National Commission for Justice and Peace

Last updated
National Commission for Justice and Peace
AbbreviationNCJP / CCJP
Formation1985
HeadquartersLahore, Pakistan
Parent organization
Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference
Websitewww.ncjp-pk.org

Catholic (National) Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) was formed in 1985 by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Pakistan. It provides services in the field of human rights advocacy.

Contents

Protest against forced conversion of Christian girls in Pakistan organised by NCJP Protest against forced conversion of Christian girls in Pakistan.jpg
Protest against forced conversion of Christian girls in Pakistan organised by NCJP

Leadership

Founding Chairperson

Bishop John Joseph [1] (late) 1985 - May 1998

Chairperson

Bishop Samson Shukardin [2] January 2021 onwards

Bishop Joseph Arshad January 2016 - December 2020

National Director

Father Emmanuel Yousaf Mani [3]

Executive Director

Cecil Shane Chaudhry [4] August 2013 - January 2021

Peter Jacob [5] November 1995 - July 2013

Regional offices

National Commission forJustice and Peace has seven regional offices in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Yazman, Yazman Mandi, Mandi Yazman, Hyderabad, Quetta, Karachi and a head office in Lahore, which provide legal aid and human rights education. Under the legal aid program, the commission provides legal counselling and financial assistance. NCJP has dealt with about 800 cases during their first 22 years.

The first advocacy campaign was launched by NCJP against bonded labour in brick kiln factories in 1987. With other organizations joining in, this campaign achieved some success. A law on abolition of bonded labour was passed in 1992. The Commission now concentrates on bonded labour in the agricultural sector.

NCJP reacts to discriminatory laws and state policies. In 1988, the Commission filed an appeal in the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the system of Separate Electorates in the country.

In 1992 when the government tried to include religion on the National Identity Card, the civil society in Pakistan waged a countrywide campaign under the leadership of NCJP’s Chairperson Bishop John Joseph. The campaign was successful and the government was forced to withdraw the decision.

The Commission’s work has been lauded as courageous and it was named as almost the only voice for the Hindu minority. [6]

In March 2010, the Commission opened an office in Karachi – its eighth in the country. The event marked the silver jubilee of the Commission. Father Saleh Diego is the Commission’s regional coordinator. In April 2019, Sindh governor Imran Ismail visited the iconic Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Karachi to participate in events celebrating its 175th anniversary. [7] [8]

National Commission for Justice and Peace is a member organization of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). [9]

Blasphemy laws

Since 1990, the Commission has defended cases of blasphemy against Muslims, Christians and Hindus, and has campaigned for abolition of the blasphemy laws.

Father Emmanuel Y. Mani, National Director since 1995, spoke at a press conference sponsored by AsiaNews titled “Save Christians and Pakistan from the blasphemy laws”. He informed international public opinion about the institutional injustices against religious minorities, in particular against the Christian community in Pakistan. The international community is putting pressure on the Pakistani government to stop discrimination and violence against religious minorities.

Blasphemy laws include Article 295, Sections B and C, and Article 298, Sections A, B and C, of the Pakistan Penal Code. These laws were incorporated into the criminal justice system between 1980 and 1986 by then President of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq, supposedly to ensure respect for the Prophet Mohammed, his Companions and the Quran. These laws are unique in the contemporary world because they allow dubious charges to be brought against people who have been subjected to extra judicial killings, arson and destruction of their property. [10]

Fundamentalism

In 2009 Peter Jacob, national secretary of NCJP, spoke out against the agreement between the local government and the Taliban, which allowed the introduction of sharia (Islamic) law, in exchange for a ceasefire in the district of Malakand, which includes the Swat valley, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (old name Northwest Frontier Province). The agreement was signed in 2009 by the government of the NWFP and the Taliban. [11]

Education

Several civil society organisations have taken notice of religious hate speeches and school textbook content and urged the government to take the issue seriously. According to a recent report by NCJP, the commission monitored four major national Urdu dailies from August to October 2005 and found extremely provocative news reports, statements and editorials against religious minorities including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Jews. School textbooks should be monitored for hate-content and revised to promote inter-faith harmony. [12]

NCJP has demanded that the government make provision for non-Muslim students to receive religious lessons in their own faith in lieu of courses on Islamic belief and practice. Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, the commission's chairman, and Peter Jacob, its executive secretary, expressed their concern in a press release. [13]

Recognition

In November 2016, the Commission was awarded the 2016 Pax Christi International Peace Award for "the nonviolent struggle of the human rights community in Pakistan." [14]

Cardinal appointed by Pope

On 20 May 2018, Pope Francis appointed Joseph Coutts of Karachi as a Cardinal (Catholic Church). Joseph Coutts was one of the 14 new cardinals announced by the Pope. He would be the second Pakistani archbishop to become cardinal after the death of Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro back in 1994. National Commission for Justice and Peace (Pakistan) Executive Director Cecil Chaudhry and Chairman Joseph Arshad welcomed the appointment and called it a historic moment of pride for the Pakistani Catholic community. [15] [8]

Publications

Related Research Articles

Pakistan has various religious minorities. According to the 1941 census of India, there were 5.9 million non-Muslims in the territories that came to form Pakistan in 1947 (West Pakistan and East Pakistan. During and after Pakistan's independence in 1947, about 5 million Hindus and Sikhs emigrated to India, with Punjab alone accounting for migration of 3.9 million people. According to the 1951 census conducted by the Government of Pakistan, Pakistan had 1.6% Hindu population. In East Pakistan, the non-Muslims comprised 23.2% of the total population.

Christianity in Pakistan Overview of Christianitys presence in the country

Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan. According to the 2017 Census, the proportion of Christians in Pakistan was estimated as about 1.27% of the population. Of these, approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant. A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan.

Human rights in Pakistan Overview of the situation of human rights throughout Pakistan

The situation of Human Rights in Pakistan is complex as a result of the country's diversity, large population, its status as a developing country and a sovereign Islamic democracy with a mixture of both Islamic and secular law. The Constitution of Pakistan provides for fundamental rights. The Clauses also provide for an independent Supreme Court, separation of executive and judiciary, an independent judiciary, independent Human Rights commission and freedom of movement within the country and abroad. However these clauses are not respected in practice.

Catholic Church in Pakistan

The Catholic Church in Pakistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi Latin Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction in India

The Archdiocese of Karachi is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in India. It was erected on 20 May 1948 under as a then-suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Bombay.

The Christ the King Seminary is a Roman Catholic seminary in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, Karachi, Pakistan; located in adjacent to the Portiuncula Friary. In its early years most of the faculty were provided by the Franciscans. It has been described as "the pioneering theological institution for the Catholic Church in Pakistan."

Joseph Coutts Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church

Joseph Coutts is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Karachi from 2012 to 2021. He served as Bishop of Faisalabad from 1998 to 2012.

Andrew Francis was the Pakistani Roman Catholic bishop of Diocese of Multan from 2000 to 2014.

John Joseph was the Roman Catholic Bishop of Faisalabad from 1984–1998 and is best known for committing suicide to protest the cruel treatment of Christians in Pakistan.

Father Victor Gnanapragasam O.M.I. was the first prefect of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Pakistan.

St Paul’s Parish, Mehmoodabad Gate is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi. The parish is also home to a Catholic school and a home for young orphan girls run by the religious order of the Daughters of the Cross.

The Idara-e-Aman-o Insaf was set up in 1974 by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi and the Church of Pakistan in Karachi. The organisation served the people irrespective of tribe, clan, colour or creed.

The Franciscan Portiuncula Friary is the oldest friary in Pakistan, founded in 1940. It is located in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi, adjacent to the Christ the King Seminary. It is the Pakistani base of the Order of Friars Minor, a mendicant Catholic religious order founded by Saint Francis of Assisi in 1209.

In 2010, a Pakistani Christian woman, Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi or Aasia Bibi, was convicted of blasphemy by a Pakistani court and was sentenced to death by hanging. In October 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted her based on insufficient evidence, though she was not allowed to leave Pakistan until the verdict was reviewed. She was held under armed guard and was not able to leave the country until 7 May 2019; she arrived in Canada the next day.

The Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference (PCBC) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic bishops of Pakistan. Its objectives are to facilitate coordinated study and discussion of issues affecting the Church, and adoption of a common policy and effective action in all matters concerning the Church in Pakistan.

Joseph Arshad

Joseph Arshad is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Islamabad-Rawalpindi in Pakistan.

Benny Mario Travas is a Pakistani prelate of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Karachi, Pakistan. He served as Bishop of Multan from 2015-2021.

Samson Shukardin is the bishop of the Diocese of Hyderabad, Pakistan.

Joseph Indrias Rehmat is the Roman Catholic Bishop of Faisalabad in Pakistan.

References

  1. ↑ "Sacrificing a bishop". Himal Southasian. 1998-05-31. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  2. ↑ "New chairman CCJP appointed". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  3. ↑ "Aid to the Church in Need | PAKISTAN: Justice and freedom at last". Aid to the Church in Need. Retrieved 2021-01-18.{{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. ↑ "A grim year for Pakistan's persecuted religious minorities - UCA News". ucanews.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  5. ↑ admin. "Advisors". Legal Aid Society. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
  6. ↑ Pinault, David. Notes from the Fortune-telling Parrot: Islam and the struggle for Religious Pluralism in Pakistan. Equinox Publishing Co London, 2008. p.35
  7. ↑ Muslims help Christians renovate iconic Pakistan cathedral Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN.COM) website, Published 29 April 2019, Retrieved 29 June 2019
  8. 1 2 Shazia Hasan (4 December 2018). "St Patrick's Cathedral (Karachi) celebrates 175 years with launch of book". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  9. ↑ "FORUM-ASIA". 28 February 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  10. ↑ Emmanual Mani (10 November 2009). "Blasphemy laws and religious discrimination, an attack on Pakistan's future". www.asianews.it. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  11. ↑ AsiaNews.it. "Justice and Peace: sharia in Swat valley is a defeat for entire country". www.asianews.it. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  12. ↑ Shafqat Hussain Soomro (9 March 2016). "Promotion of peace through textbooks". Daily Times (newspaper). Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  13. ↑ UCANews.com 10 May 2009
  14. ↑ "Pakistani church groups honored with international peace award". ucanews.com. Retrieved 2019-06-06.
  15. ↑ Pakistan Catholics Bishops' Conference, NCJP welcome Cardinal Joseph Coutts Daily Times (newspaper), Published 28 May 2018, Retrieved 29 June 2019

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