1. A Synopsis of
The Representation of Religious Minorities in
Pakistani Press: A Three Month Study of the Daily
Dawn and Daily Jang.
A Thesis
to be submitted by,
Mahrukh Mohsin
For the award of the degree of:
Masters
Department of Television Film and Theatre
Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan.
Spring, 2012.

2. Introduction
Pakistan was established in 1947, not only by the efforts of the Muslims of the Sub-
Continent, but also by the joint efforts of many Christians in Punjab along with many
Zoroastrians (Parsees), and even Hindus in Sindh.At the time of Independence, it was
declared to be a secular state that would guarantee the freedom of practice of all religions and
safeguard the interests of the minorities by its founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah.In his opening
speech to the Constituent Assembly, presided over by Mr.JogindranathMandal, who
belonged to the Hindu community, Mohammed Ali Jinnah said: “You are free; you are free
to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in
this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to
do with the business of the State.” He in particular highlighted the democratic features of
England in his speech and said,“Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal
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 Statei”. However, soon after Jinnah’s
death in 1948, the first Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan, proposed a resolution upon which
the first Constitution of the Country was to be formed. He proclaimed that the future
Constitution would not be modeled upon a European pattern, but on the ideology and
democratic faith in Islam. Starting from 1953 till 1973, riots against Ahmedis began to take
force ultimately declaring them to be non-Muslims. This discrimination was taken from the
streets to the Constitution 1973 with the inclusion of Article 2. Based on the
recommendations of the Objectives Resolution, Islam was declared to be the State Religion
in the same Constitution. Also, Muslims were declared to be the Majority and important posts
were reserved for them, such as the President, Prime Minister etc. In 1980, the Blasphemy
law was passed, and in 1985, Zia-ul-Haq tampered with the constitution. The clause related
to the ‘Freedom of Religion for Minorities’ was expunged from the Constitution and
abolished from the Objectives Resolution. An unwritten policy was adopted by the armed
forces, under Zias’s regime under which officers not belonging to the Muslim faith were not
promoted to high positions. This proved detrimental to the Christians who, before, this policy
held large numbers in the armed forces. The situation of the religious minorities of Pakistan
has been deteriorating since then. However a ray of hope emerged with the recent 18th
Amendment that was enacted on the 18th of April, 2010.

3. Motivation
Regardless of the 18th Amendment, the impact of the mindset generated over decades is hard
to overcome easily. The controversial yet cruel Blasphemy Law has not yet been revoked,
nor has the Muslim majority accepted Religious minorities as rightful equal citizens of
Pakistan. Furthermore it is increasingly difficult for the religious minorities to acquire social
acceptance, jobsand to freely and openly practice their religion. Christians in particular are
looked upon as the appropriate employees for Blue Collar jobs and are even derogatorily
known as ‘Chooras’ (Janitors) even though they are present in almost all fields of life with
honorable jobs. Ahmedis are nowadays being subjected to an economic boycott and their
businesses are being frequently threatened. Most of the Hindu citizens of Sindh live below
the poverty line and are forced into converting to the Muslim faith. Even in these trying
times, the Religious Minorities have never posed a threat to the security and sovereignty of
Pakistan and have diligently worked towards the success and development of the Country.
As Citizens of Pakistan, there should be no differentiation between the Muslim majority, and
other religious minorities, rather they should be treated with mutual respect and work
together amicably towards mutual development. As newspapers are an important source of
information throughout Pakistan, it is essential that all sectors of the society receive
considerable coverage and their joys and woes be understood by the society at large. Since
there is a larger readership by the Muslim population of Pakistan, many a times certain news
regarding the religious minorities gets left out of the newspaper to compensate for the limited
space of the paper, however there needs to be a considerable voice of the minorities in the
press that can accurately inform and educate the masses about an essential part of their
society and teach them the lesson of tolerance towards each other. Other than rectifying and
reflecting upon the society, newspapers also inform about the measures taken by the
Government and the various state institutions for the betterment of all citizens. It is also of
immense importance that all citizens of the country, regardless of their religious beliefs, form
a cohesive society that is empathetic and sensitive to the needs of the other.
The main motivation behind this research is to find out whether the print media is doing its
job fairly and treating the religious minorities of Pakistan as equal Pakistani citizens.

4. Hypothesis
The Pakistani print media is biased against the religious minorities of Pakistan.
Objectives and Scope
The analysis of the content in the widespread newspapers: Daily Dawn (English) and
Daily Jang (Urdu), about the religious minorities of Pakistan, over a period of three months,
should be able to highlight the average Representation of Religious Minorities in Pakistani
Press. The main questions arising during this research are as follows:
1) Do religious minorities receive sufficient coverage in Pakistani press?
2) How accurate is the reporting about the religious minorities?
3) What is the tolerance level of an average Pakistani Muslim, towards the religious
minorities of the Country?
4) Is the society at large concerned about the religious minorities of Pakistan?
5) Are the State Institutions biased/insensitive towards the religious minorities of
Pakistan?
6) Do the Religious Minorities of Pakistan consider themselves Citizens with equal
rights?
Description of the Research Work
The research will include a Primary Research of two daily newspapers over a period of three
months to evaluate the amount of representation of religious minorities along with the
evaluation of their socio-political standing in the society.
The two widespread Dailies Dawn and Jang were chosen for the purpose of this research as
they are widely circulated all over the Country. The Daily Dawn is one of the oldest
newspapers of Pakistan and has a subtly stated right wing to centered policy. Known for its
objectivity and accuracy of news, it is rampantly distributed amongst the English speaking
(Elite) class of the society. On the other hand, The Daily Jang is a populist Urdu newspaper
that has a more center-winged to leftist approach to news reporting and one of the largest

5. readerships in Pakistan. An analysis of both dailies together will provide accurate wholesome
and interesting reports and an intelligent review of the representation of the minorities.
The three months selected for the purpose of the research are February – April 2012. These
three months have been chosen in order to research the average representation of the
Religious Minoritiesduring a random time of the year while ensuring that the research
conducted is able to depict the current trends in the representation of minorities in the Press
along with the mindset of the average citizen depicted through the press.
Along with the analysis of the newspapers, a few interviews/survey will be conducted to find
out the views of the people responsible for what appears / is left out in the press; what do the
minorities think about their own representation in the press; the opinion of media watchdogs/
non-profits andan NGO concerned with human rights amounting as a secondary research.
Along with the above mentioned primary and secondary research, a Literature Review will
also form a part of the thesis including important documents such as the Munir Report 1954
etc.
Summary of the Work
The research about the Representation of Religious Minorities in Pakistani Press,
should help create awareness about the exact status given to citizens of the same Country
who belong to different faiths. It should bring to attention the need for tolerance and
acceptability in our society especially at a time when both these values seem to be running
low. Also, it aims to uncover the various methods with which the press and the government
along with various institutions are trying to form a cohesive and caring society for the overall
betterment of the country.
i
Mr. Jinnah’s Speech to the First Constituent Assembly (1947), Dawn, Independence Day Supplement, August
14, 1999.