ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday that the National Minority Commission draft has been prepared and soon it would be placed before the parliament for turning it into law.

Addressing a ceremony held in connection with Christmas, the prime minister said that the government would ensure protection of the rights and security not only of Christians but all the minorities and if something had happened in the past it was regrettable.

The prime minister congratulated Christians for Christmas and stated that he wanted to congratulate Christian community for services and sacrifices made by them for Pakistan from the creation of the country to this day. He said that sacrifices of Christian and other minorities are being valued and their role for development of Pakistan would always be remembered in history in golden words.

He said all religons within their own circles have been promoting brotherhood, peace, and prohibit change of religion forcibly.

The premier said that Pakistan’s Constitution gives equal rights to the minorities and deplored that in the past decades minorities came under threat due to extremism and terrorism but the fact of the matter is that extremism and terrorism was defeated and how it was being dealt was evident from Bannu event that how law enforcement agencies have defeated them and as a result law enforcement agencies' officials defeated the terrorists and faced martyrdom.

About their demand of Edward College, the prime minister said that the government would do whatever is possible in this regard in consultation with the provincial government. He assured Hindu, Sikh, and Parsi as well as Christians that Pakistan was their country and the government would protect their basic rights.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022