No democratic and modern state can exist without protecting and giving full rights to its people. Every constitution of a real democratic state protects the fundamental rights and basic needs of its people, irrespective of their religion, creed, cast and colour. As Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and other minorities across Pakistan recount numerous horrific attacks, Minority Rights Group International, a watchdog organisation, has ranked Pakistan as one of the world’s worst country in terms of increases in threats to minorities since 2007.Minority rights have always been an issue of great debate not only in Pakistan but also around the whole world. Although Pakistan’s Constitution gives full protection to its people, including all the minorities, the state and government have utterly failed to implement the articles of the Constitution concerning minority rights fully. It is a fact that minorities like Shias, especially Hazara Shias, Christians, Ahmedis, Hindus, Parsis and Sikhs are not safe in our country. No person can openly talk about the misuse of religion in our society without facing grave consequences. The killings of former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and Federal Minister for Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti are before us. They were killed because they dared to raise their voices against the rampant misuse of the blasphemy laws. How we can forget the words of Quaid-e-Azam when, giving an interview to the APA Representative in Bombay on November 8, 1945, he said: “Minorities can rest assured that their rights will be protected. No civilised government can be run successfully without giving minorities a complete sense of security and confidence. They must be made to feel that they have a hand in government and to do this they must have adequate representation in it. Pakistan will give them this”. These were historic words we should have lived by. Even in his famous August 11, 1947 speech Jinnah again talked extensively about minority rights.On the other hand, in these hard and fearful times, Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s participation in a Hindu festival to mark the occasion of Diwali is very commendable and is an encouraging act. He said during his speech that every community living in Pakistan, whether Hindu, Muslim or Parsi, belongs to him and that he belongs to them. He said that he was the PM of all communities: “If you are in distress, I will stand by you. Even if a Muslim commits an injustice, I will stand by the victim.” He added: “Diwali celebrates humanity’s struggle against the forces of evil. We are one nation, and forging unity and consensus is my mission. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Parsis are part of the country.”These were very beautiful and fine words filled with hope, love, peace and interfaith harmony. Nawaz Sharif has become the first PM in Pakistan’s history to join the Hindu community in their Diwali event. I personally believe that this speech by the PM should be included in textbooks and curriculums as it will create a soft image of what the government is trying to do where interfaith harmony is concerned, something that is vital for the younger generation, and will spread the message of brotherhood. However, it is a very sad reality that these encouraging words cannot conceal the dark side of our society, which is filled with extremism, bigotry, hatred, prejudice and ignorance. The people of Pakistan know that their leaders are past masters in articulating beautiful words and being very poor and incompetent in translating them into actions. It is also an established truth that our venal and corrupt ruling elite, including political, religious elements, feudal lords, businessmen and civil officers, is the real culprit in spreading extremism in Pakistan. This cruel, ruling echelon has used religion to protect its own partisan interests in Pakistan and the region. Unfortunately, today’s Pakistan is quite opposite to the country envisioned by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the speech the PM gave during Diwali. Minorities in our country — the Shias, Ahmedis, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians — are treated with prejudice and are meted our violence. We have completely forgotten the basis on which this state was founded. The rights and voices of the minorities are constantly being suppressed.There are many false ideas and notions barring the minorities from assimilating in our society and culture. They are considered little better than second-class citizens. The government established a National Commission for Minority Rights after the Supreme Court (SC) judgment of June 19, 2014, giving the government a clear blueprint to address the persecution of minorities in Pakistan. Such commissions should also be established at the provincial level to monitor cases of forced conversions and marriages, restrictions on religious practices and the incitement of blasphemy accusations. If PM Nawaz Sharif is serious about his intentions, he should turn his well-meaning words into meaningful action. He can do this by shutting down all those madrassas (seminaries) that are fanning extremism, bigotry and hatred. He should introduce a unified moderate and scientific education system in the country. Moreover, he should try to remove all discriminations against the minorities as they are also citizens of Pakistan and have equal rights and protection under the law.I also want to take this opportunity to ask urban-centric liberals and a major chunk of our civil society, which have tasked themselves with being responsible for protecting and raising the rights of minorities, why they have limited their well-funded activities to candlelit vigils, talk-shows and peace walks. Is it just for the sake of photo sessions? No one will tries to discuss the real problem and, in turn, its solution.If this situation does not rectify itself the people will keep on misusing our religion and with much greater impunity. The solution lies in improving governance and ensuring the state’s writ so that minorities and other vulnerable communities are protected. The writer is a social and political activist based in Lahore. Presently, he is linked with a humanitarian organisation working for the betterment of the working class. He can be reached at salmanali088@gmail.com