Islamabad, 02 December 2025 — Chairman Senate Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, while addressing the Joint Sitting of Parliament at the Parliament House, reaffirmed his longstanding commitment to the rights and welfare of women and minorities. He said that even during his tenure as Prime Minister his guiding principle had been that “women and minorities are my constituency”, a pledge he made clear continues today.
Gilani informed the House that a Minorities Caucus had been established in the Senate to ensure stronger advocacy and protection of minority rights. The new caucus will provide a dedicated parliamentary platform to raise concerns and promote legislative responses on issues affecting religious and other minority communities.
Recalling the founding symbolism of the country, the chairman cited Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s inclusion of the white portion in Pakistan’s national flag as a reminder that religious minorities form an integral part of the nation. He presented the caucus as aligned with that constitutional and moral commitment.
During his remarks the chairman asked the Minister for Law whether the reservations expressed by some members of parliament as well as by the President of Pakistan had been addressed. The Law Minister gave assurance that those concerns were being considered, underscoring ongoing parliamentary engagement on minority rights and the role of the Minorities Caucus in that process.
