Religious Fundamentalism and its Impact on Minorities in Pakistan

By: Leonard D’souza - London
South Asian Research and Resource Centre
Email: nos_1969@yahoo.com

Pakistan is a troubled country that is in the need of serious civil and human rights reform. It has a very poor track record of protecting its minorities against social injustice. Ironically, the State, instead of safeguarding the rights of minorities, has enacted laws, which are patently discriminatory. No other law has had as grave of social and psychological implications for religious minorities as have the blasphemy laws. Every year, a considerable amount of cases are registered of such acts against minorities. Hundreds and thousands of minority community members have been accused under the blasphemy laws till date. The people in Pakistan do not respect religion or the laws, Laws Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international commitments. Physical attacks, social stigmatizations, psychological insecurity, forced conversion and continued institutional degradation characterize the position of religious minorities in Pakistan in recent days. Recent attacks on the worship places, forced conversion of innocent minorities, shows a growing intolerance towards Non-Muslim Minorities.

It is very unfortunate that, the minorities especially poor Christians are still facing social exclusion and discrimination in both the urban and rural areas of the country. They have endured social inferiority and humiliations with grace and patience hoping things would change with modernization and development. While in recent governments Christians have yet to achieve social and economic mobility, they have increasingly become the victim of religious intolerance and terrorism; something this community had previously been spared.

The religious minorities in Pakistan face discriminatory laws which not only restrict them in the social and economic development process but also claim their lives. Along with the state sponsored discrimination the social attitudes and behaviors are very discriminatory for the tiny population of Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmedies. The articles 295 A, B and C and 298 A of Pakistan Penal Code is like a sword on the heads of the minorities and also for the liberal minded Pakistanis. These laws book any one for jail even claim death sentence as mandatory for any blasphemous word, action or expression against Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) and Quran. A UK based news agency reported on the increase in violence against the minorities and attacks on their religious places in Pakistan, which has created an embarrassing situation for Pakistan.

“There are sings of public protest, but widespread fear. Churches now fear that the situation will be exploited by those who wish to carry out more attacks on the minority Christian community”
It has become a common practice in Pakistan that some Muslim seminaries are encouraging the young men to convert non Muslim minorities to Islam. The young people generally kidnap the young girls of non Muslims and rape them. In cases where they are later arrested by the police, they produce a certificate issued by any Muslim seminary that the kidnapped girls have adopted Islam and that they married the girls. Many of these girls are minor. However, the courts generally do not consider this fact and simply accept the certificate as legitimate.

Discrimination against the minorities (especially Christian, Hindus and Ahmidis) and un-lawful state response to address their issues has always been remained a controversial issue in the history of Pakistan. The fundamental rights of non-Muslims in Pakistan are not only violated at state level but as an individual the attitude and behavior of majority entails not a good track at all. The Muslims of Pakistan have failed to be induced towards unity and to observing the high moral values of Islam. There is a long history of scarifies made by the minority groups in the making of Pakistan. Their significant role can not be ignored. They have made sacrifices for the Pakistan cause. This was also endorsed by the founder of the country, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, that Pakistan would be a democratic State based on Islamic principles of social justice.

While on the social and other legal rights of minorities there are hundreds of thousands of incidents that led to the bloodshed of the innocent minorities in Pakistan. Forced conversion to Islam, use of blasphemy law, targeting minorities prayer places, education institutes, forced marriages, bonded labour and other social evils, has caused considerable damage to the social fabric of Pakistan.

In Pakistan, along with the state repression and other un-lawful acts by the governments the other organs of the state have also seriously played a negative role against the uplift of minority. The law enforcement agencies, mainstream electronic and print media do not cover the issues of religious minorities as they should. Minorities have very little opportunities in other walks of life, such as, education, jobs, and other socio-political development of the country. Various ministries and divisions were established to address the issues of minorities in Pakistan but how far they are affected is already given in previous chapters. They have lost their worth and not performed their moral and professional responsibility to protect the religious, social and cultural rights of the minorities in Pakistan.

The vacuum created by the military regime's strategy of discrediting and sidelining political parties and their leaders was ideally suited to the orthodox clergy, and its militant formations took little time to move into the space left behind as political parties were pushed away. In a series of alarming actions, the clergy struck out fiercely against minority groups, especially the Ahmadis community, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), particularly those that tried to promote the rights of minorities like South Asian Research and Resource Centre. The outpourings of vicious hatred from these clergymen, in direct violation of law, not surprisingly resulted in numerous incidents of violence, harassment, and even cold- blooded murder. The fact the authorities stood by as silent spectators indicated clearly that they were in fact colluding with the extremists against those peacefully, and lawfully, practicing their beliefs or undertaking development work aimed at uplifting communities.

In Pakistan, the mainstream electronic and Urdu language print media do not cover the issues of religious minorities as they should. The Muslim majority is more influential and dominates the entire print and electronic media. Most media sources represent views of majority Muslim communities including fundamentalists. As a consequence, slowly and silently most people have accepted the ideology and mentality of Muslim clerics and now majority of people, negating the viewpoint of the founding father Mr. Jinnah, believe that the non-Muslims are not equal citizens of Pakistan.

Indeed local Urdu language newspapers publish biased stories about non-Muslims of the country. In 2006 two Christian men were allegedly accused of blasphemy in Faisalabad, the third largest city of Pakistan. A local newspaper wrote: "Two wretched Christian youths burned the Holy Quran" but in reality, both were above 65 years of age and there was an undecided First Information Report (FIR) against them alleging that they burned the pages of the Quran.

National Urdu language papers may fair a bit better but in general, display the same mentality. A few English language newspapers are better as compared to Urdu papers but their readers and circulation is limited. Some Christian-owned newspapers and magazines are published but they lack social and political coverage limiting themselves to religious news.

President Musharraf urged the media to play a proactive role in educating the people about the perils of extremism and terrorism, and to inform them about the dangers the country is facing. However, the situation on the ground is the other way around, the Constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, however, journalists are forced to practice self-censorship as they are made to suffer acts of intimidation. Though the Government did not attempt to exercise direct control over views expressed in the print media where most editorials and commentaries were increasingly critical of the Government, direct criticism of the military and the judiciary was rare. Investigative journalism was hardly practiced; instead, the press published charges and countercharges by named and unnamed parties representing competing political and social interests. Also, both governmental and nongovernmental entities sometimes pay for favorable media coverage.

Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 provides for transparency and freedom of information to ensure that the citizens of Pakistan have improved access to public records and for the purpose of making the Federal Government accountable to its citizens. This freedom is available to all citizens. Unfortunately, the Media in Pakistan has never enjoyed the freedom of information promised in the Ordinance.

Heavy-handed surveillance and legal actions against journalists continue throughout the history of Pakistan. For example, different magazines have received threats from government officials for their critical coverage of the Government’s discriminatory policies. The media personnel are targeted and threatened by unknown persons. Further, the reported cases of journalist disappearances continue even though in most cases, the missing persons were found after several days having suffered the detention and torture by the police or security forces.

National Commission for Justice and Peace in its eighth Human Rights Monitor released its report on 'The situation of religious minorities in Pakistan'. The report says that Pakistan Television's serials Mohammed Bin Qasim, Saheen and Tipu Sultan were clear misrepresentations of historical events, presented to the disadvantage of non-Muslim minorities; The education policy has gone from bad to worse; The syllabus is not based on democratic values; and, The behavior of teachers is discriminatory toward non-Muslim students.

The strong anti-minority sentiment and intolerance by Urdu Press has been persistent and unrelenting in the last 60 years in Pakistan. It has contributed, more than its share, in further spoiling and perpetuating the communal hate climate. Its campaign has been so extensive that a whole book is needed to describe it. Due to the limitations of this paper, a few cases are mentioned below to illustrate the nature and level of this propaganda war.

Geo TV of Pakistan repeatedly puts on air the following public statements of Shiekh Rasheed Ahmad, the Former Federal Minister of Information: “Ahmadis abroad, continue to damage the image of the country, I consider them KAFIR (infidels).” (source: Daily Pakistan, December 20, 2004)

There are many instances where the media promotes religious intolerance through articles, dramas, stories and film scripts. This intolerance is not just confined to hate statements but also is provoked through actions taken against the minority groups. On many occasions, the Christian community of Pakistan has been called “Esai”. Hindus also are called names like “Hindu Banya”. The minorities are projected in the development sector in negative connotations as they are blamed for working for foreign interests in Pakistan. In many newspapers, the writers also demanded ban on the places of worship of the minorities, and to restrict their preaching efforts under the blasphemy laws. Following are some examples:

“A daily newspaper published a statement by Khatm-e-Nabuwat (Finality of Prophethood) a religious organization, reiterating their demand to remove Ahmadis from key government posts. They also demanded that the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working for Christian and Ahmadi rights should be banned.

In an article the writer said, “Ahmadis preach their faith and publish the banned literature violating the blasphemy laws so Government should put restrictions on Ahmadi community, confiscate their properties and their worship places should be put for auctions.”

After the Shangla Hill incident in Lahore where churches and other Christian properties were burnt to ashes by Muslims, Dr. Sarfaraz Naeemi, Secretary Tanzimat Madaris Diniya said: “Christian clergy had themselves set the churches on fire after the desecration incident and should be put behind the bars and not allowed to leave the country”, then added: “Christian clergy burnt their buildings like they did in Shantinagar.”

No one can deny the fact that the minority community members as well as the representatives of different international non-governmental organizations working in Pakistan have been targeted by the media. One of the newspapers says: “Some western organizations working in Pakistan in earth quack effected areas are preaching Christian faith to vulnerable people affected by the disaster.”

If even a nonentity decided to declare war on Ahmadis, the press is always at hand to project his howl to millions. For instance, the Daily Nawa-i-Waqt, in its Lahore edition of 8 March 1998, printed the following headlines in a 2-column news-report:

“Those Who Deny The End Of Prophet-hood Have No Right To Stay In Pakistan. The Time Is Now Ripe To Wage An Open War Against The Enemies Of Islam.” Then it states the following: “Mirzai Community (Ahmadis) should immigrate to London, the abode of Mirza Tahir, the apostate who is the successor to their false prophet, Ghulam Ahmad, the apostate. Put them to sword - burn their crops — demolish their places of worship, as I cannot tolerate the existence of rebels of Mohammad, the Prophet — and rebels have no right to live. It is government's duty to cleanse this pure land of all Mirzais and do away with their false mosques, as Mirzais are the worst and ugliest traitors to Islam and Pakistan; and no Muslim can tolerate the presence of these traitors and British agents in Pakistan.”

The dangerous anti-minority propaganda by Urdu Press has been persistent and unrelenting during the entire sixty years of the existence of Pakistan. It has contributed, more than its share, in further spoiling and perpetuating the communal hate climate. Its drive has been so extensive that it has created a huge gulf between minority and majority populations.

Perhaps there is some justification for including it in the newspaper as news but the editor made absolutely no editorial comment, not even a hint, on the harmful and disastrous effects of this edict from the podium. The owners-cum-editors of these publications are more concerned about their bank balance rather than playing their role in harmonizing and balancing the social and religious environment through the print media.

Pakistan’s major newspapers sometimes adopt a negative way of projecting the story. Press releases by religious leaders who are loaded with acrimony against the minorities are readily printed in full. Address given by a cleric to an audience whose number may not be in two figures, is reported often on front or back page under a two-column headline. Ahmadis are called enemies of Islam as well as of Pakistan, Christians are American agents in Pakistan, while in reality, they are neither. To excite the hatred of common man, Ahmadis are often linked in these statements with Jews and Hindus.

The government does not take this harmful and false propaganda into account, in fact, it is believed that government encourages such elements by employing a policy of deliberate and calculated negligence. On the other hand, the positive news related to minorities or regarding their fruitful contributions and views are either not published or unabashedly suppressed. This attitude validates the biased approach of the media. This has also spurred abusive language and name-calling against the minorities such as “Cunning Hindus”, “Hindu Maharaj”, “Banya”, “Mirzai”, “Essai”, “Choora” are the words commonly used for Hindus, Ahmadis and Christians in the daily newspaper of Pakistan. Yet during the course of this study we have not seen Muslims described as “Muslay” for example.

Hafiz idrees, leader of Jamat-e-Islami Punjab wrote in the Daily Khabrain that Jews were clever, Hindus were cunning and the Muslims were simpletons while RAW, MOSSAD and America formed a triangle of evil.

“Hindu was a snake which becomes more and more poisonous if you give it milk out of kindness. The Hindu will never refrain from biting you” and “A Hindu cared only for women, money and land but a Muslim cared only for the hereafter”.

“Qadianis, Christians and the Western Countries cannot be permitted to defile the Name of the Holy Prophet. Muslims can sacrifice their lives but will not allow disrespect to the Holy Prophet. US and the West will have to formulate laws to stop blasphemy against the Prophet. Qadianis are guilty of rebellion against the state when they preach their faith. They should be stopped from using Islamic terms and practices.”

The print media and especially the electronic media is also class biased. The reports regarding contribution of elite classes of Minority Communities may sometimes be glorified but the low class or poor segments of minorities are always ignored.

In short, the Press has acted as a veritable representative of a corrupt and decadent society; in fact it has, unfortunately, helped in speeding up the downhill trend, unmindful that the fall of this society will bring about the fall of its Press as well. The history may judge the Press of Pakistan harshly.

In analyzing the increasing treacherous situation in the country against minorities, sincere efforts must be made to build an environment of greater tolerance and harmony at both individual and institutional levels i.e. all the institutions must promote religious tolerance which is absolutely essential to live as full citizens. At individual level, leaders of both religious and political cadre must ensure religious harmony in their practices, speeches and actions as a responsible state entity. Sectarian violence must be curbed by enforcing laws against the keeping of arms, stopping the training of militants and checking the growth of bias based religious belief. Inter-faith dialogue can develop among people an attitude of love, tolerance and acceptance towards other religions.

Governments must take firm steps to counter external hands behind the violent attacks on minorities and guarantee to improve law and order situations. The option of dialogue and mutual understanding should be the top priority to address the talibainzaiton of our society, for this it is also important to involve them to the dialogue. And this dialogue must ensure the involvement and participation of the people whose interests are at stack, and have suffered rather than involving only those who have no idea of the criticality of the situation. Law and order implementing agencies should be more careful and efficient in providing protection to the minorities, their sacred places, and institutions.

The leadership, the representatives of masses, both at provincial and at National level assemblies must raise voice for the minorities, whether they represent majority or minority, this distinction must be eliminated at first stage. it would build the confidence in the leadership on broader terms. The local leaders, elders of the society and religious leaders must not promote the culture of second class citizens and must not give anybody a right to impose such obligation on minority groups. Both shall not allow anybody to determine their identity falsely and factiously, because none of the religion, nor the holy religious teachings of respective religions affirms such indiscriminative practices. It is not only the minorities which should be loyal to the majority but it is moral obligation for the majority to be loyal to the minority groups as well.

Besides holding state responsibility of constitutional safeguard, there is need to upgrade the system of teaching in all educational institutions in Pakistan. It is not only that subject specialist must teach his respective subject but it is also state’s responsibility to provide teachers with good working conditions. Since Pakistan is a multi-religions society the education should focus on universal human democratic and liberal values and the religions education should be the responsibility of the family and the respective religious institutions, as it is best taught in model character rather than memorizing the teachings. Therefore it is call of the day that the education of all religions should be taught only as optional subjects at School, College and University levels.

Law such as Blasphemy laws (section 295-A, 295-B, 295-C, 298-B and 298-C) must be repeal immediately. As a positive change and gesticulation of goodwill all pending blasphemy cases should be disposed off as quickly as possible. There are many such cases which are pending, largely due to the reluctance.

It has always been demanded of the religious minorities of Pakistan, to remain loyal to the majority. Now it is high time that majorities also learn to remain faithful to the minorities. The above recommendations pertain to the role of state and majority. However, the religious minorities themselves owe some duties and responsibilities. Minorities must be proud of being Pakistani and maintain this pride. They must be open to start and continue inter-faith dialogue and encourage others to participate actively in such dialogue. Minorities must not keep themselves aloof or isolated but merge and blend with others. Collective efforts must be utilized for the development of the society and the nation. Minorities must study and equip themselves with the knowledge and implication of all sectarian and discriminatory laws.