The government should not concede to extremists by including a religion column in the passport, said a joint statement by the Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD) and the National Commission for Justice and Peace Commission (NCJP) on Tuesday. The DCHD, a civil society group, and NCJP, a non-government organisation working for minority rights, demanded that the government take a principled stand on the issue. They said that Pakistan had already suffered because of religious extremism and state agenda should not be manipulated by bigotry anymore. They added that the passport was a travel document and had nothing to do with religion.
| Thank you for today's statement of the blindingly obvious. |
They said that Pakistani people needed economic stability to use their passport for travelling and so far the majority of people had not used their passports. They added that adding a religion column would equate to religious discrimination, which would not lead to a moderate and democratic country. They said, "Hatred once learnt manifests itself in all spheres. Religious discrimination in politics have spread sectarian violence in the past and severed our relationships with neighbouring countries." |