Honoring religious minorities of Pakistan

Discrimination against religious minorities has become a norm — worsened by hate speech that leads to violence.

By Ataurehman Saman
Lahore:  In 2009, Pakistan declared Aug. 11 "Minorities' Day" as a way of honoring the service and sacrifices of religious minorities to the country. However, in the wake of a host of incidents including violent attacks, religious discrimination and the denial of minority rights by the state, one could hardly find anything to celebrate.

The abuse, swelling extremism and intolerance speak loudly about the disrespect minorities face and the lack of political will to address it. Successive governments had been responsible for reducing the space for minorities to participate in mainstream society. This contradicts the lofty claim of honoring minorities.

Discrimination against religious minorities has become a norm. It is worsened by hate speech and a national curriculum that leads to violence and promotes religious intolerance.

In March 2013, 100 Christian homes were burned down in Lahore after allegations of blasphemy. In November 2014, a mob in Punjab burnt a Christian couple alive in a brick kiln after a local cleric whipped the largely Muslim community into religious frenzy by accusing them, both in their 20's with the wife pregnant, of blasphemy. In 2013, a mob of around 35-40 people attacked and burned down Christian homes in Shad Bagh colony, Lahore, after accusing a resident of defiling pages of the Holy Quran.

Such incidents, coupled with the brazen and uninterrupted misuse of blasphemy laws to settle personal enmities against members of the Christian community, have become commonplace in Punjab.

On June 19, 2014 the Supreme Court of Pakistan issued its famous judgment that "a National Council for Minorities' Rights be constituted to monitor the practical realization of rights and safeguards provided to the minorities under the constitution and law."

In December 2014, a lawyer of the federal government claimed that the National Council for Minorities' Rights had been set up under the Ministry for Religious Affairs, which was formulating a policy on interfaith relations and national harmony.

In March 2016 a government report declared the council a vibrant body.

Despite all the claims above, on Feb. 26, 2016, Pakistan's National Action Plan for Human Rights pledged to prepare and submit a bill establishing a statutory council in December 2016. This reveals that the never never existed!

It also shows a lack of commitment to address the issues facing religious minorities.

Hence the month of August provides an opportunity to remind our government of its responsibility to protect the rights of religious minorities.

One such way that the government can actually protect the rights of religious minorities is to defend religious minorities against forced conversion to Islam.

The National Commission for Justice and Peace reported in 2009 that 20 Christians and 21 Hindus had been forced to convert to Islam in that year, of whom 15 were men, 13 women, and four children. In March 2010 the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated that as many as 20-25 girls from Hindu communities were being abducted each month and forcibly converted to Islam.

The government should consider this issue and enact concrete legislation.

While inching towards democratization, Pakistan should introduce meaningful reforms to include excluded communities and create more space for religious minorities to participate in civil society, shaping Pakistan into a tolerant, pluralistic society.

Ataurehman Saman works with National Commission for Justice and Peace as its Coordinator of Publications. Based in Lahore, he is also an educationist, columnist and human rights activist.

Source: UCAN