Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  No, it's based just on the minority, not geographically, because I think democracy still has not flourished and has not developed in Pakistan to the point that a majority would go to vote for minorities. Still, there are some precedents, because recently a Hindu member was electe

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think it is, because if political parties review their manifestos and support the minorities at general elections, definitely minorities can gain seats in the general elections.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, there are changes. The government is taking a lot of initiatives. Recently, regarding forced conversions that have taken place, the government is very much concerned, because a lot of pressure is exerted not from inside but from outside the country also. The government is

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't think the judiciary is politicized at this moment in Pakistan or has anything to do with human rights organizations at all. I think it's more regarding governmental policies, because recently governmental policies have not been very friendly towards the organizations work

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It's 16 years.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, over the years we have seen quite a number of changes. Past governments have taken a lot of initiatives to mainstream the minorities. We have been provided with representation in the upper house, the Senate, because there was no representation at the Senate for the minoritie

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  There are four seats reserved for the minorities from each province, because at the Senate we have equal representation from all the provinces. There's one seat reserved for the faith-based minorities from each province. Besides that, we have 10 seats reserved for the minorities

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much, MP Anderson. I think that the courts of Pakistan are working autonomously and independently. We have strong trust in our courts and our judicial system. Recently, with two or three decisions, especially the recent decision regarding Asia Bibi, they have prov

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The issue of forced marriages and forced conversion has already been considered. It's a burning issue in Pakistan not only today, but has been for many years, because we have seen and observed that the young Hindu or Christian girls are kidnapped and forcefully converted from the

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  On this particular issue, we don't understand what the courts are doing. There was one incident when a Christian minor of 14 years was converted to Islam and married to a Muslim boy. The court let her go with her husband, while the parents and the family were arguing that she was

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much, honourable Chair and honourable members, for providing me this opportunity to come and record my statement over here regarding my experiences as a parliamentarian for the last 16 years. I'm Asiya Nasir. I'm married with three children, and I come from the pr