In a country that was made on the grounds of freedom and justice, irrespective of cast, colour or creed, it is a shock to see that ethnocentrism is even a problem. However, as several instances have shown, both recently and in the past, there is no denying the fact that the words uttered by its founder regarding freedom of religion and matters of worship have now lost meaning to its people.
Ethnocentrism- a term used for a state of mind where one finds one’s own culture to be superior to others and is therefore prejudiced against any other culture but one’s own. The term is also often used to address religious discrimination- both of which is rampant in our society. From economic discrimination to discrimination when it comes to benefits offered by the state and a prejudice towards minority groups in our daily lives, we have come a long way from what this nation was intended to be.
The writer is a freelance writer and author. Her novel, “Our Tainted Souls” is now available for order, in both paperback and eBook form on Amazon
Several Christian as well as Hindu groups have reported that they face this discrimination while they apply for cooperate jobs, people prefer their workforce to be Muslim dominated, and despite the quotas put in place by some private corporations, most continue to turn away Christians and Hindus. This then leaves them with jobs that undermine their potential such as cleaners and sweepers, a sore reminder of the class system that has been embedded into the society. We are raised to believe that these are the only jobs they are qualified for, and so these are the ones we end up hiring them for. The society, in general looks down upon its daily wage earners and when this fact is combined with the prejudice we hold against other religions, what results is an endless cycle of economic discrimination, one that prevents them from moving up the economic ladder at all. The spread of the novel coronavirus has also left these individuals in worse shape since more of them are now unemployment and according to sources, they are also refused state food supplies in some cases.
Moreover, over the past months, several cases of discriminatory behavior have come forth. One example is of the various church attacks during 2019 as well 2020. Apart from that, there are the day to day incidents of violence where people from other religions are targeted. One case that has been the cause for outrage among the Christian community recently has been of Saleem, a Christian man who was brutally murdered for daring to bathe in the tube well of a Muslim landlord in his village. He was beaten constantly before being killed on the grounds of him polluting the water. It was also reported that his killers did not return his body for three days. This happened back in February and the incident has drawn attention from activists all over the country.
There have also been several instances where Hindu temples have been demolished and the Hindu community living in Pakistan has been the object of violence in general. One such example is of the very recent demolition of the Hanuman temple in Liyari, Karachi. This incident came at a time when Turkey converted one of its churches into a mosque. The temple in Liyari was demolished, along with the homes of twenty Hindu families. Moreover, another recent development came forth when the Prime Minister allotted money for a Krishna temple to be built in Islamabad, but it was demolished as soon as the boundary wall was completed.
Lastly, forced conversions is yet another problem that is now on the rise. People, especially young women, from minority religious groups are forced to convert to Islam on the grounds of false pretenses or other excuses. They are both emotionally as well as physically blackmailed to abandon their own religion and embrace Islam, a religion that preaches kindness and insists there is no compulsion in it. Yet, we insist on finding new ways to mentally torture these groups by forcing our religion upon them. One recent example of this is a TikTok video where a man is seen offering a substantial amount of money to a Christian if they convert to Islam. The video was then called out for hurting the religious sentiments of the Christian community.
This nation was built on the idea of equal rights and opportunities for all its citizens, irrespective of case, creed or religion and yet we could not be farther from the ideology right now. We love to criticize other nations when they ban the hijab, shut down mosques, badmouth our Holy Book, or when we are on the receiving end of their prejudices against Muslims, but are we any better?
The writer is a freelance writer and author. Her novel, “Our Tainted Souls” is now available for order, in both paperback and eBook form on Amazon