My fellow Pakistanis, many of you have taken it upon yourselves to remind us (journalists) that we are presenting a bad image of Pakistan, when we report about non-Muslim girls being kidnapped. The argument you present is that many Muslim girls are kidnapped just as often so why do journalists not mention that with the same fervour? 

Indeed many Muslim girls have been kidnapped but it seems the media as well as the government do not give due attention to kidnappings of non-Muslim girls. Even the kidnappers are probably aware that kidnapping a non-Muslim would not cause much of a stir compared to kidnapping a Muslim girl, since the populace does not exactly speak about non-Muslims favorably and those who do are ignored or placated. 

In case the media does take up the case of a kidnapped non-Muslim girl, the kidnappers would simply take the girl to the Muslim clergy and make it seem as if they only wanted to convert the girl’s faith to Islam, which has the effect of relieving the kidnappers of the suspicion of criminal motives.

Such is the reality of the country we live in. How can you create a good image of Pakistan out of this reality?

A 14-year-old Christian girl, Mehvish Masih, was abducted in Faisalabad and remained in captivity for two months. Mr. Tanveer Masih, her father, was killed for trying to file a case against the kidnappers. He had mentioned names of the supposed kidnappers, but was convinced to withdraw the case and to make an out-of-court settlement instead. The negotiations, however, supposedly broke down and the kidnappers, who had forced Mehvish into an Islamic marriage, murdered Mr. Tanveer Masih. Masih’s family now lives in fear for their lives. An FIR (first information report) has been filed but no arrests have been made as of yet. The girl’s mother, Najma Bibi, wants her daughter back and has appealed to several courts as well as international NGOs to bring justice to her daughter.

I was surprised that mainstream Pakistani newspapers and channels did not publish or report this case. No one was talking about it on social media either.

Perhaps the media has its own priorities. They did not deem it necessary to report about a young non-Muslim girl who was kidnapped, forced into marriage and had her father murdered by her kidnappers. The media seems to only be interested in the sensational.

Are Pakistani journalists that take up this story, and publish it, distorting Pakistan’s image or only exposing the reality?

I apologize for writing here. We usually dispose off stories that the majority of our society would ignore or not consider important.

I believe that if media and the government had taken notice of Mehvish Masih’s case, her father could have been saved.

The ignorance of the injustice our minorities have to bear has led to further injustice. It’s hard to fathom why the government or the human rights organizations have not taken up this case.

Would the government take notice of Tanvir Masih’s case in order to promote a progressive and tolerant image of Pakistan? I don’t believe so.

And why does the government remain quiet when innocent civilian lives are lost. Why are they always too late? How many times will we continue to write such pieces to remind them that their basic duty is to ensure the rights of all citizens and not just Muslims?

It seems that Government does not regard religious minorities like Christians, Ahmadis, Shias and Hindus with similar rights as those of Muslim Pakistani citizens.

The government has failed to protect its citizens. The system is a failure, and citizens, especially the non-Muslims, have to pay a heavy price for it.

By not publishing stories about discrimination and injustice towards minorities in Pakistan, we paint an intolerant image of Pakistan. The journalists are not to blame; they publish only what’s happening. It is the system that allows and perpetuates injustice towards minorities and gives Pakistan a bad name.

In Punjab, Christians and Ahmedis are discriminated against. What is their crime, I ask. The question is an old one but the government still cannot entirely grasp that people of different faith are Pakistani citizens as well, and should be accepted as such.

If Punjab were still the land of Bulleh Shah Saeen, then Tanveer’s family would have been treated no different to a Muslim family.

All non-Muslims in Pakistan, prominent of whom include Najma Masih and Asia Bibi, who want justice are searching for that long lost land where Bulleh Shah had lived and taught.

Tanveer Masih’s wife only wants justice for her daughter and her family. Unfortunately, the times are past when we would have brave souls like Shaheed Salman Taseer and Shaheed Shahbaz Bhatti that challenged discrimination against non-Muslim minorities and spoke out in favour of them despite opposition. These were the people who presented a good image of Pakistan for the world to see.

Asia Bibi and Najma Masih both search for that long lost land of Bulleh Shah where they would not have been discriminated against.