Daily Times

The year 2020 has proven to be the Monday of all years. The day nothing short of an epiphany compelling everyone to reminisce. Reminiscing August 11, 1947, “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State,” was ingeminated by Jinnah at his first presidential address.

Now come 2020, the state has conclusively gotten immunity from the politicisation of marginalised groups. The recent notification issued by the government of Punjab, making the teaching of the Holy Quran with translation mandatory in all provincial universities, has made everyone sceptical whether it’s a politicised move. Is this a speculation? Jamaat-e-Islami’s monopoly of being the most influential religious party in Pakistan must be mulled over.

The Khatam-e-Nabuwat or finality of the Prophet is a convenient political tool that has been used to exploit every political party against the other. Reverting to 2017, Khan exploited the “change of oath” issue against the PMLN government when Khadim Hussain Rizvi had accused the government of committing blasphemy. The black and white hatred for Ahmadis has become a cumulative thought process for the masses. This has been invoked by the consistent process of politicisation by the state rather than the contemporary religious differences. The state’s response has categorised from being accommodating in 1949 to Ahmadi exclusion in 1974 and outright criminalisation nowadays. It is ironic how Pakistan opposes Islamophobia, paying no heed to its existing penal code allowing religious discrimination, legalised by its constitution that multiplies the discrimination against the community by openly allowing calls for murder. This doesn’t come as a surprise, as per the 2020 international religious freedom report, the general intolerance and religious freedom conditions across Pakistan continue to trend negatively.

The black and white hatred for Ahmadis has become a cumulative thought process for the masses

Khan albeit made a lot of vows to safeguard the rights of minorities but ultimately surrendered to the pressures by u-turning every decision. He made his first u-turn in 2018 by removing the renowned economist Atif Mian from his economic advisory board because of his Ahmadi assent. If Mian had become PTI’s future finance minister, it would have turned the tables around. But when Khan was questioned on Mian’s faith, he crumbled under the pressure as per his competitors. Making it to the list of bashful events, in December 2019, Jannat Hussain, an assistant commissioner, was forced to apologise for her comments after she said to a group of students that the rights of the Ahmadiyya community, as citizens, should be respected. Brassed off, protestors, mainly from Jamat-e-Islami, forced Hussain to not only apologise but also call Ahmadis “kafir” (infidels). Is this democracy? Further enumerating the Ahmadi mosque attacks, on February 6, 2020, a group of people forcibly occupied a 100-year-old Ahmadiyya mosque in Kasur, Punjab. Succumbing to pressure, the local authorities deprived Ahmadis and handed the mosque over the radicals. Instead of taking potshots at the alleged ill-treatment of Muslims in India, the state should look at its horrendous institutional persecution of minorities. On top of it all, social media harassing hasn’t been pardoned, On July 19, 2019, an anti-Ahmadiyya hashtag Qadiani [a derogatory word for Ahmadis] was trending on Twitter. Finally, the most up-to-date controversy began with the cabinet deciding to include the Ahmadis in the National Commission for Minorities. And hue and cry started taking place by the mere mention of their representation. Within hours, an atrocious campaign against the community started on social media; labelling Qadianis as traitors, calling them the worst infidels in this world. These are some of the many events highlighted during PTI’s reign, which were brought to our attention via social media or got substantial coverage via newspapers. There’s so much that is unheard of.

The media channels of Pakistan don’t mind airing the most futile news on prime time. Does this major crisis decrease their ratings? Potentially, the notification making Quran mandatory can serve as a double-edged sword. The 2018 UNDP report stated that Pakistan currently has an edge by being one of the youngest countries in the world. That was distinctly observed when our youth passionately supported the BLM movement. It shouldn’t coy from its domestic problems either. Pakistan’s youth can give visibility to marginalised groups by letting their voice be heard and changing the narrative altogether. Unfortunately, Ahmadis will be stuck in a nexus between the discomfort of taking that course or fear of revealing their identity. Either this can be a catalyst for a new perspective finally breaking extremist Ahmadi social stigma embedded within our nation by gaining knowledge of the Quran or can dispense ethnic cleansing or forced displacement of Ahmadis from Pakistan.

A sense of security and belonging are two inherent rights that every citizen deserves. A solid takeaway from this year would be to harness the feeling of empathy and to regain our buoyancy. “‘If we cannot agree, let us, at any rate, agree to differ, but let us part as friends,” spoken by Jinnah. If only everyone took a step back and altered their perspectives, Khan’s Naya Pakistan wouldn’t be such a distant dream.

The writer is doing her masters from King’s College London in international political economy and works as a research analyst