Pakistan was born as a country which would protect all its citizens and provide them with peaceful lives. Our current situation is completely opposite to the principles on which this nation’s birth took place. Just take the example of religious minority issue; many things are going wrong and unchecked.
On a daily basis, some X,Y or Z temple, Church or religious site gets desecrated by local angry mobs and sets the motion for public condemnation of the disturbing event. But my question goes beyond this. For how long will we, continue to fall into back into the old cliché of saying we condemn this act strongly. Off course, an unequivocal condemnation of human rights violations against religious minorities and burning down Churches or destroying Hindu temples is a given.
But after that What? But it is also vital to take concrete action to ensure that such events don’t happen again. This is where the hard work needs to be done, minority protection may be forgotten or deliberately ignored by the State, but as citizens of Pakistan we must work on pressuring the establishment to realize their legal obligations and affording religious freedom to its citizens.
Why is it not possible that Christian brethren have to fear going to Church on the occasion of Christmas and Easter?
Why is it not possible for Hindus worshippers to enjoy puja worship just because they pray to deities in contrary to believing in a monotheist religion?
Why many Pakistani Parsis are leaving for abroad just because they no longer feel secure inside their own country?
These are all questions that depict the depressing situation of religious minorities in our country. The government must guarantee the protection of all Pakistanis regardless of their religious backgrounds; this sentiment is echoed now and then by parliamentarians representing minorities at Federal and Provincial levels. But despite breakthroughs, the situation for the country’s larger minority groups – including Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and some cases Muslim sect Ahmedis remains much or less the same.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) observed the unchecked rise in religious extremism in the country since last few years leaving the on ground situation worse off for religious and sectarian minority communities.
After this year’s Easter Attack in Lahore, HRCP has called upon the federal and provincial governments to act decisively to protect the religious minorities’ interests if greater disasters are to be avoided. Zohra Yousaf, Chairperson also said “The enormous challenge Pakistan is facing must be matched by the federal and provincial governments’ will and their demonstrable capacity to do their duty by the people, especially the more vulnerable among them.”
It is quite understandable most minorities are feeling a sense of being badly let down by the State’s inability to provide them basic rights such as protection and equality in the vast Muslim-majority population.
It would not be false to declare that within our hearts, most Pakistanis are suspicious of the fact that there is hand of some so and so militant group behind violent attack on minorities and their religious sites. But the fear of the extremists is so strong that people suffer their anguish in silence.
And if not that, we have examples of some who dared to speak and were silenced forever.
Shahbaz Bhatti, Former Federal Minister for Minorities.
Salman Taseer, Former Punjab Governor.
Sabeen Masud, civil and political activist.
Irfan Khudi Ali, human rights and peace activist.
And now Khurram Zaki, human rights journalist.
What a nation we are and what a people we are to have a fighting spirit that never accepts failure. But all these events raise questions for the government of Pakistan? The first and foremost is why aren’t any operations being conducted against such extremist outfits responsible for enticing faith based conflict and attacks on Pakistan’s minorities. Why is the establishment weak in investigating such attacks and make accountable the perpetuators responsible for literally crumbling the essence of our society?
Today Pakistan needs to put into concrete action the State talks of ‘we believe in promoting a culture of tolerance’ because only in doing so we can put a stop the direct threat from religious extremists and individuals spreading a milieu of vigilantism and horrific brutality.
Pakistan should deliver the promises made to its nation by safeguarding the human rights of all its citizens. As its people will continue to fight on till this country rises to glory. And it will one day. Pakistan Zindabad.