Today, I feel ashamed to call myself a Pakistani. I am ashamed because I have let my fellow countrymen down. I say this because I have not done anything to protect more than 300 of my fellow Pakistanis living in Chak 44 of Mandi Bahauddin. I feel responsible because I have allowed a bunch of fanatics to claim my faith as their own, and allowed them to force 300 members of a minority faith into hiding for something that they have not done.
Imagine yourself being part of that forsaken Christian community in Chak 44 of Mandi Bahauddin. You are locked up in your house with no provision of food or water. You are not allowed to work, and more importantly, you are socially excluded to the extent that no one is ready to have any kind of dealing with you. Not just that, you are accused of a crime that you have not committed, but the sword of death is already hanging on your head.
Perhaps this is not the first time that something like this is happening in the ‘land of the pure’. This is the preparation for another cleansing exercise that fanatics who claim to be Muslims have been doing for a long time. This is the trailer for the sequel of the 2009 Gojra incident, the 2013 Lahore incident and the 2014 Kot Radha Kishan incident.
The reason why I feel responsible for the plight of the Christians of Chak 44 is because I have let the narrative of extremists to prevail. These extremists claim my faith as their own and consider it their religious duty to persecute minorities because they think they can do so, and I am not doing anything to stop them.
The representatives of this community have failed them, because they are silent and are not being able to do anything to stop those in majority. They have not raised their voices on any given platform, either on provincial or federal level. The state has failed these 300 Pakistani citizens, because it has not been able to do anything to end their plight. This is the prime reason why the minority population in Pakistan is shrinking even further. Hindus from Sindh are migrating to India, and members of Christian and other faiths are seeking refuge in western countries. This is the end of the Pakistan that was once Jinnah’s Pakistan, because he strived for a country where people from every faith could be accommodated. However, this could not be materialised in reality.
This brings me to London where just a few days ago a Muslim man named Sadiq Khan has been appointed as the city mayor. This election represents the ethos of a multicultural and plural community that does not weigh its people, and most importantly, its representatives on the basis of their religion. Khan despite being from the minority faith was elected because he had the prowess to represent the people of London, and the people of London believed in him.
Khan made it clear in his speech that he is not the spokesman of Muslims just because of his religious affiliation. However, he made it clear that extremism can only be tackled effectively if Muslims will start playing an active role in denouncing those who have hijacked their faith. He called on Muslims to come forward because it is their duty more than others, as a bunch of fanatics claiming to represent Islam have brought a bad name to the majority of Muslims who are good and have nothing to do with the actions of the fanatic minority.
I wish all of this was happening in Lahore or some other city of Pakistan, but alas, that is only a farfetched dream. There is a stark difference between the behaviours of the majority towards minorities in the United Kingdom (UK) and Pakistan. The UK represents a society that believes in diversity and is not threatened by a thriving minority community. On the other hand, Pakistan represents a society that doesn’t believe in diversity and is severely threatened by an already dwindling minority.
The situation that is developing in Chak 44 of Mandi Bahauddin is ringing alarm bells for government, the majority population and its representatives. If we are not able to protect the minorities then perhaps it is time that the white in the Pakistani flag should be given a colour. And the colour I would like to suggest is red.
The writer is a development consultant. She tweets at @GulminaBilal and can be reached at [email protected]