Keep lizards away with bird feathers

By Yassar Talib Aiman Zameer Lahore: The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) held a screening of its documentary film, A Separation Refused, highlighting the Movement for the Restoration of the Joint Electorate in Pakistan, at a local hotel in Lahore. The 20-minute documentary film, by the award-winning the producer and director, CSJ and Dawood Akhtar Murad, traces the culmination of the world unique Separate Electorate system in Pakistan’s history and the movement for the restoration of the Joint Electorate in Pakistan especially during the 1990s to 2001. The film chronicles the efforts of civil society organizations, political leaders, faith communities, and human rights advocates who campaigned for equal citizenship and inclusive democratic participation for religious minorities. Using historical accounts and personal testimonies, the film illustrates how sustained advocacy contributed to democratic reforms and continues to inspire efforts towards equality, pluralism, social cohesion, and the protection of constitutional rights. Featuring over a dozen interviews, it brings together insights from Hina Jilani, Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Dr. Charles Amjad Ali, Dr. Yaqoob Bangash, and other prominent voices offering diverse perspectives youth, clergy and a parliamentarian. The even also premiered a song Hum Juda Nahein (We Are Not Separate) that expressed the The screenings were followed by an interactive panel discussion explored the progress made towards equal citizenship and the continuing challenges to the democratic participation of religious minorities in Pakistan. The panelists, Wajahat Masood a public intellectual and Peter Jacob, answered the questions while the academic Faaria Khan moderated the discussion. While addressing the participants, Wajahat Masood, said that democracy is based on the principle of equal citizenship and that the categorization of citizens into majorities and minorities reflects a constitutional anomaly. Referring to the Separate Electorate system, he noted that institutionalizing such divisions weakened democratic systems and undermined the principle of equal political participation. In response to a question on the rationale behind the documentary, Peter Jacob, Executive Director CSJ, said that the importance of the movement warranted a careful reading of the history. He noted that the film was developed to preserve authentic accounts of the struggle for the restoration of the Joint Electorate and to address competing interpretations of history and misunderstandings. He also emphasized the need for constitutional reforms to strengthen equal citizenship. He called for a review of Articles 41 and 91 of the Constitution, to remove precondition of religious affiliation for the offices of the President and Prime Minister. Moreover, implementation of Article 22(1) of the constitution of Pakistan that guarantees unbiased education. In the open discussion, participants emphasized that the message of documentary film highlighting constitutional rights, democratic inclusion, should be screened more widely through universities, arts councils, mainstream media, and other public platforms to encourage informed dialogue and greater public awareness. They further stressed that equal citizenship is not solely the concern of religious minorities but a shared national responsibility, and called for greater participation and support from the majority community in future advocacy and dialogue. At the end the participants reaffirmed a shared commitment to advancing constitutional rights, equal citizenship, participatory democracy, and peaceful coexistence through collective action.