In an announcement that surprised many, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif decided to rename the National Centre for Physics at the capital’s Quaid-i-Azam University in honour of the first Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Abdus Salam, on Monday. The very fact that his government has dared to embrace such a controversial figure despite fears of enraging the country’s religious hardliners deserves great applause and promises hopes for better days ahead.
Salam’s phenomenal research that had significantly helped in the later discovery of subatomic “God’s particle” continues to be celebrated with much enthusiasm and esteem all over the world except his own country. While his scientific successes, as well as his crucial contribution to Pakistan’s nuclear programme, should have been revered as those of a national hero, both its government and the society continue to overlook — even undermine — his achievements merely because of his religious affiliation. Salam remains an eminent example of the tragic circumstances the religious minorities in Pakistan are forced to brave at the hands of the growing influence of hardline Islamic interpreters, who vehemently attack all who oppose them. Even though all minorities suffer from the incessant existence of religious discrimination, forcing many to flee their own homeland, the marginalisation faced by one particular group, members of the Ahmeddiya sect, has only intensified over the years. The blatant blend of hateful rhetoric and prejudiced mindset has already consumed most of their prospects to get educated, enjoy employment and other societal benefits, and above all, the recognition of their legal status. Ahmedis had started off as the highest literate group in post-independence Pakistan, significantly enriching the country’s cabinet (Zafarullah Khan), its bureaucracy (Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad Sahib, its military (war heroes like Air Marshal Zafar Chaudhary and General Iftikhar Janjua) and even arts (Obaidullah Aleem). However, their short-lived prosperity was soon attacked by religious extremists who initiated anti-Ahemddiya campaigns. Calls for their subjugation were finally cemented by the military dictator Ziaul Haq in 1984 when he promulgated Legal Ordinance 20 — a decree wherein Ahmadis could no longer identify themselves as Muslims. This societal aggression towards their beliefs has slowly but lethally transformed into an unrelenting campaign that encourages people to cleanse Pakistan off Ahmedis. Only a month after an Ahmadi was gunned down outside his house in Karachi, the June murder of a 50-year-old Ahmadi doctor in the same vicinity vindicates the might of this sectarian hatred. According to human right organisations, as many as 194 Ahmedis have been killed in Pakistan since 2001. The May 2010 Lahore massacre in which at least 96 worshippers were murdered while another 120 were injured in simultaneous attacks on two Ahmeddiya places of worship had left the community crippled with shock and grief.
Nevertheless, these attacks have not yet been powerful enough in uniting the country in condemnation against the ongoing bloodshed of fellow Pakistanis. No matter what the constitution states about their religious beliefs, it still guarantees them the right to enjoy the sanctity of their lives in a manner similar to all other residents of the country. Thus, no one can be allowed any liberty to jeopardise these rights and facilitate their relegation to the margins of the society. As was rightly stated by our founding father on repeated occasions, Pakistan was established for “ all citizens and equal citizens of one state.” We cannot and should not allow the bigoted ideals of some to fringe upon the freedoms of others. Recognising Salam as a national hero is a much-needed first step taken towards the realisation of Quaid’s vision in addition to restoring prosperity and peace to our country.*