Pakistan is a pluralistic country and minorities flourish here, that is why the country advocates fair treatment for the minorities in other parts of the world like Myanmar and other western states. However, every now and then some minor incidents surface the news, nothing big. Like a Christian teenager, Sharoon Masih, was thrashed to death, in Burewala, by his Muslim classmates for not being one of them. Moreover, a mass exodus of Hindu community to Indian states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, due to the abduction and forceful conversions of Hindu girls in Sindh. And the most recent, a three-day lockdown of the country by an enraged group of people, over a Supreme Court verdict that finally granted freedom to an innocent that languished behind bars, for 10 years, with an uncertain faith.
However, let this not be an attempt to malign the pluralistic society of Pakistan, because the whole nation is aware of what the white in the Pakistani flag symbolizes and their perception, regarding minorities, is aligned with the founder of this beloved democracy.
Recently, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi assured his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland that the rights of Aasia Bibi would be protected. However, it is high time to burst the bubble and remind the government that Aasia Bibi is just one of many. The minorities in Pakistan have been suffering for decades now. The Joseph Town incident, the burning of Shama and Shehzad in the brick kiln, Gujranwala attacks and the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti are just the few that made the headlines. There are several other that just go unnoticed, for example Sharoon Masih incident was not reported by any major daily.
Moreover, it seems that every passing government is in denial about the existence of minorities because rarely any law is passed to safeguard their interests. Impunity on more than one occasion is enjoyed by the culprits, who perform these deplorable acts of violence. Furthermore, nothing has been done to avoid the misuse of the blasphemy law, which is a frequent tool used to target minorities. Nothing can mask the ugliness of these travesties.
Let’s clear one thing first, people need to understand the voice is not against the blasphemy law, but against its misuse. Blasphemers should be punished, but alternations are needed to prevent the misuse of the law, which can be clearly seen in the statistics. Following the strengthening of the law in Zia’s tenure, as many as 4,000 cases have been reported. Between 1988 and 2005, Pakistani authorities charged 647 people, of which 50 per cent were non-Muslim, with offences under the blasphemy law. More than 20 people have been murdered for alleged blasphemy. Two-thirds of all the cases have occurred in Punjab.
Moreover, an analysis of 361 cases of blasphemy offences registered by the police between 1986 and 2007 shows that as many as 49 per cent were registered against non-Muslims. The high rate of cases against non-Muslims should be contrasted with the fact that religious minorities comprise less than four per cent of the country's population. Moreover, critics suggest that in most of the cases judgements are passed without any substantial evidence, owing to the issue’s sensitivity.
It is truly a trying time for minorities in Pakistan and with the intolerance growing in our society the situation is deemed to get worse. Although, some rationale people do exist in today’s Pakistan, but their voice of sanity are often silenced by the bigoted majority. It’s saddening to see such treatment from a nation, who forgets that they were also once a minority in joint India.
With discrimination happening at every level of society, from the allotment of government jobs where the so-called five per cent job quota for minorities is often ignored and manipulated, to the petty incidences of hatred and intolerance it is really difficult to see even a dim light down the tunnel. Let’s just hope that the white in the flag doesn’t fade away with time. After all, it is the white part that ties the green part to the pole, and without it the green part of the flag cannot flutter.