Whither minority rights?

“And, finally, by claiming (again, without any warrant in Quran or Sunnah) that the shariah imposes on us the duty to discriminate [against non-Muslims], they make it impossible for [the non-Muslims] to bear with equanimity the thought that the country in which they live might become an Islamic state” — Muhammad Asad, author of The Road to Mecca.

Last month there were media reports that land grabbers had demolished a 500-year-old temple, Krishna Mandir, in Lahore. The Foreign Office moved swiftly to set the record straight that these reports were untrue. But the reason these reports were thought to be true was because many temples have been demolished in Pakistan over the years. This raises many a pertinent question about whether minority rights are protected in Pakistan or not.

A report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued last year noted that the trend of kidnapping girls of the minority [Hindu] communities and their forcible conversions was on the rise in Sindh. “Kidnapping Hindu girls like this has become a normal practice. The girls are then forced to sign stamp papers stating that they have become Muslims,” says Laljee Menghwar, a member of the Hindu Panchayat in Karachi.

Many churches have been vandalised and Christian villages have been looted and burnt by fanatics. Cases of rape and murder have also been reported. In 1998, four Muslim men raped a seven-year-old Christian girl named Nageena. The perpetrators went unpunished while the victim and her family were threatened with facing the “consequences” if they seek justice. Furthermore, as if the rape of his minor daughter was not enough, Ghulam Masih, the victim’s father, was put on death row for allegedly killing an old woman in his village. He was accused by his daughter’s attackers. Any Muslim who has a grudge against a Christian uses the Blasphemy Law to victimise him. The law has been misused by Muslim landlords in the countryside to grab land from Christians by framing them in blasphemy cases, especially in Punjab. “Ayub Masih languished in jail for years because of the land grabbers. After years, it was proved in the Supreme Court that a false case of blasphemy was designed against him to grab his property” – persecution.org. Then there are cases that violate the freedom of expression. In April 1998, a Christian man was sentenced to death for allegedly speaking favourably about Salman Rushdie during a dispute with a Muslim villager. He was the fourth Christian to be sentenced to death in Pakistan in the 1990s.

The Ahmadis have been persecuted time and again by the extremists for no apparent reason. In November 2004, an Ahmadi student was told by his principal not to attend lectures in Islamiyat. It surprised the student immensely; he requested to be informed in writing. Regardless of one’s own religion, no seeker of knowledge should normally be denied information on any religion. Also, in a village called Islamabad, about six kilometres away from Hyderabad, District Bhakkar, the mullahs started giving a call for jihad and murder of Ahmadis in every Friday sermon at the mosque (References of Ahmadis courtesy thepersecution.org).

Article 20 (‘Freedom to profess religion and to manage religious institutions’) of the Constitution of Pakistan declares, “Subject to law, public order and morality (a) every citizen shall have the right to profess, practise and propagate his religion; and (b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions.”

Minority rights are an integral part of human rights, and Islam gave to mankind an ideal code of human rights 1,400 years ago. These rights aim at granting honour and dignity to every human being, and help eliminate injustice and oppression. Pakistan cannot justify calling itself the ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ when its justice system is so unjust. Over the years, there have been countless cases of Christian killings all over the country, the Hindus have faced violence and acute harassment, and the Ahmadis continue to confront legal and social discrimination as well as violent attacks. The misuse of blasphemy laws has unrelentingly increased. A large number of people across the country have been denied employment or education on the basis of their belief. The reason for such blatant discrimination is the fact that there is no fear of punishment in the absence of proper minority rights.
Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.” Pakistan is in total violation of this Article along with many other human rights violations.

There is less tolerance in society, and as tolerance is meant to protect the minority from the majority, the condition of the minorities remains dismal. But we must understand that if we cannot treat the minorities with respect, then we must stop complaining about Muslim minorities being treated badly in the Western world. The simple rule of ‘what goes around, comes around’ applies.

Islam teaches us to build a society that is a model of civility, courtesy, and consideration for others. It does so by emphasising these attributes as a matter of faith and encourages every group to have its own laws applied in all branches of human affairs. The Islamic state has to guarantee protection for non-Muslims – their life, property, and places of worship. One hadith states, “Whoever harms a non-Muslim (Dhimmi) will not enter paradise.” What is happening in Pakistan is the exact opposite of Islamic values.

The history of Islam is full of anecdotes of Muslims, Christians, and Jews living together in absolute harmony in predominantly Islamic societies. “While on his deathbed, Sayyidna Umar ibn al-Khattab, Radi-Allahu unhu, dictated a long Will consisting of instructions for the next Khalifah. Here is the last sentence of that historic document: ‘I instruct you on behalf of the people who have been given protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet (PBUH) [that is the dhimmis or the non-Muslim minorities within the Islamic state]. Our covenant to them must be fulfilled, we must fight to protect them, and they must not be burdened beyond their capabilities.’
At that time Sayyidna Umar was lying in pain because of the wounds inflicted on him by a non-Muslim who had stabbed him with a dagger soaked in poison while he was leading the fajr prayer” — (‘On religious tolerance’, Khalid Baig, Albalagh).

It is abundantly clear from incidents quoted earlier that religious minorities in Pakistan are in effect second-class citizens. Are we so insecure and intolerant that we continue to refuse them their rights? Every citizen can be an asset. The only Nobel Laureate of Pakistan Dr. Abdus Salam (Physics 1979) was an Ahmadi. We were lucky that despite all the hurdles, he stayed back in Pakistan, for such people would be inclined to go abroad and serve others if they get a chance due to such mistreatment in their own country. They do not feel a part of this nation and why should they when fundamentalism is on the rise and religious intolerance and fanaticism at its worst. Some people only need an excuse to take the law into their own hands and vent their frustration. The minorities would only be able to do more in nation building if their belittled status as citizens is restored to equality. The fair treatment of minorities is one of the most fundamental and vexing responsibilities of a nation. The West has benefitted a lot from allowing people from every religion to take part in the development process and taking them forward. We must stop the persecution of minorities!

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