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| India-Pakistan |
| ‘How could you serve breakfast to a Hindu?’ |
| 2011-06-25 |
| Early one morning, a few days ago, I left my hometown Umerkot for Mirpurkhas with some friends. On the way we stopped for breakfast at a roadside cafe. What followed was an incident that left me shaken, although it involved no violence. While we were eating, a man with a long beard approached the café owner. We could clearly hear the conversation. He was telling the owner off for having served breakfast to us: “Tum Hinduon ko bhi nashta karwate ho?” (So, you serve breakfast to Hindus too?) The owner responded: “Kisi ke maathay pe likha hua nahi hota ki koi Hindu hai ya Muslim” (A man’s religion is not written on his forehead) The bearded man retorted that if the café owner paid more attention to religion than making money, he would be able to identify who was a Muslim and who was not. He then went on to castigate the man further, accusing him of defiling himself and Islam for the sake of a few paltry rupees. The café owner was right. Our religion was not written on our foreheads. Perhaps the bearded man guessed our faith because we were talking loudly, using each other’s names. I have lived all my life in Pakistan, and have never encountered such bigotry before. This was the first time my friends and I had such an experience. Some of my colleagues suggest that this attitude is an indirect reaction to the discrimination faced by Muslims in India, which I find to be a rather unconvincing argument. One cannot compare Pakistan’s religious minorities with those in India. We, the minorities in Pakistan, hardly constitute five per cent of the total population, that is, less than 10 million people. Indian Muslims alone account for around 15 per cent of the population, which means that they number around 200 million – more than the entire population of Pakistan. Discrimination by law Referring to hate speech, the National Commission for Justice and Peace Pakistan, in a report on “The situation of religious minorities in Pakistan,” commented on the deteriorating educational policy. It noted that the syllabus is not based on democratic values, and the behaviour of teachers is often discriminatory towards non-Muslim students. It adds that popular television shows like Mohammed Bin Qasim, Shaheen, and Tipu Sultan misrepresent historical events to the disadvantage of non-Muslim minorities. Criminal elements take advantage of the breakdown of law and order and the mindset of religious intolerance by forcibly converting Hindu and Christian girls, and kidnapping Hindu businessmen in the interior Sindh. Because no one is ever punished for these crimes, such illegal activities, as well as the mindset behind them, continues unchecked. The targeting of vulnerable communities by extremist elements is not new in Pakistan. The situation becomes worse with the deterioration of law and order and the rise of religious extremism. The legacy of the military dictator General Ziaul Haq lives on in the laws he imposed. The one with the gravest social and psychological implications for minorities is the blasphemy law. Offences include: - injuring or defiling places of worship; - deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. These laws are being misused quite blatantly, and many innocent people, Muslims and non-Muslims have been murdered after false allegations. Remember our roots Pakistan’s founder Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah stated clearly in his speech of August 11, 1947: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” Today, after 64 years of independence, it is distressing to see that his vision of Pakistan, where all ethnic and religious groups would coexist peacefully, and strive to develop Pakistan, lies shattered. Every citizen of Pakistan needs to step in and stop the alienation of the religious minorities taking place. The government needs to address the situation at a policy level and take steps to ensure the rights of minorities, and stop hate speech and exploitation under the garb of religion. There must be a combined effort to bring the minorities back into mainstream Pakistani society, address our apprehensions and treat us as equal citizens. This will form an exemplary social structure, for the whole world, and fulfil the Quaid’s dream of a prosperous and peaceful Pakistan. |
| Posted by:John Frum |
| #7 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Let's not tempt people to turn an affront into a sin. Except in time of war, during which all manner of deception is permitted and, indeed, encouraged. Pakistan is arguably in a state of war against its religious minorities. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2011-06-25 13:31 |
| #6 I know you're right, Rammer, but I sure do like Anonymoose's idea! I wonder if it'd still be wrong to suggest "he might be a homosexual." After all, who knows? Or just be honest - "He is a hateful man." |
| Posted by: Bobby 2011-06-25 13:27 |
#5 (A man's religion is not written on his forehead) Thus the purpose of the "prayer bump". |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2011-06-25 13:24 |
| #4 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Let's not tempt people to turn an affront into a sin. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-06-25 12:45 |
| #3 In short, turn him from persecutor to persecuted, so he can see how he likes it. I suspect that has been going on for a very long time in Islamic countries. Whoever is able to make a blasphemy/infidel/apostate accusation stick, WINS. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-06-25 11:38 |
| #2 I hate the argument that "because we are a minority, we are helpless, and must use passive resistance and non-violence against our oppressors." In a more brutal, primitive society, more active resistance cannot be done as directly, but it still can be done. And it works much better than advanced ideas like non-violence and passive resistance, which only work against those who question violence and brutality. With the given case, for example, it might be worth their while for several to follow this Muslim "agitator", discreetly, and see where he goes. If he visits another shop, wait until he leaves, then tell the shopkeeper that he is a criminal who commits loathsome acts, and should bar him in the future. In the next place he visits, a different story, that he is a homosexual, or a secret Jew, or a Satanist and defiler of the Koran. Or just a thief, who distracts by talking about Islam while he is shoplifting. Pretty soon the whole neighborhood will eyeball him, and may even turn against him with violence, or turn the police on him. In short, turn him from persecutor to persecuted, so he can see how he likes it. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-06-25 11:07 |
| #1 The inherent contradiction of Jinnah's words is obvious in his "...You may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”" When the basis of your State is a single religion everything about religion is, by definition, the business of the state. Logic is definitely not a subject taught in the Madrassas. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2011-06-25 09:20 |