The Question of Equal Citizenship

Ending Employment Discrimination and Bringing Minorities into the Mainstream

By: Kalavanti Raja

Pakistan’s minorities possess a constitutional status that, on paper, is considerably stronger than their position often appears to be in practical life. The Constitution guarantees equality, religious freedom, protection of legitimate rights and, most importantly, due representation in Federal and Provincial services. Yet the continuing presence of unfilled minority quota vacancies, limited representation in professional and senior government positions and the concentration of minority employment in lower grades raise a fundamental question: Are the constitutional guarantees being implemented in their true spirit?

This is no longer merely a question of minority welfare. It is a question of constitutional governance, equal citizenship and the credibility of the State’s own laws and policies.

The Islamic foundation of justice

The protection of non-Muslim minorities is entirely consistent with the fundamental principles of Islam. The Qur’an commands justice without discrimination: “Indeed, Allah commands justice and the doing of good.” (Qur’an 16:90). It further states: “Do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness.” (Qur’an 5:8). The Qur’an also declares: “There is no compulsion in religion.” (Qur’an 2:256).

These principles establish that justice cannot be conditional upon religious identity. In a modern State, protection must therefore extend beyond the security of life and worship to education, employment, economic opportunity, public service and participation in national affairs.

A minority citizen should not merely be protected from discrimination; he or she should be able to study, compete, qualify, serve, rise and lead.

Jinnah’s promise of equal citizenship

The clearest political statement on the status of minorities came from Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in his 11 August 1947 Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly. He declared that citizens would be free to practice their religion and, most importantly, that “we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.” He also made clear that religion, caste or creed would not determine a citizen’s relationship with the State.

Jinnah repeated this commitment after independence. On 14 July 1947, he stated that minorities would be safeguarded and would be “in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.” On 25 October 1947, he again affirmed that minorities would be treated as citizens enjoying the same rights and privileges as other citizens.

On 23 March 1948, while meeting the Scheduled Caste Federation, Jinnah reiterated that every community would have equal rights, privileges and obligations, while minorities would be safeguarded and protected. At Chittagong on 26 March 1948, he described “brotherhood, equality and fraternity” as fundamental principles of the country’s religion, culture and civilization.

Jinnah’s repeated statements therefore went beyond merely protecting minorities as vulnerable communities. His consistent message was that minorities were equal citizens of Pakistan, entitled to rights, privileges, responsibilities and participation in the affairs of the State.

The Constitution converts the promise into an obligation

The Constitution of Pakistan carries this principle forward. Article 20 guarantees freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion. Article 25 establishes equality of citizens before law and equal protection of law. Article 27 provides safeguards against discrimination in appointments to the service of Pakistan, subject to constitutional provisions concerning adequate representation.

But the most directly relevant provision is Article 36, which states: “The State shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services.” (Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Article 36).

The phrase “due representation in the Federal and Provincial services” is particularly important. It means that constitutional protection is not limited to preventing violence or protecting places of worship. It extends into the structure of the State itself.

Minorities have a constitutional claim to meaningful participation in public service.

The Job preservation from policy to implementation

Pakistan’s history shows that the State recognized early on that formal equality alone could not ensure adequate representation of disadvantaged communities. An important early example was the 6 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes in Federal employment. Through Establishment Division O.M. No. 56/2/48-Ests.(ME), dated 19 October 1948, 6 per cent of vacancies in direct recruitment to the All-Pakistan Superior Services and Central Services, Classes I, II and III, were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. When the quota remained underutilized because of the limited availability of qualified candidates, further instructions were issued on 30 October 1957 to widen publicity in Scheduled Caste areas. The separate Scheduled Castes quota was ultimately withdrawn through Establishment Division O.M. No. F.4/15/94-R.II dated 24 September 1996, after which Scheduled Caste candidates competed within their respective provincial arrangements.

The present 5 per cent Federal minority employment quota is a later and broader policy measure. Through Establishment Division Office Memorandum No. 4/15/94-R-2, dated 26 May 2009, the Federal Government decided to reserve 5 per cent quota for minorities (non-Muslims), across the board, in Federal Government services and jobs to be filled through direct recruitment, including CSS, in addition to their participation in open merit.

The phrase “across the board” is central to the policy. The quota was not intended merely for sanitation, sweeping or other lower-grade occupations. It applies to Federal Government direct recruitment across posts, subject to the specific exclusions and conditions contained in the memorandum. It therefore provides a basis for minority representation across the full range of Federal employment.

Equally important, the 2009 memorandum provides that vacancies reserved for minorities for which qualified candidates are not available shall be carried forward and filled by minority candidates. A reserved vacancy, therefore, is not meant to disappear simply because it could not be filled in one recruitment exercise. This carry-forward provision is a critical part of the policy and should be enforced in practice.

The constitutional foundation is equally clear. Article 36 requires the State to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in Federal and Provincial services. The 2009 quota is therefore not merely a symbolic concession; it is an administrative mechanism intended to translate the broader constitutional principle of minority representation into actual employment.

The central issue today is consequently not whether minorities have been given a legal or policy entitlement, but whether the 2009 quota is being fully implemented. Official records have previously identified substantial vacancies against the 5 per cent quota, while the Establishment Division has been tasked with collecting, maintaining, updating and monitoring minority employment statistics.

The immediate requirement is therefore a current, complete and verifiable department-wise audit of the 5 per cent quota, showing sanctioned posts, vacancies, quota entitlement, appointments made, unfilled quota posts and carried-forward vacancies. The objective should be simple: every eligible minority quota vacancy should ultimately be filled by a qualified minority candidate, in accordance with the law and the policy.

The real problem: law on paper, discrimination in practice:

Pakistan therefore does not primarily suffer from an absence of constitutional safeguards or employment policy. The deeper problem is implementation.

A quota can exist in a government notification and still remain ineffective if departments do not identify the vacancies, advertise them properly, maintain accurate records, carry forward unfilled seats, recruit qualified candidates and monitor representation across different grades.

The central question should therefore no longer be simply, “Is there a 5 per cent minority quota?”

The real questions are: How many posts were due? How many were advertised? How many were filled? How many remain vacant? How many were carried forward? How many qualified candidates applied? How many were selected? And at what BPS levels are minorities actually represented?

There is nothing undignified about sanitation or any other honest occupation. Every form of lawful labor deserves dignity. But the problem arises when a large and educated minority population is represented disproportionately in the lowest grades while qualified minority graduates, postgraduates and professionals remain absent or underrepresented in officer cadres.

If minority communities produce engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, scientists, accountants, IT professionals and administrators, then meaningful representation should include those professions as well. A minority quota should therefore not be judged only by the number of minority employees, but also by where those employees are represented.

The relevant question is not merely how many minority citizens have government jobs. It is how many are in BPS-17 and above, how many reach BPS-19 and BPS-20, and how many are represented in BPS-21 and BPS-22.

Pakistan’s history proves that minorities can serve at the highest levels. Pakistan’s own history provides a powerful answer to any suggestion that minorities should remain confined to subordinate occupations.

Justice A.R. Cornelius, a Christian, became Chief Justice of Pakistan. Justice Rana Bhagwandas, a Hindu from Sindh, served on the Supreme Court, became Acting Chief Justice of Pakistan and later headed the Federal Public Service Commission. Justice Dorab Patel, a Parsi, was another distinguished judge of the Supreme Court. Jogendra Nath Mandal, a Hindu leader, became Pakistan’s first Law and Labor Minister.

Minorities have also served Pakistan as parliamentarians, diplomats, military officers, teachers, doctors, writers and professionals.

This history demonstrates an important fact: minority citizens are not constitutionally or professionally destined for any particular class of employment. Their proper place is wherever their qualification, merit and ability take them.

The Parliamentary Minority Caucus enters the field

A significant institutional development has now taken place with the formation of the Parliamentary Minority Caucus in the Senate, chaired/convened by Senator Danesh Kumar, with MNA Neelum Kumari, Senator Poonjo Bheel, Senator Khalil Tahir and Senator Gurdeep Singh among its members.

The Caucus has begun examining minority employment quota implementation as a practical governance issue rather than treating minority rights merely as a ceremonial subject. On 11 May 2026, under Senator Danesh Kumar’s chairmanship, it examined Balochistan Police recruitment and was informed that, out of 1,142 minority-reserved constable posts, only 440 had been filled while 702 remained vacant. The Caucus recommended separate advertisement of the vacant minority quota posts for timely recruitment. On 1 September 2026, it examined the recruitment of 1,588 positions in Islamabad Police, specifically reviewing compliance with the 5 per cent minority quota and inclusion of carried-forward vacancies in accordance with Supreme Court directions.

These developments deserve appreciation. Senator Danesh Kumar and the Parliamentary Minority Caucus have brought minority employment into sustained parliamentary scrutiny.

The next step should be broader: all members of the Caucus, parliamentarians and active representatives of minority communities should help identify qualified but unemployed minority candidates and ensure that they are informed of and able to compete for available quota positions.

The effort should now move beyond individual departments to a comprehensive Federal Government-wide review of the 5 per cent quota, its vacancies and carried-forward backlog, so that qualified minorities can participate fully in public service.

Education has changed the minority employment equation. Pakistan’s minorities today include growing numbers of university graduates, postgraduates and professionals in medicine, engineering, law, education, science, information technology, commerce and other fields. Government employment policy must therefore connect education, qualification and public employment by establishing reliable data on how many minority graduates and professionals are produced each year, how many apply for government jobs, qualify, are appointed, and at what BPS, and how many progress to senior positions. Without such data, it is difficult to determine whether the 5 per cent minority employment policy is actually providing meaningful representation across the public service, rather than simply filling a limited number of lower-grade positions.

One National Minority Entitlement: From Recruitment to Career Promotions

The Federal Government should undertake a comprehensive department-wise audit of the 5 per cent minority quota covering every Ministry, Division, Attached Department, Autonomous and Semi-Autonomous Body, Corporation and other organization under Federal administrative control. The data should show sanctioned strength, filled posts, vacancies, quota entitlement, minority appointments, unfilled and carried-forward vacancies, and recruitment during the previous five to ten years, separately for BPS-1–16, BPS-17–20, BPS-21 and BPS-22. The FPSC should provide corresponding data for posts under its jurisdiction. Only such consolidated and verifiable data can reveal the true position of minority representation in public employment.

There is also a strong case for ensuring that an unfilled minority quota seat does not become a permanently dead seat. Since the existing Federal system links the quota with provincial allocation, any national pooling mechanism would require an appropriate policy, regulatory or legal amendment. However, the principle is straightforward: a vacant minority post should first be offered to qualified minority candidates within the relevant provincial allocation; if none is available, it should be carried forward and, after the prescribed period, subject to the necessary legal framework, opened to qualified minority candidates from other provinces. The minority seat should remain a minority seat until it is filled by a qualified minority candidate.

Finally, representation cannot end with recruitment. A minority officer entering public service at BPS-17 must have the same opportunity to progress to BPS-18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, subject to merit, seniority, qualification and performance. The Government should therefore undertake a Minority Career Promotion Audit covering recruitment, promotions, training, seniority, selection boards and representation in senior cadres. The objective is not to compromise merit, but to ensure that merit is not defeated by discrimination, and that qualified minorities achieve meaningful representation at the highest levels of public service.

Action by Supreme Court and State Institutions for Protection to Participation

The Supreme Court has already played an important role in enforcing minority quota obligations, and the Establishment Division has issued instructions pursuant to the Court’s directions for filling vacant minority quota posts. The present situation, however, warrants renewed judicial attention focused on implementation, data and accountability, rather than individual appointments. The Court can require the State to place before it a clear picture of minority representation: how many quota posts exist, how many are filled, vacant, advertised or carried forward, how many qualified candidates applied and were selected, and how many minority officers serve in BPS-17 and above, particularly BPS-21 and BPS-22. Such transparent reporting would turn the constitutional principle of minority representation into a measurable obligation.

The real test of equal citizenship is not merely whether minorities are protected from discrimination or harm, but whether they can participate equally in the life of the nation: to worship freely, educate their children, obtain employment, enter professions, compete on merit, receive promotion and reach the highest public positions for which they are qualified. The Parliamentary Minority Caucus, under Senator Danesh Kumar, has begun moving the issue from ceremonial discussion towards institutional scrutiny. The next step should be a complete national audit of minority employment, a verified inventory of unfilled and carried-forward quota posts, grade-wise representation and a clear program for clearing the backlog. No qualified minority candidate should be denied opportunity because of religious identity, no community’s representation should remain concentrated overwhelmingly in the lowest grades, and no qualified minority officer should remain absent from the senior cadres of the State.

This is not a demand for preferential treatment. It is a demand for equal citizenship in practice. It is the implementation of the constitutional commitment under Article 36 to ensure minorities’ due representation in Federal and Provincial services, and the fulfilment of Jinnah’s foundational declaration on 11 August 1947 that “we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.” A constitutional promise waiting to become a practical reality.

Read: Ancient Rhythms of the Indus Valley

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Kalavanti Raja is a social and political activist from Gambat, Khairpur Mirs, with 30 years of work on women’s rights, minorities, and social justice. She has served in Sindhiyani Tahreek and participated in national and international forums across Asia, Europe, and America.. She can be reached at kalavanti.raja@gmail.com