AMNA NAWAZ: When Sunni rebels toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad last December, they vowed to form an inclusive government by March.

As that deadline inches closer, there is growing pressure to make good on that promise.

Sunnis comprise around 75 percent of Syrians, with the remaining 25 percent made up of minorities like the Alawites, Christians, Shiite Muslims, Kurds and the Druze.

Special correspondent Simona Foltyn met with members of some of these communities and has this report from Damascus.

SIMONA FOLTYN: On the outskirts of Damascus lies one of the holiest sites of Shia Islam.

This shrine is said to be the burial site of Prophet Mohammed's granddaughter, Zaynab.

On a normal day, it's bustling with Shiite pilgrims and worshipers.

When the Sunni opposition toppled Bashar al-Assad's government in December, some of Syria's tiny Shiite minority feared that they and their places of worship would come under attack.

Sheik Akram Mustafa was here when the rebels took over.

SHEIK AKRAM MUSTAFA KARAWEEJ, Shiite Religious Leader (through translator): When they advanced on Damascus, there was chaos, and some people, through their individual behavior, threatened some of the sects.

So fear followed.

SIMONA FOLTYN: A video circulated of armed Sunni fighters attempting to storm the shrine, spreading panic, and prompting some Shia to flee to neighboring Lebanon.

SHEIK AKRAM MUSTAFA KARAWEEJ (through translator): We didn't know what their agenda was, what their direction and thinking would be.

Really, people were afraid.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Syria's new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has since made reassuring statements.

AHMED AL-SHARAA, Interim Syrian President (through translator): We are working on protecting sex and minorities from any attacks.

Syria is a country for all, and we can coexist together, and we have a close relationship with all segments of Syrian society.

SIMONA FOLTYN: An uneasy calm has settled over the shrine, but visitors remained few and far between.

Stability appears to have returned, at least for now, but there is an overall question about the role minorities like the Shia will play in the future of Syria.

Religious leaders like Sheik Akram hope for an end to sectarian strife.

SHEIK AKRAM MUSTAFA KARAWEEJ (through translator): God willing, it's in anyone's interest to sabotage this country.

Syria's ethno-religious groups should extend their hands to each other, rebuild and live in peace so that this country can return to the way we were before.

SIMONA FOLTYN: But the way things were before is a controversial topic.

During the war, this area saw an influx in Shiite inhabitants.

The Sunni fighters who are now in charge think it's only right that these demographic changes be reversed.

ABU BAQR MOHAMMED AHMED, Commander (through translator): The original inhabitants of this area are Sunni, though there were some people from the Shia sect.

The Iranian government and the regime of the criminal Bashar al-Assad worked on igniting sectarian flames.

It brought Shia from other countries who came to our area to kill our people.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Abu Baqr is the military commander responsible for the area.

He denied that Shiite civilians have fled in the wake of the rebels' arrival.

ABU BAQR MOHAMMED AHMED (through translator): Some people have fled the area because they are war criminals, whereas the people who did not bear weapons are here, and we are living together with them, and the situation is excellent.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The shrine used to be guarded by the Shiite paramilitary group Hezbollah, which came to Syria in 2012 to fight alongside Bashar al-Assad's government.

For local Sunnis, Hezbollah was not the shrine's protector, but an invading force.

Now the checkpoint Hezbollah manned together with Syrian and Iranian troops stands deserted, posters of its late leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, have been torn down.

Meanwhile, local Sunni men have joined the rebel army to fill the security vacuum.

SAMER MOHAMMED, Fighter (through translator): I joined to protect the area until stability returns, God willing.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The fighter says that these forces are here to protect all Syrians, Sunni or Shia.

SAMER MOHAMMED (through translator): There are rumors that we are killing Shia.

It's all lies.

We are not encroaching on them.

We are one hand.

The only thing we did is to finish the criminal regime.

SIMONA FOLTYN: With Assad's overthrow, Syria is under Sunni majority rule, the very scenario Assad portrayed as an existential threat to garner support among his own minority sect, the Alawites.

They're an offshoot of Shia Islam and comprise about 10 percent of the country's population.

Many Alawites who joined Assad's security forces did so for the sake of survival, rather than fierce loyalty.

They got little in return.

In this dilapidated Alawite neighborhood of Damascus, I sat down with a group of young men who were happy to see Assad gone.

TAREQ KHATEEB, Mezzeh 86 Neighborhood Resident (through translator): Many people misunderstood this matter.

That's because we were from the same sect as the former president.

This area was better off.

We lived in great poverty.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Under Assad's rule, they could barely scrape a living, nowhere near enough to own a car, buy a house, or get married.

WASSIM JALOUL, Mezzeh 86 Neighborhood Resident (through translator): We lived from day-to-day, from hour to hour that you can get work so you can eat.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Poverty left many Alawites with little choice but to join the army.

TAREQ KHATEEB (through translator): The options for the Alawites were known.

It was the army.

They didn't give us opportunities to study or become anything else.

The instructions were that this sect should go to the army.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The Alawites' disproportionate share in the security forces has sparked calls for revenge.

TAREQ KHATEEB (through translator): Who do you want to take revenge on?

The people who lived in poverty, who had nothing to do with anything?

The revenge shouldn't be against a specific sect.

The army included Sunnis, Alawites, Druze.

All of them were involved in hurting the Syrian people.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The new government has offered a general amnesty to soldiers who weren't implicated in crimes and has promised to protect minorities, including the Alawites.

But ensuring the protection of minorities isn't quite the same as granting them equal rights.

In the Christian neighborhood of Bab Touma, some worry that Christians could be relegated to second-class citizens.

Rimon Salloum is a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church.

RIMON SALLOUM, Member, Syriac Orthodox Church (through translator): We aspire to be equal in our rights and our duties.

We will not accept for the media or the new government to refer to us as minorities.

SIMONA FOLTYN: In a bid to bridge the divide, Sharaa recently met with church leaders.

But there's skepticism that these gatherings are more show than substance.

In the meantime, the transitional government has made unilateral decisions on vital issues.

The school curriculum has been revised from a largely secular to a more Islamic one, raising worries that planned amendments to the Constitution will also take on an Islamic slant.

Christians and other segments of Syrian society are sounding the alarm over not being included.

RIMON SALLOUM (through translator): We want to play a greater role in the political process.

We want to have a clear role and voice in building modern Syria.

We want to start working on the Constitution, which should be done in cooperation of all the sects in Syrian society and not limited to just one group.

SIMONA FOLTYN: On the face of it, Syria's new rulers have said the right things.

But to earn the trust of Syria's people, including its many minorities, actions must follow suit.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Simona Foltyn in Damascus, Syria.