Islamabad – A report on the participation and prospects for Pakistan’s religious minorities in the upcoming general elections this year makes an interesting observation.

“Many persons with whom we interacted during the course of this research did not like to be called ‘minority’ or ‘non-Muslim’,” says the report, entitled “Religious Minorities in Pakistan’s Election”, commissioned by the Christian World Service, an international non-governmental organisation implementing humanitarian and development activities across Pakistan and Afghanistan. The report aims to “assist non-Muslim communities to join as equals in the mainstream political and electoral discourse” of Pakistan.

According to Tahir Mehdi, the lead researcher and author of the report, those who were the focus of this study don’t like the label “non-Muslims”, manifesting a strong desire and will on the part of minorities to be part of the country as “Pakistanis” and not as “non-Muslims”.

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