ICC Note:
Christian leaders in Pakistan are pushing their community to make sure next month’s census accurately counts their minority population. Reaching across denominational borders, these Christian leaders are stressing the importance of getting proper political representation in Pakistan’s parliament  if they can get their community to be counted. Currently, religious minorities only hold 10 of the 342 seats in Pakistan’s parliament, a number that Christian leaders say vastly under-represents Pakistan’s religious minorities. Will the result of the March census lead to more political representation for Christians in Pakistan?
02/22/2017 Pakistan (Christian Daily) – Christian leaders in Pakistan are now clamoring for an accurate census in the country, saying the upcoming census could determine the number of minority parliamentary seats that will be granted to Christians.
Bishops in Pakistan are calling on pastoral workers to help raise awareness regarding the importance of Christians’ role in the census this March. During a conference in Karachi on Feb. 13, the Catholic and Protestant leaders called for unity among all believers regardless of their creed and for the involvement of all Christians in the upcoming poll, UCA News relays.
“Let’s step forward to unite the entire Christian nation without any distinction between creed,” said Catholic Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi. “Let’s involve every single pastoral worker, including bishops, pastors, catechists and lay people, in order to get the correct numbers.”
Bishop Sadiq Daniel of the Church of Pakistan, who also led the conference, explained the importance of the census to the Christian community in the country. He said the poll is a major factor in their development and rights.
At the end of the conference, both churches agreed to help raise awareness of the poll by discussing it during Sunday prayer gatherings, Bible classes, and other church activities.
“The national assembly used to have 145 seats which included 10 seats for minority members, but now the seats of the national assembly number 342 but there are still only 10 seats for minorities,” Zahid Farooq, a social worker present during the conference, explained. “We must team up to get our basic rights in the country we belong to. This census will not only decide our future but will also benefit minorities in Pakistan.”
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