Pakistan: Multan Bar Association bans non-Muslim lawyers from contesting council elections

In another case of subjugation of minorities in Pakistan, the Multan Bar Association passed a resolution that has barred non-Muslim lawyers, including Ahmadis, to participate in the Bar Council elections. As per the local media, the resolution was presented by the lawyers of the District Bar Association of Multan which stated that the lawyers contesting bar elections will also need to submit an affidavit to prove their faith in Islam. Pakistan has also been condemned internationally for cracking down on its minorities.

Furthermore, it was also reported that Islamabad has been discriminating against its religious minorities. Various forms of targeted violence, mass murders, abduction, rapes, forced conversion to Islam among others, has made Pakistani Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadiyyas, and Shias one of the most persecuted minorities in the region.

The plight of minorities has deteriorated in Pakistan. They have always been mistreated and suffered injustices from fellow civilians and the administration. Akali Dal leader Manjinder Sirsa, in August, had shared a video of the grieving family telling how 18-year old Jagjit Kaur was allegedly abducted and converted to Islam in Pakistan. The family had alleged that she was converted by coercion and was threatened that her brothers and father would be shot if she did not convert to Islam.

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Pakistani passport ranked 4th-worst in the world 

As per the Henley Passport Index, the Pakistani passport has been placed at the 104th position out of the 107 passports listed making it the fourth-worst passport for international travel ahead of Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The ranking is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world's largest and most accurate database of travel information, enhanced by ongoing research. 

The Henley Passport Index is the original ranking of all the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa. Last year, the Pakistani passport was ranked the fifth-worst moving further down in the list this year. The list features Japan at the top of the rankings allowing the holders visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 191 destinations around the world.

READ: Pakistan's passport ranked fourth-worst for international travel out of 107 countries

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(With Inputs from ANI)