Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has vowed that long-pending legislation concerning minority rights will be completed at the earliest, telling a ceremony in Peshawar that Pakistan is a safe country for people of all faiths and that protecting minority communities is the government's responsibility. The governor was addressing a ceremony at the Governor's House in connection with the 557th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, where he extended warm greetings to the Sikh community.

Kundi said minorities had played a vital role in Pakistan's development and prosperity, and that the provincial government stood shoulder to shoulder with minority communities despite limited resources. He said previous provincial governments had failed to give due attention to minority welfare, adding that the present government was determined to ensure equal rights, protection and opportunities for all citizens. He also stressed that restoring peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was an urgent need, saying children must be given pens instead of guns, since education is the guarantee of a bright future.

What the pledge does not yet settle

The governor did not name a date for the legislation or set out its contents, so the test of the pledge will be whether a draft reaches the provincial assembly and what protections it actually contains. Minority delegations have previously pressed for reform of outdated personal laws, including Christian marriage and divorce laws dating back more than a century and a half, and for enforcement of quotas in education and jobs. For now, the commitment stands as a public promise made at a community celebration, in a province where governor's rule and emergency measures remain in force and where the politics of minority protection are closely watched.