Azam Nazir Tarar, the law minister of Pakistan, has called for minority judges to join higher judiciary. The Express Tribune newspaper on Sunday reported that during the Justice A R Cornelius Conference which took place here on Saturday, Tarar stressed the need for religious freedom and minority rights in Pakistan and voiced his desire for minor communities’ judges to be part of the country’s high judiciary.
The minister noted that Pakistan’s Constitution encompasses absolute religious freedom; however, he bemoaned a lack of tolerance post-Afghan war.
Tarar discussed plans underway to establish a Minority Rights Commission and advocated that quotas should be reserved for minority lawyers and legal advisers.
Similarly, Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah backed Tarar’s suggestion calling for appointment of minority judges to higher judiciary.
According to statistics published by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (in 2021), Muslims constitute 96.47% of the population followed by Hindus as second largest religious group at 2.14%, Christians at 1.27%, Ahmadi Muslims at 0.09% while other religions enjoy only a 0.02% share of Pakistani population.
