Daily Times

Pakistan has a joint electorate system based on one person, one vote. However, in order to ensure some representation to the religious minorities in Pakistan, 10 seats have been set aside for them. Anyone falling in the purview of the definition of non-Muslim in Article 260 of the Constitution can be elected on this seat. Nevertheless, these 10 seats have been made subject to proportional distribution amongst the mainstream parties according to their electoral strength on general constituencies. This means that technically even the most right wing and anti-minority party can nominate members to these 10 seats. What credibility would such a representative have is a question that we must consider.

First of all, the number of reserved seats for non-Muslims, according to the established formula of 5 per 100 (based on erstwhile minority quotas), means that upon 332 seats i.e. general constituencies as well women’s reserved seats, there should be 17 non-Muslim seats. Even if we were to discount the women’s reserved seats and take only general constituencies, fairness demands that there should be 14 seats for non-Muslims. The obvious argument to counter this is that non-Muslims can also contest and get elected on general constituencies, but that argument fails when we consider that it is extremely rare for a non-Muslim to be elected in a general constituency, except perhaps in parts of rural Sindh. Besides, given that post-1971 Pakistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim majority country, which in any event reserves the highest offices i.e. president and prime minister for Muslims, would it really hurt the Muslim majority to give a slight advantage to our minorities? It is the least the Muslim majority can do to show that it considers all citizens of Pakistan equal members in the progress of the nation.

The bigger question is how do you elect these non-Muslims. I have written repeatedly on this but I will repeat once again, the way to elect non-Muslims on reserved seats is to have a Pakistan wide election on these seats. This can happen in a variety of ways. Dividing Pakistan into 10 non-Muslim constituencies is hardly an issue. The real reason why it is not done is because the mainstream parties would rather have these seats divided amongst them, then have a real minority voice rise up and speak for the rights of minorities. They want the non-Muslims to remain beholden to the Muslim masters of these parties, and consequently be controlled by them. Many of these parties have willing collaborators amongst the minorities who in a direct election on reserved seats would never win the confidence of non-Muslims. This is why they continue to support the present system by which pliable minority ‘representatives’ are nominated by mainstream parties.

This is a grave injustice that is being perpetrated against non-Muslims in Pakistan. It would have been different if Pakistan had truly become a state and a society where religious affiliations would not matter, but the very spirit of the 1973 Constitution that privileges Muslims over non-Muslims even as it claims equality of citizenship precludes such a situation. In this case, to deny non-Muslims the right to elect their own members to reserved constituencies and instead allow unrepresentative show-boys to be nominated as minorities’ representatives is a perpetuation of slavery. My friend, Ben Hur Yousaf, President, Christian Democratic Party, calls it nothing less than that. Talk to him for an hour, and you will realise just how deep the feeling of alienation is for religious minorities in Pakistan.

The irony is that this electoral injustice has been upheld as legitimate in the 18th and 21st Amendment case before the Supreme Court last year. Only Jawad S Khawaja, the former Chief Justice, had the courage to call it like it is in his dissenting note. Even the international monitoring organisations fail to realise or appreciate the wickedness of this system. The “Final Report of Europe Electoral Mission in Pakistan” strangely overlooks this injustice. They too are seduced by the idea that one person, one vote is a panacea for all ills. Well, we, in Pakistan, should know better. Our entire case for Pakistan was based on the Muslims’ right to be represented by people they repose confidence in. Yet today we are denying the same right to non-Muslims of Pakistan.

Having direct elections on reserved non-Muslim constituencies does not in any way affect the Muslim majority. It does, however, challenge the supremacy of a few un-electables amongst non-Muslims who have managed to cosy up to mainstream parties and are akin to ‘house-negroes’ and ‘Uncle Toms’ for the non-Muslims of Pakistan. Some of our brightest minds and some of our best citizens have come from within the non-Muslims of Pakistan. Giving them their due rights would only strengthen Pakistan and make it a progressive and inclusive state.

Tail piece: The attack on Marvi Sirmed by Hafiz Hamdullah of JUI-F has once again underscored not just the misogynist nature of our society, which is an undeniable fact, but has in particular exposed the real mentality of the rightwing religious parties in Pakistan. Some points need to be reiterated. Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman’s father, Mufti Mahmood, an erstwhile supporter of the Indian National Congress in the 1940s, had declared shamelessly that he was “not part of the sin of making Pakistan.” Yet thanks to an unscrupulous compromise by the previous PPP government, Maulana Mohammad Sherani of this school of thought presides over the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Now with the Panama leaks, we have the present government also kissing up to the JUI-F. Women meanwhile are being burnt alive even as CII endorses their torture in the name of light beating. For the sake of Pakistan, the only course before us is to disband CII, which is a constitutional directive. Failing that the CII must be liberated from the clutches of JUI-F. Meanwhile, people like Hamdullah should be proceeded against by the Senate of Pakistan. For too long we have endured this insanity by these religious rightwing fanatics. Enough is enough.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and the author of the book Mr Jinnah: Myth and Reality. He can be contacted via twitter @therealylh and through his email address yasser.hamdani@gmail.com