Daily Times

For the last few months, time and again, people are asking questions about the performance of minorities’ parliamentarians. Minorities fully recognise that these selected individuals are not their representatives, but they also believe they are being selected to represent them. All these parliamentarians are as powerful as their masters therefore, people are reluctant to question them, however, I am taking the chance to be the mouthpiece of all those who suffer day in and day out. In the words of Martin Luther King, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”. Therefore, on the behalf of minorities this is a letter about the disservices done to them by their ‘selected’ leaders:

Dear minority parliamentarians,

Your relevant communities have serious reservations. Time and again you have failed your communities especially during the time of social agony. You never turn to them when your people need you the most.

Minority women are raped, abducted and forcibly converted to Islam but you never speak for their rights in concerned forums.  According to a report from an International Christian Organisation, around 1000 minority women are forced to marry and convert to Islam. You never raised a voice in your respective parliaments. Henceforth, abduction, rape and forced conversion of the minority women have become the norm of the social fashion and hobby of rich and feudal.

During the last four and half years, dozens of minority community members were framed under the most discriminatory blasphemy laws, but not on a single occasion, did you speak out spoke against blasphemy laws or propose legislation to amend or change these laws. Which are mostly used against minorities in Pakistan.

You all support ‘selection system’ of electing minority representatives because it suits you the most and for the next five years term of the parliament almost all of you have completed your work with your master parties for your continued nominations. Why do not you think that this is against the norms of democracy and why don’t you raise a collective voice in the parliament for direct election system for minorities?

In 2009 the government approved five percent job quotas for minorities. This is defined in the Article 260 of the constitution of Pakistan but ironically minorities have not been given this right and all through your period of membership, minorities complain that none of their leaders helped them in getting the 5 percent job quota ‘right’.

Your services for the provision of health and educational facilities to your communities are being challenged by minorities. Do you have any response to their genuine concerns?  Health and education are the fundamental rights secured by the constitution of Pakistan but your efforts to materialise these facilities are equal to nothing.

Hundreds and thousands of minority community members are suffering in Pakistani prisons, a majority of them are suffering because they are unable to pay court as well solicitor’s fee and have to suffer in prisons. This is making their lives and their families even harder. How many of you took such measures to rescue those in acute need of funds for getting them released?

Majority of Hindu and Christian youth in Sindh and Punjab have failed to continue their higher education because of their inability to meet the expenditures of the public as well private educational institutions. Many are losing hope to materialise their dreams. How many young scholars did you support in your present term of membership?

Asia Bibi, an innocent Christian woman is suffering in isolation in Pakistani prisons. Human Rights Organisations and the International community are always raising this issue to the Pakistani government. Minorities seek to know your contribution towards the release of Asia Bibi. Very recently she has been nominated for Sakharov Prize by the EU. Your communities are desperately looking to see her release from the prison.

It has been noticed that whenever you get a chance to represent Pakistan internationally, you always promoted government viewpoint that minorities were safe in Pakistan whereas the ever-growing minorities’ persecution in Pakistan is evident that your so-called narrative based on disfiguring does not match to the realities.’

Recenlty, Capt Safdar, a Muslim fanatic member of the parliament spoke against minorities in the parliament and shouted, ‘Esaiyonka jo yar ha-gaddar ha gaddar ha’. Your silence shows how helpless you are in your political ambit, unable to condemn the direct attack on minorities.

In 2009 the government approved five percent job quotas for minorities. This is defined in the Article 260 of the constitution of Pakistan but ironically minorities have not been given this right

As minorities’ representatives do you have your collective platform where you discuss the issues of your communities and find out the solution to address issues in the light of the constitutional legislation?

The minorities request you to declare your assets from the time you acquired your first membership to this date.

You never raise voice against the hateful content taught in Pakistani school’s curriculum. Many school books contain material full of prejudice and hate-mongering against minorities. Undoubtedly your silence proves your vindication of such material you do not believe to oppose.

In certain areas of the Punjab, Christian community is densely populated claiming thousands of voters, similarly, in Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and Tharparker Sindh a large number of Hindu voters are able to elect their representatives but because of social isolation, they are bound to elect ‘other’ representatives. In last general election, in Tharparker region, pamphlets were circulated warning Muslim voters not to vote for ‘infidels’. Do Hindu parliamentarians have any justification for the treatment of their community by the feudal of those areas? Likewise, in Punjab in spite of a large voter strength, Christian leaders never ever dare to contest elections to challenge Muslim candidates.  Minorities are completely unaware of selected members stand on the issue.

During the last local bodies election minorities voters instead of counting in one union council, they were divided into different union councils, so they could not elect their own leaders with the majority of their votes in one union council. This happened in Lahore, Faisalabad and several other cities of the country. Indeed, no voice was raised on this issue by minority parliamentarians.

Does this end here? Time to think and reflect.

Sincerely,

Pakistani Minorities.

The writer can be reached at kaleem.dean@mail.com

Published in Daily Times, November 3^rd 2017.