In 2000, Pervaiz Masih was informed he would be contesting local government elections in Peshwar’s Town III from the platform of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). Masih emerged victorious after securing 172 votes in a constituency where the party traditionally polled around 27-35. Today, he heads the JI Khyber Paktunkhwa Minorities’ Wing, peculiar given the Jamaat’s historic reputation as the vanguard of the Islamic revolution.

While Masih does have reservations on minorities not enjoying an equal footing in some areas, he is effusive in his praise for the JI. Beholden, he said, remain him and his coreligionists to the party for letting them forge successful political careers on merit alone.