THERE has been a gradual erasure of the voices of most marginalised groups from Pakistan’s mainstream political discourse, so much so that we now rarely hear of their problems or efforts to address them. One of the main reasons for this is that political representation of marginalised communities has been reduced to mere tokenism, with seats in parliament handed out to handpicked individuals by political parties rather than being given to those who have demonstrably won their communities’ trust. This is, fundamentally, a betrayal of the Quaid’s vision for Pakistan. An excerpt from his speech from Aug 11, 1947, seems worth recalling: “[…] in the course of time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims; not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state”.

Though Mr Jinnah referenced a particular religious group in his speech, the point he was making was arguably a general one. The founder believed that, before the Pakistani state, all citizens would be equal and equally worthy of political participation regardless of their individual differences. Unfortunately, as speakers at the recent ‘National Conference on Electoral Participation and Political Empowerment of Marginalised Groups’ also affirmed, this remains an elusive dream. The issues that marginalised communities — including non-Muslims, the differently abled, trans people and women — face require a fundamental alteration in the way the state views their citizenship, because it is clear that these communities are still not considered ‘equal’ in terms of their right to political participation. Such neglect, especially at the state level, has no place in the 21st century. We must remember that a nation is more than just the sum of its parts and that Pakistan cannot progress without embracing all its component communities and enabling them to participate equally in building a better future.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2024