In Pakistan, you often hear people saying that the non-Muslim population of Pakistan (or "minorities" as we usually refer to them) enjoys "equal rights" and in case they don't, they must have equal rights. However, the moment you advocate amending those discriminating clauses in our Constitution that bar the non-Muslim population of Pakistan from heading the country and propose making any Hindu, Sikh or a Christian the Prime Minister of Pakistan, a large part of people who otherwise claim advocating "equal rights" to non-Muslim population are usually not in a mood to accept it.
Unsurprisingly, the people who hold this attitude are almost never from the religious minorities. Since they can never imagine or understand what is it like to be a non-Muslim in this country, it is quite easy for them to make sweeping statements that non-Muslims do not have any problems. Similarly, examples of prominent Hindus and Christians, like Justice Bhagwan Das and Sir Cecil Chuadhry, are given to show how the minorities are enjoying "equal rights." Not different to what Indians do when they use Shahrukh Khan's name to reject any claims of communal hatred in India or how some Americans firmly believe that racism doesn't exist in United States just because Barack Obama, an African American, happens to be the President of the country.
But honestly ask yourself, how many times, you, being a Muslim have to worry about your life before publicly making any comment regarding Hinduism in Pakistan? How many times have you thought that there might be any possibility of some religious Hindus trying to forcefully convert you or your family to Hinduism? Have you ever, even once in your life felt scared that merely one announcement from a church, alleging you to desecrate Bible would end up destroying your house by the hands of Christian mob? As a Pakistani Muslim, I have never felt this way and I am sure neither have you.
These are the problems we have never faced because we come from the "privileged group." These are the issues we never have to think about which is precisely why it is very easy for us to adopt this attitude of denial. This "denial attitude" lies not only in Muslims but almost every other privileged group of our society.
There are Pakistanis enjoying male privilege; men who don't ever have to worry about consequences of rejecting any marriage proposal – who are never scared of becoming another acid attack victim – who are quite sure that they will never be killed to preserve the "honor" of their family in case their parents find out about their girlfriend – who can walk alone in any public place without having the fear of getting groped or harassed – who can go to markets wearing whatever they want without thinking about ''log kya kahenge'' – who can appear semi nude on national television without people telling them that they're responsible for the ''growing fahaashi'' in their country – who almost never have to worry about the possibility of getting raped in case they are walking alone in a deserted street somewhere around 2 am – who can talk loud, laugh loud, sit the way they want without any Tom, Dick or Harry telling them ''mardon ki tarah tameez se betho'' – who can dance where ever they want without causing ''national ghairat outrage'' – for such Pakistani men, it is very easy to say, "women aren't facing any restrictions. There are many female students in my university, and Benazir Bhutto led our state twice."
If you're a man, nobody questions your character just because you regularly hangout with your female friends – in fact you're a ''stud'' who has ''scored many chicks''. However, in case there is a problem, the good old ''larkay tou jawani main aise kaam karte he hain, magar larkion ko tou khayaal rakhna chahye'' excuse will always be there to defend you. All this and a lot more is what you do on daily basis because you enjoy male privilege, something women don't. But of course there is no male privilege because your local tandoor wala gives roti to his female customers before you. This is why it is completely justified to ridicule efforts of women striving for equal rights because that one perk of getting roti at the tandoor before you is all what women want.
Similarly, for Pakistanis enjoying Sunni privilege, it is easy to deny Shia killing by saying "Hey, don't say Shias were killed, Pakistanis were killed. Not just Shias, everyone's getting killed in Pakistan. We don't hate Shias, my best friend is Shia." It is easy for them to make such statements because they have never been in a situation where they have been targeted, just because they have a prominent surname that reveals their sectarian identity.
In the same way, when it comes to Ahmedis, both Shias and Sunnis might never be able to feel what Ahmadis do because no Sunni and Shia has to go to the jail for three years, merely for quoting the Holy Quran. Many Shias and Sunnis are not even aware about the state based discrimination against Ahmadis, which is why hearing sweeping statements like "nothing wrong with situation of Ahmadis, they are financially strong and organized community" from them is once again, no surprise. In the same way, Pakistanis enjoying the privilege of living in urban Punjab and Islamabad might not understand the grievances of Baloch people. Pakistanis enjoying the privilege of being "straight" can never imagine how it’s like to be gay or lesbian in this society.
These legit concerns are often countered with arguments like, "none of us are getting our due rights in Pakistan". This is true, but that's because your government is corrupt and the situation of law and order in your country is messed up, which is why it has not been able to provide you with basic rights and this goes for all Pakistanis regardless of their identity. Having said that, there are groups, who are not getting their rights, who are getting discriminated against or killed, solely because of their gender, ethnic, religious and sectarian identity.
Despite that, there are people who speak against these problems even if they're not from the targeted group. These people should be given massive respect for their efforts. Those men who speak against patriarchy, sexism, misogyny and violence against women – those Muslims who oppose constitutional discrimination and violence against non-Muslims – those Sunnis who acknowledge Shia killing and condemn it – those Sunnis and Shias who stand with Ahmadis against their persecution – those living in urban Punjab and Islamabad who understand the grievances of Baloch people.
It is natural to speak up when you are oppressed or when you're at the receiving end, but it makes you human if you speak against a problem not because it is affecting you, but because you consider it something going against basic human rights, which should be challenged. However, if you stand against injustice only when it happens to you, you’re not really standing up against injustice.
