We must ask ourselves at some point if we have lost all reason and sense of balance. Certainly, it seems as if, we are turning into a nation of rabid persons who have succumbed to the fever of fanaticism, taking over more and more segments of society. The expulsion of a student of class eight from her school in the POF Colony Havelian, near Abbottabad, following charges of blasphemy against her, is proof of this madness. The child had misspelled a word on an Urdu exam while answering a question about a poem written in praise of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). The error is one any of us could make; yet despite the assertions from the child and her mother that there was no malicious intent involved, the girl was expelled from her school by the POF Colony administration following protests by male students and religious elements. To add to the vindictiveness, her mother, a nurse at a POF-run hospital was transferred to Wah and pressure was also brought to bear by local conservative elements that a case of blasphemy be registered against the girl! There seems little doubt that the fact that Faryal Bibi and her family were Christian played a part in their fate. Similar victimisation of non-Muslim school students has been seen in the past. But what is terrifying is that rather than questioning the teacher who first raised the issue and beat the unfortunate girl as a storm of obscurantism began to brew, it was Faryal who was punished instead. No one appears to have spoken out for her or attempted to defend her; we can only assume fear has drowned out all ability to think or to question what is happening around us. But the question to ask is, where will this take us as a society. The trends we see have already led us into some very dark places indeed. The incident in Havelian only adds to the darkness; another candle has been snuffed out with the action against a small girl guilty of nothing more than placing a letter in the wrong place. Already, minority groups have been sidelined and marginalised; their constitutional status as equal beings snatched away. As this process continues, it will become harder and harder to restore any sense of equilibrium in the society and ensure that the kind of gross injustice Faryal suffered is not repeated again and again.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2011.
COMMENTS (10)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
II do not wish to sound superior or interfere with another countries customs, but in my country we have racial vilification laws. I am reasonably certain that if I behaved the way Faryal's school personnel did, I would be hauled before a judge.
Also, It is my understanding of the law, and I am not an expert in this field, that it would even be illegal to mention the name of a child under sixteen, even if a crime had been intentionally committed.
As it is, Farya has probably been traumatized, and worse, in public, and all the adults will get away with it, at least in the legal sense.
Additionally, all the adults involved will probably discuss the incident among themselves, will be convinced they have done the right thing, and have a self-image that they are "goody-two-shoes.
Thank goodness I was lucky enough not to have gone to Farya's school..
@Leila Rage Maybe this is something that some Muslims may not want to learn.
@Javed Shah: It was actually an Urdu exam. The Urdu syllabus needs to be changed because it is very heavily based in religious stories, naats and humds which non-muslims might not want to learn.
It's OK?!?
Our curriculum is filled with nonsense that degrades people of other religions which non-Muslim children have to 'take it into their stride'....but that is OK. It's also OK to make it compulsory for non-Muslims to study hamd and naats and be forced to praise religious entities in a manner that may not be in accordance to their beliefs. And it's also OK for a hue and cry to be created over a non-Muslim child mis-spelling a word associated with a religious entity?
So, by that logic, I'll tell you what else would be OK....
It would be OK for all the Muslims children residing in non-Muslim states to have to unquestioningly read and accept how all Muslims are terrorists and responsible for all evil activities that transpire around the world.
It would also be OK for Muslim kids to read about and praise non-Muslim religious entities like Budhha and Ram whether they want to or not
And it would also be OK for a Muslim child to be expelled from his/her school and his Muslim father/Mother to be terminated/transferred from their place of work just because he/she spelt Moses in an exam.
Yes, now THAT would certainly make it OK!
Why should a christian girl be forced to learn Islamiyat anyway? Even this needs to be changed for God's sake. We cannot force our beliefs/religion on others.
What is it about certain religions that incites such intolerance? Personally, I wouldn't lose sleep if somebody even deliberately tried to denigrate my religion. It is his opinion. I have mine. Besides, I don't think my religion is so weak that it needs me to defend it.
The teacher and principal should have been sacked for making a mountain out of a molehill. Who committed blasphemy by bringing Islam to disgrace in this case ?
what else can be said, can't find words to condemn this incident.
A similar incident happened to me at school some sixty odd years ago.
We were being given a religious lesson, and a point came up that I thought was incorrect. I did not say anything in disagreement, but my facial expression must have given me away.
The teacher screamed at me to stand up, and in the ensuing dressing down he gave me, in a very loud voice, his facial color changed to a crimson/blue.
Although that was the end of the matter when the the session was terminated I still remember how scared I was of the teacher during his rant. Additionally, what really scared me then, and more so now, was how a grown man in his forties could become so upset about a religious point when instructing a child.
It is particularly serious when one considers that children go to school to learn, and if errors occur the teacher is there to point them out and ensure that they learn the correct procedure without referring mistakes to higher authorities.
My sympathies go out to Faryal.
Bless you for raising the issue of discrimination against non-Muslims! I hang my head in utter shame! At least someone has the guts ! Hats off !!!