The All India Secular Forum has condemned the killing of Hindus in Pakistan. The murderers must be apprehended and punished. The AISF made its point by recalling the speech of M. A. Jinnah, which he delivered on Aug 14, 1947 in the Constituent Assembly. The excerpts of the speech are:
“You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State…If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make…and you will find that in 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.”
In a statement, AISF said we do not want a society where people cannot practise whatever religion they choose to. Every person irrespective of sect, community, religion, caste, creed or sex must have equal rights.