Daily Times

We are building not so much a multi-racial society or a multi-cultural society, we are building separate societies that really do not have much to do with each other. Equipped with just enough religion to hate those from another faith but not enough to love our co-religionists, Pakistanis have mostly turned their backs on religious atrocities. Religion is not to be, and never was meant to be, forced upon an individual against his/her own will. Unfortunately, Pakistan is facing the spectre of terrorism where some Islamic fundamentalists want to impose their rigid rituals and ideologies. The Pakistani government is in a state of confusion about whether to face them or to face terrorism. In this turmoil, the government is again wasting its time in negotiating with the terrorists, knowing fully well that this process will bring no solid result.

Taliban ‘peacekeeping’ troops and the government of Pakistan’s negotiators are meeting to devise a strategy for formally kick starting a much awaited dialogue process. The Taliban had nominated five prominent figures — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S) Chief Maulana Samiul Haq, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Professor Mohammad Ibrahim, JUI-F politician Mufti Kifayat ullah and Lal Masjid prayer leader Maulana Abdul Aziz — to act as intermediaries between them and the government’s negotiating team. However, the JUI and PTI — the two avid supporters of peace talks — wished the proposed dialogue luck and excused themselves from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s intermediary committee. And now, apparently, the Taliban will be nominating Ansar Abbasi and Orya Maqbool Jan in the squad.

Fawad Chaudhry, one of the PPP’s political leaders, has demanded that people nominated by the Taliban for negotiations should be arrested and investigated for their links with terrorists. I support his stance because once these people, who live in our country, start representing the militant groups and negotiating on their behalf, it means that they are one of them either in spirit or practical.

The Asian Study Group, in collaboration with Kuch Khass, recently arranged a multimedia presentation on Religious Tolerance and Islam. They believe that many mistakenly believe that Islam does not tolerate the existence of other religions. Islam recognises that there is a plurality of religions on this earth, and gives the right to individuals to choose the path that they believe to be true. They gave examples from the life of their Prophet (PBUH) to epitomise the verse of the Quran, which promotes religious tolerance and sets guideline for Muslims’ interaction with people of other faiths.

I am not a religious scholar but I know about my faith and I am very well aware of it as well. I wanted them to ask, which sharia they wanted to impose: the Taliban designed version of it or the sharia that is already imposed in the constitution of Pakistan, or both. I feel the answer is already scripted and in a nut shell is that both groups will sit, negotiate and design some restrictions to be imposed on already marginalised segments in society like women and religious minorities. They may demand to tighten the rope and neck of the minorities; they are already poised to make death penalty compulsory for blasphemy. Earlier, Pakistan faced a looming deadline to either comply with a court ruling to amend the country’s penal code to make the death penalty the only lawful punishment for blasphemy or to appeal the order. This may restrict religious freedom or freedom of expression. We can already see that religious minorities are not leading an enviable lifestyle in this arena. I am afraid that Pakistani Christians are already living miserable lives where they do not have the right to be heard. If the government starts negotiating with people who do not even care about what the Muslim majority wants in this country then what will be the future of Christians in the country?

The writer can be reached at shamimpakistan@gmail.com