Equality Obligation, Not Discretion

Ishtiaq Ahmed

Bradford: One of the litmus tests for any country’s claim to civility and inclusiveness is how it treats its religious minorities. Religious minorities make up about 4 percent of Pakistan’s indigenous population, comprising of Hindus, Christians, Sikhs and others.

The fact that the minority communities are indigenous to Pakistan as opposed to ‘migrants’ is an important consideration which often gets overlooked. They are as part of the national definition as the majority Muslims are, entitled to equal rights and privileges that naturally go with a bona fide citizenship.

This is exactly what was intended by the founding father of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah in his inaugural address to the constituents Assembly on 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 places of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed- that has nothing to do with the business of state… We are starting with this fundamental principal: that we are all citizens and equal citizens of the State”.

The spirit of the founding father’s vision was incorporated in the Constitution of Pakistan, for example, article 25 (1) of the constitution states, “All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of law.” The constitutional obligation also stipulates that “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely profess and practice their religion and develop their cultures.”

Article 29 provides any citizen or a section of citizens having a distinct language script or culture have the right to promote and conserve. Article 29 also mandates that no discrimination would be done on the ground of religion, race, caste, language or any of these.

Based around the principal of equality enshrined in the Constitution, a comprehensive legislative and legal framework has evolved to safeguard the interests of religious minorities. Pakistan is also a signatory to the UN charter of human rights which obligates the government to safeguard the fundamental rights of all without discrimination based on religion, faith or belief.

Yet the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan on many accounts remains dire despite a solid constitutional base and an evolving legal framework. Hence, one is compelled to ask the question: How does this continue to be the case?

This short piece begins to delve into some of the root causes which continue to plague and circumvent the progress on routes to equality and justice for the country’s religious minorities. Although, the denial of equality and justice also remains a principal concern for the majority population, these debilitating conditions are particularly intense and more pronounced amongst the nation’s religious minorities, accentuated by a deep sense of deliberate social exclusion practiced by the majority Muslim populace.

From the outset, let us agree on the premise that religious minorities in Pakistan are indigenous to the country and not migrants. As such, they should be afforded the same rights and privileges as the Muslim majority.

At least there should be no distinction or discrimination on the ground of their national heritage. But the distinction is often made in more ways than one, for example, their loyalty to the country and the nation is often questioned.

This is very similar to British Muslims being perceived to be more inclined towards the interests of the Muslim world as opposed to Britain, the country of their settlement. Hence, the loyalty of British Muslims is always under scrutiny despite the insistence by them that this is not the case. I take the view that if one is considered to be disloyal to the national interest, one is not considered to be deserving of an equal status and respect.

Therefore, the understanding of the attitudinal game played in Pakistan is fundamental to grasping the treatment of the nation’s religious minorities.

The intention here is to open up some difficult conversations about the underlying attitudes that go to inform and guide the treatment of religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly, those that get buried amidst the heaps of statistics and the immediate scenarios that land before us. This is an attempt to look beyond the statistics and day to day anomalies and malpractices.

From my lifelong work in the field of equality in England, I have come to realise that attitudes underpin treatment. These could range from ‘you have no right not to be here’, ‘your lot are taking up our facilities and opportunities that are rightfully ours’, ‘how dare you consider equal to us’, etc. Minorities wherever they maybe do experience these types of attitudes in the course of their lives. Certainly, we experience these with regularity in Britain.

If you are not accepted as having a legitimate right to be in the country, you will not be afforded the same status and privileges as those regraded as ‘indigenous’. This is a harsh reality. It is for this reason my starting premise was that the religious minorities in Pakistan are indigenous to the country and the nation.

The legal framework provides a minimum base line for what is desirable. Pakistan has a strong constitutional and legislative framework. Where it fails is compliance, implementation and enhancement.

All these elements are   dependent on the attitude of people that are charged with the responsibility. Hence, their  attitudes to the subject matter is of a greater significance and relevance, essentially, because  their personal points of views and biases and what they understand to be the expected norms of society, either aid or hinder the progress.

Despite a strong constitutional foundation and legal framework, religious minorities continue to be relegated to the very margins of Pakistani society. This is indicative of many things but no less so the ‘mantra’ that Pakistan was exclusively created as a ‘safe haven’ for Muslims thus suggesting that others who are not Muslims are extraneous to the very purpose of Pakistan and marginal to its existence. This eschewed understanding of the purpose of the country relegates the presence and the relevance of minorities in the national scheme of things. But more insidiously, it prevents an open conversation about the rights and the place of minorities in a society fearing a damming retaliation from the ‘eschewed mind-sets’. Against this backcloth, freedom of expression is not only compromised but not without serious repercussions and penalties.

Against this landscape of misplaced understandings and loyalties, it does not come as a total surprise that religious minorities in Pakistan are continuously having to prove their affiliation and loyalty in order to remain relevant to the national cause. They have to be constantly watchful of what they say or what they do.

A slightly out of step remark or action brings grave consequences. The blasphemy and the ‘hadood’ laws ensure to keep the religious minorities in the constant state of fear. The most recent case of blasphemy was in February 2022 when a mentally unstable man was stoned to death in the district Khanewal when allegedly a mosque custodian accused him ‘burning a copy of the Quran’.

Over 300 villagers gathered and stoned the man to death. Again in February, a Hindu teacher was sentenced to life imprisonment over charges of blasphemy in Sind Province. But the most telling case was that of Priyatha Kumara a Sri Lankan manager of a sports equipment factory in Sialkot who was tortured and burnt to death for desecrating stickers or posters containing the name of the Prophet (PBUH). The list goes on…

It is extremely important that Pakistan pays utmost attention to addressing the genuine concerns and grievances of the nation’s religious minorities above all  for the reasons of constitutional compliance; for infusing national unity and cohesion; for availing the untapped talent of religious minorities  and, perhaps, more importantly, to improve  international image and standing on human rights.

Despite being a signatory to the UN charter, Pakistan has a very poor image on the international stage regarding its treatment of religious minorities. Regular stories of persecution, abuse, forced conversions, forced marriages, and the indignant sub- human everyday treatment of religious minority persons continue to malign the image of the country and its standing in international circles. It also does not help Pakistani diaspora overseas, particularly, those residing in Europe and Britain. It simply does not help their case for better treatment and self- esteem.

One of my Pakistani Christian friends recently remarked to me at the Pakistan Independence Day celebration event in Bradford, “I am very proud of my Pakistani heritage but would I ever go and live there? The answer has to be no. Here I have problems but, at least, I am able to live in peace, feed my family with dignity and practice my religion with freedom and in peace.

Here, I feel my humanity is intact and I am not made to feel impure, outcast, and unclean, something to be avoided than to be welcomed. This is so sad because I really love to be in the home of my birth, amongst my childhood friends and my village but my countrymen make me feel that I don’t belong there.”

There are also approaching two million British Muslims of Pakistani heritage in UK. They are into their fourth/ fifth generational development. By and large, they have maintained close links with Pakistan through family connections, investments and political affiliations.

They regard themselves as loyal patriots, emotionally attached with the country they regard as their natural home, yet, as their Christian counterparts, they are equally reluctant to re-settle in Pakistan, very much, for similar reasons that include poor quality of basic amenities, widespread corruption, failing law & order, lack of justice and fear about personal safety.

This is not to say that British Pakistanis residing in Britain don’t have challenges, of course, they have a huge number of challenges-discrimination, hatred and marginalisation are everyday realities for many punctuated by Islamophobia, racism and systemic inequalities.

Yet, they continue to sustain the belief that their life opportunities and the resulting quality of life are much better in Britain than the country of their origin. Part of this belief stems from being able to practice their faith virtually unhindered, access education, health and make real progress in availing economic and political opportunities.

Moving forward, even if we start from the viewpoint that Pakistani was created essentially for the Muslim majority where they could practice their faith in safety, the treatment of minorities is not in keeping with Islamic values which are about celebration of humanity, diversity and protection and safety of minority groups. Essentially Islam is in its crux is about justice, equality and protection.

As Muslims we are obligated to uphold and demonstrate these values in our day to day life and to challenge injustice such as the erosion of minority rights with regard to forced marriages, forced conversions, religiously motivated violence, abuse of children and discrimination in all its forms.

Both the State operators and the citizens have a collective responsibility for upholding the constitution of the country and the rights and privileges that it assigns to all citizens irrespective their religion, race, colour or ethnicity.