President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif used National Minorities Day to renew an old promise: that faith should not determine a Pakistani citizen’s worth before the state. With the speeches delivered, however, the more difficult task is to give that promise meaning in everyday dealings between citizens and the state. A Pakistani, in his eyes, was to be a citizen “first, second, and last”, carrying equal rights and obligations regardless of creed. The responsibility rested with the state to deal with its citizens without grading their political worth according to religion. The Pakistani state has lately demonstrated that religious agitators and blasphemy vigilantes need not be allowed to dictate terms from the street.