Authority (Christians and Samaritans) 
Representatives for these special seats are usually elected in the same way as other members of parliament, 
Regarding the representation of minorities under the prevailing electoral system, the EU observer mission said that the registration of non-Muslim voters increased by 30 percent from 2.7 million to 3.63 million in 2013. However, it observed that the distribution of seats does not lead to effective representation if their elected representatives are not connected to their constituencies. 
The circumstances and events described in the above lines demand that for true representation of minorities, they be given the right to elect their representatives through their own votes. A biased democracy is luring them towards political slavery. 

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