Business As Usual

Web | Aug 04, 2010

International / Opinion

Pakistan
Business As Usual

‘It is strange that while the International community seizes upon the slightest violation of human rights in some countries to condemn them from all corners, it is quite reluctant to put pressure on Pakistan to change course’
Sultan Shahin

Cultural and ethnic minorities in Pakistan are in great distress, with suicide bombers routinely killing sectarian minorities like the Shia and the Ahmadi during prayers inside mosques, cross border terrorism once again raising its head after a brief lull, terrorists trained in Pakistan seeking to perpetrate terror even in the West.

After a few threatening noises following the recent Times Square bombing attempt, the international community appears to be treating its dealings with Pakistan as business as usual. But if we are to get rid of the menace of massive violation of the human rights of sectarian, religious, ethnic minorities and women in Pakistan as well as cross border terrorism, it’s high time the world took the issue of neutralising the epicentre of terrorism in the world more seriously.

Recently, nearly a hundred Ahmadis were killed while praying in their mosques in Lahore. This kind of killing has become virtually routine for another sectarian minority, the Shia. Suicide bombers regularly invade their mosques on the pretext of praying with them and explode themselves, killing scores of their co-religionists. Ethnic minorities like the Baluchis, Mohajirs, Pashtuns and Sindhis are under constant pressure of varying intensity at different times on different pretexts.

Religious minorities

Religious minorities like Hindus and Christians face similar persecution. There have been several incidents of these religious minorities having had their prayer houses burnt down, killing scores. Forced conversions to Islam, particularly of Hindu girls, who are abducted first, have become another routine. Hindu minorities who constituted 23 per cent of the population at the time of Pakistan’s creation in 1947 have now been reduced to barely 2 per cent. These religious minorities, along with the Ahmadis, also suffer from Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws which prescribe death for alleged defamation of Islam. In the case of Ahmadis their mere claim to be Muslim constitutes blasphemy. This leads to some ridiculous but deadly situation for the minorities. Two Ahmadi teachers were put under detention and faced the threat of death penalty merely because their bikes had a sticker containing a verse of the Holy Quran, (Is God not sufficient for His servant?). Ten important functionaries of the Ahmadiyya Community were detained under PPC 295-A, 298-C and 295-C which carry long imprisonments and death penalty for writing the following in their correspondence:

(In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful)

(We praise Him, and invoke blessings on His Noble Prophet)

(May peace and Allah’s mercy be with you)

A case was registered under the Blasphemy law on 12 October 1994 against three Ahmadis for translating the Quran in Sindhi language. Subsequently, two more Ahmadis were added to the final charge sheet, alleging them to be the publishers.

In this age of the internet it will not be difficult for anyone to find hundreds of examples of such persecution of the ethnic, religious and sectarian minorities in Pakistan.

International dimension

Pakistan’s violation of human rights is not only causing distress to millions of its own citizens; it has an international dimension as well. For Human Rights defenders around the world, the most worrying aspect is the involvement of State laws and state machinery. It is no accident that the recent attacks on Ahmadis took place in the backdrop of the recent 18th Amendment to the Pakistan constitution which has sealed off the office of prime minister to non-Muslims by declaring that the post will be held by a Muslim. The presidency has, since 1956, already been reserved for Muslims alone. State’s growing intolerance of minorities inevitably encourages extremists to perpetrate more terror.

For Pakistan’s neighbours like India, the concern arises from the fact that Pakistan continues to ignore, if not actively support, the terrorist groups it had spawned earlier under some misplaced strategic imperatives to export terrorism to other countries.

For Muslims around the world, the concern is that Pakistan maintains such discriminatory laws and allows its misuse by the state machinery in the name o Islam, supposedly to promote Islam. After all, the terrorists who blow themselves up, killing scores of people in Ahmadi or Shia mosques, do not do so just because they have been offered some money, but because they have been brainwashed into believing that this act will take them instantly to heaven. There are ostensibly Islamic institutions preaching this evil, brainwashing their pupils and training them to do so. These institutions are well-known, their leaders strut around Pakistani cities, addressing large gatherings, preaching terror, openly collecting donations for their nefarious acts. Pakistani state cannot possibly be unaware of these events, particularly as it organises security for the leaders of these institutions like Hafiz Mohammad Saeed of Jamaat-ud Dawa and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Pakisani civil society

It is heartening that Pakisani civil society is seized of the matter and many intrepid journalists are condemning such dastardly suicide bombings and other terrorist acts at great personal risk. But at the same time, and very unfortunately, one hears voices, even in the English media that used to be the one corner of sanity in Pakistan, justifying killings of Ahmadis and persecution of other minorities in the name of maintaining the purity of Islam. This is largely a result of the ongoing project of Wahhabisation around the world that has spawned many vested interests promoting a very dry, desiccated version of Islam in which the beauty and generosity of Islam, its compassion and mercy have no place. It is necessary for mainstream Muslims to sit up and take notice. Let us hope there is still time and Islam can still be retrieved from the hands of these marauders.

Pakistani state’s continued involvement in promoting acts of terror abroad, even if it is more an act of omission rather than commission, as it claims, has to be inevitably viewed with concern by all those who believe in the indivisibility of human rights. One cannot protect human rights in one country and allow their violation in another country. But this is a cause for even greater alarm for Muslims who see the goings on in Pakistan, as tarnishing the fair name of Islam, thus immensely fuelling Islamophobia around the world. It is no accident that Islamophobic political parties have begun to gain ground in several European countries in the aftermath of continuing massive human rights violations in some Muslim countries and by Muslim extremists even after 9/11.

UN, OIC must intervene

Humanity in general, but Muslims in particular, have got to become very careful about how Islam is being projected by Muslims in the eyes of the world. Thus not only world organisation like the UN, but also Muslim Organisations like OIC must intervene and seek to impress upon offending Muslim countries like Pakistan to stop following domestic and foreign policies that sully the name of Islam. Suicide bombers trained in Pakistan are not only creating havoc in their own country, but also crossing land and seas to terrorise the world. It is strange that while the International community seizes upon the slightest violation of human rights in some countries to condemn them from all corners, it is quite reluctant to put pressure on Pakistan to change course. This is presumably because it is perceived as an ally in the ongoing war on terror. But it has to be understood that by its acts of omission and commission Pakistan is actually fuelling this war. It is not in Pakistani interest or at least in the interest of all-powerful Pakistan Army for this war to end. So those of us who are working towards creating a more peaceful world should take the issue much more seriously than we have done up to now.

The above is from a speech titled Human Rights in Pakistan: Cultural and Ethinic Dimensions made by Sultan Shahin, editor, New Age Islam, on 11 June 2010, addressing a parallel seminar on Human Right Concerns in South Asia organised by Inter-Faith International during UN Human Rights Council’s June 2010 session at Geneva

Copyright: www.NewAgeIslam.com

URL: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?266522

There is blood on our hands

	Thursday, June 03, 2010, Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1431 A.H.
There is blood on our hands

Thursday, June 03, 2010
Kamila Hyat

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor

The different kinds of violence that run through our country have turned it into a zone where war, and the chaos it brings about, is a perpetual phenomenon.

Most recently Ahmedis have been its victims, with 90 killed in the bloodbath in Lahore. In past months Shias have suffered similar violence. Ethnic battles rage on in Karachi, the military fights extremists in the northwest and other kinds of killings take place in Balochistan where five teachers have been among the 128 shot dead in targeted killings over the past five months. Fourteen teachers have been among the 782 killed in targeted shootings in the province in the past three years. Attacks on Christians are reported every now and then as are different kinds of random violence that seem on the surface to be senseless. Mob action against those suspected of crime is becoming more and more frequent and, frighteningly, as the killing fields spread, the state’s law-enforcers seem to have been reduced to the role of spectators, who can, at best, only rush in after the spree of violence to pick bodies off the streets.

Certainly, this is what happened in Lahore. Threats to the Ahmedi community, coming in for almost a year in the Model Town area went largely unheeded. Security was stepped up but was obviously inadequate in the face of an attack as well-coordinated and planned as the siege that disrupted weekly prayers. It appears that intelligence agencies had failed to pick up on plans for the attack. Ahmedis report that after it took place the police response was delayed and the death toll could have been even higher had two young Ahmedi men not acted with immense courage and disarmed two of the suicide bombers, holding them captive for 30 minutes until the police made their way to the spot in Model Town. Even after the carnage, there is evidence the lessons have not been learned.

Arrangements for a mass funeral were altered by the Ahmedi community which saw the security as insufficient. Their fears are not out of place. Attacks at burials have been staged on more than one occasion by the militants to maximise the numbers they consign to death.

The events we saw on Friday go beyond the issue of a failure to offer security. They are rooted in the state’s discrimination against a particular community which in 1974 was declared ‘non-Muslim’ despite its own protestations to the contrary. Some ten years later specific laws against Ahmedis made it more likely they would be persecuted. According to the US State Department’s annual Human Rights Report issued in March 2010, 94 Ahmedis faced criminal charges in Pakistan for religious offences during the past year: 37 under the blasphemy laws and 57 under Ahmedi-specific laws.

Pakistan remains on the list of countries of ‘particular concern’ for the US Commission on International Religious Freedoms. Such state-backed discrimination has strengthened the hatred against Ahmedis propagated by extremist groups. This sentiment has found its way into mainstream society, mainly through the doings of sections of the media. While Friday’s killings shocked many, there was disturbingly muted comment from some quarters about the ‘controversial’ beliefs of the community – as if this justified murder. Some national leaders made it a point not to mention Ahmedis by name in statements condemning the act of terrorism against them.

Another game now appears to be afoot. There have been observations from police officers in Lahore that the militants who staged the attack had roots in North Waziristan. It is quite possible that these findings are not inaccurate. But there is suspicion that a part of the motive is to deflect criticism faced by the Punjab government for failing to act against groups in southern Punjab suspected of being linked to the attack. There is certainly evidence to back this. Those present at the Model Town place of worship say one of the young men pinned down by worshippers spoke in Seraiki, cursing those who had prevented him from completing his ‘mission’.

Initial claims of responsibility for the assault appeared to come from the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Punjab, and despite the denial of the Punjab government the fact is that this group has been linked to many of the recent spate of terrorist attacks. It of course is likely that it is working alongside forces based in the northwest, forming a new – and extremely dangerous – nexus.

Southern Punjab has for many years been the heartland of sectarian violence and also anti-Ahmedi sentiment. The groups guilty of repeatedly violating the law against the spread of religious hatred have never been charged. No attempt was ever made to prevent them from inciting violence against the Ahmedi community. In some cases the government, at various points in time, has connived in actions directed against Ahmedis. The refusal to go after extremist groups has almost certainly encouraged them.

For purposes of electoral gain, Punjab ministers have joined hands with leaders of the Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, despite the fact that it is a banned organisation. Other banned groups continue to operate in the province. This dangerous situation of course increases the possibility of more violence in future with Punjab becoming a safe haven for militants.

The state of war we live in leaves no room for development or an improvement in the quality of human life. It presents fearful dangers to the state itself, with new fault lines zigzagging across it. The cracks have been widening rapidly. We must find ways to fill them in before the rifts grow deeper and the violence they generate assumes still more dangerous dimensions. The state needs to take the lead in this. Discrimination laid down in law must be ended and an even playing field created for all citizens.

Until his happens, we will remain a nation divided on the basis of religious belief, ethnicity and other factors which prevent us from discovering the tolerance we so badly need to create integrity and the willingness to live together within a territory shared by many diverse groups.

Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com

URL: www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=242756

Speak up!

	Thursday, June 03, 2010, Jamadi-us-Sani 19, 1431 A.H.
Speak up!

Thursday, June 03, 2010
Sehar Tariq

Thousands took to the streets to protest against Facebook and blasphemous content being published on it. On May 28th, 80 innocent Pakistanis were murdered in cold blood as they were peacefully praying in a house of worship. I wonder how many will take to the streets to protest this atrocity? I have a feeling that there will be few or perhaps none. There will be the usual round of condolences and demands for inquiries, but we know these are merely hollow promises. In Pakistan little is accomplished without popular support, and popular support does not lend its self to causes such as protection of minorities.

When we wanted the judiciary restored, we took to the streets and had it done. When we wanted Facebook banned we took to the streets and had that done. But I have a feeling we’re going to let this one slide and stay inside. It’s ironic that we are willing to take to the streets for the sanctity of the name of the Prophet (PBUH) but not for any of his teachings. The Prophet preached that it was a sin to harm innocent people.

But somehow it doesn’t matter what happens to those that “we” don’t consider Muslims. While the phenomenon of terrorism is new, the problem of sectarian violence is not. We have harboured violent hatred and have not been afraid of expressing it. We are so caught up in some billowing self-righteous rage that we have become blind to the teachings of the religion that we profess to love and in whose name we commit all of these sins.

But these really aren’t Muslims some would say. And some would cite the teachings of popular television anchors who consider these people wajib-ul-qatl. The Prophet (PBUH) preached that even in times of war those who do not pick up arms should not be harmed; particularly women and children. But innocent children were slaughtered, the old and infirm suffered frightened and tortured deaths while they were busy in worship.

The people that were murdered were peaceful, taxpaying, law-abiding citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is the responsibility of the state, under the constitution and Islam, to provide security to those citizens who, despite adhering to different religions, pay taxes and abide by the laws of the land. But instead of providing protection to these people, we have television programs where anchors are allowed to rally support for murdering innocent citizens. And in the wake of such hatred, innocent people are murdered.

No word, whisper or whimper about this is heard. Because in our twisted worldview, it’s alright to say whatever we want about any other religions or their followers. But when someone attacks our religion in any way, shape or form, we are up in arms in a matter of minutes. We expect the world to show us nothing but respect while we show none of this to any other religion. We can laugh, joke, degrade and even attack and murder the followers of other religions without having our collective conscience flinch. How did we become so hypocritical and irrational? How did we become so cruel?

With the deaths of 80 innocent Pakistanis, the lives of hundreds of families have changed forever. There is sorrow and heartache and fear in hundreds of Ahmedi homes. But as the rest of Pakistan sleeps easy and TV anchors remain hypocritically silent, they forget that tomorrow this could be them. Through our collective silence, as we aid and abet a culture of intolerance and senseless killing that one day might consume us too. This violence, intolerance and injustice must stop. And it must stop with the largest majority speaking up against it.

For once, let’s stand up and show the world that we actually abide by the spirit of the religion that we profess to love and follow. Let us turn not far away, but towards the Holy Book and teachings of the Prophet (PBUH) to learn that this kind of violence and hate is not tolerated in Islam. This senseless killing, violence and hate will not stop unless we demand that this be done.

The writer is a student of Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, working for a master’s degree in public policy. Email: tell.sehar@gmail.com and www.sehartariq.wordpress.com

URL: www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=242757