The PPP government had declared August 11 as Minorities Day in 2009 through the efforts of the then minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated in the country’s capital in 2011. The day signifies Quaid-e-Azam’s speech to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, in which he said: “You may belong to any religion, caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”
Pakistan was established as a secular republic at the inception of its nationhood in 1947. Since 1947, Pakistan has become more and more entrenched in purist Islamic thought that revolves around the theo-political jurisprudence of Sharia law.
I had the privilege to attend the celebration of the Minorities Day ceremony at the President’s House last year. The present government (PML-N) did not seem to be in the mood to celebrate the Minorities Day. On the other hand, the biggest Christian country’s head, the US second time elected President Barack Obama, arranged an iftar party in the White House this year and had proudly announced to support Muslims all over the world.
However, Information Minister Parvez Rasheed (giving a lame excuse) said that the Day would fall during the Eid holidays. Though Pakistan is going through a testing time but minorities are on our priority list, he added.
The Information Minister’s statement sounds good only on paper, but we, the Pakistani Christians, are very well aware of the priorities of the ruling party. There are my earlier submissions about the plight of Christians in Pakistan, which have provided a forum to view the priorities of the ruling party. The Gojra, Shantinagar, Sangla Hill and Joseph Colony incidents mounted up during the last PML-N regime in Punjab province. After coming into power at the federal level, the PML-N holds the only representation of the minorities, Ministry of National Harmony, in their own hands.
In the wake of the present critical situation, a criminal silence and nonchalant attitude of the Christian leadership in the country are very alarming. Pakistani Christians express their deep concern for the continuation of peace and harmony, not only in Pakistan but also in the rest of the world. There have been many wake-up calls but the Pakistani Christian politicians/religious leaders have gone into a long snooze. The cases of Bishop John Joseph, Shantinagar, Gojra, Joseph Colony, Aasia Bibi and Rimsha Masih are some examples of the Christian leaders’ callousness.
During the past week, I received invitations from different active Christian political/religious groups celebrating this day. Some called it Minorities Day, others Equality Day, while still others called it a black day. These leaders have declared the day according to their own mindset, thinking of themselves as community leaders. On the day, those leaders spent huge amounts of money for their vested interests. It is pathetic that when these so-called leaders are requested to support a needy person, they will not go for it and rather just present a list of excuses. Let me give you a recent example. During the past week, two Christian girls and a boy working in a beauty salon accused of theft were sent to jail on judicial remand in the capital. As these workers were the only source of income for their families, I requested the local political leader to support them in terms of providing surety bonds for their release but he refused, simply saying that he did not know anyone in Islamabad. Then I asked a human rights champion (who claims a higher-ranking in human rights service) to provide legal aid and was surprised at his answer that it did not fall within their organisation’s policy. Now I hear that both the leaders were arranging events on August 11.
The role of the clergy in the development sector has left a question mark. Evangelical churches and bishops are involved in land grabbing. These black sheep must be marked (I will write a detailed story on it later).
I always emphasise to put heads together and have been writing for unity among the Pakistani Christians. When all other parties, groups and organisations can put their heads together and be unanimous on the solutions, why can’t the Pakistani Christians sit together for their rights? Instead of pronouncing moral judgments on everything and anything, why can’t Pakistani Christians stand together for Christians’ welfare as a whole?
The west neglects Christians as a whole; the US and Europe ignore the persecution of Christians as a whole and focus on individual Christians too often, who do not present the true picture. Most of the beneficiaries of the UN are Muslims. Embassies have their own social sectors head to support the Pakistani Christians if they want. But it is observed they normally ignore Christians even when granting visas, while issuing visas to Muslims, Hindus and Ahmadis. Only a small number of individuals enjoy any status. The rest are suffering and suffering in the name of Christianity.
Some local Christian politicians, civil rights champions and religious leaders have been making money on the pretext of safeguarding minority rights, but these financial resources are being used in getting positions in other political parties and for their vested interest rather than spending those funds for achieving Christian prosperity and unity. Some of them, as Christian representatives, have been a part of the Assembly that approved the blasphemy law and they kept quiet at that time. Now, we have a few Christian political parties registered to contest general elections but which have no contact with the Christian community at the grassroots level. They have not shown any seriousness in guarding Christians’ rights and are rather busy in making deals with major Muslim parties.
I always write to seek greater civil rights for the Christian minority in Pakistan. Christians are a small minority in Pakistan but their suffering is tremendous. I have been working actively for a democratic, tolerant and progressive social order and for socio-economic and political rights for religious minorities, especially for Christians in Pakistan.
The writer is a human rights activist and is working as a stinger, specialising in writing about minority rights for various national and international papers