Daily Times

You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the state, these lines of Quaid-e-Azam rings in my head when I see any temple, church, gurudwara, or any other religious place other then a mosque.

I am a Muslim who believes in Islam, the founding religion of Pakistan. I being a first-class citizen of this country always make me feel most privileged not that I feel anyone inferior to me but being part of journalism and having minorities as my beat for three years I have seen the plight of Hindus, Christians, and other minorities. Even the Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught us the lesson of equality that no human is superior than other human. However, we Muslims have taken it on our ego to prove ourselves better than other religions.

Recently what made me furious was that when I traveled for about 1.5 hours to Hasan Abdal from Rawalpindi to visit Gurudwara Panja Sahib to pay a visit and was denied even stepping I the security premises.

Security guard: Kidhar ja rahi hain? (Where are you going?)

Me: Gurudwaray ma. (Inside Gurdwara)

Guard: Musalman hain? (Are you Muslim?)

Me: Haan jee (Yes)

Guard: Madam sirf Hindu ya Sikh ja sakte hain ibadat ki jaga hai unki ap nhe ja sakti andar. (Only Hindus and Sikhs are allowed to enter the Gurdwara. This is their place of worship)

At that particular moment, I didn’t like that guard but refrained myself in any argument with him as he was just doing his duty.

Later on, I thought over this and realized how Muslims have made them insecure that they have to secure even their praying places from us.

Also on the other hand, do Muslims allow non-Muslims to enter their religious places? No, definitely not.

Now let’s go back a few years, it was March 2015 when I was roaming around the streets of my city Karachi with a friend who was from Lahore and mind it I was a full-time reporter and knew a lot of people at the place I was going to enter but as shocking as it may sound I was denied access to the St Joseph’s Cathedral in Sadar was hardly two weeks ago I went to cover an event but for personal visits, the place was not for non-Muslims.

Luckily after that Gurudwara the very next day was Friday and with the whole family, we went to Faisal Mosque to offer Friday prayers, just a thought crosses my mind and I asked one of the guards at the gate do they allow non-Muslims to just visit and see the beauty and grandeur of this a place like we adore to other non-muslims religious places but aren’t allowed to see to which he said, “No one other than Muslims is allowed to even step in the premises if someone violates it is arrested and handed over to the local police,” the guard who didn’t share his name. “As hundreds of people visit here daily and if someone trespasses are something can’t be controlled but if found then even his far-flung relatives will remember the day he entered the mosque,” he added.

With all these incidents I realized that it is us Muslims who have made it difficult for them to even breathe without fearing us, they are only protecting themselves and why should they let you in their temples and churches when you can’t even stand their site. There are instances when Muslims have protected non-Muslims and vice versa but on larger scale brutality has also been done.

Despite they were promised to give all freedom in Pakistan we have shrunk their land on them and still keep asking luxuries just because we are so-called first-class citizens of this so could independent country.