In an enlightening bit of news, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti recently announced Rs90 million for the rehabilitation and renovation of a church in Mardan that was destroyed back in September during riots over an amateur anti-Islam video. While this is a surprising move — as members of the state appear more engrossed in destroying and marginalising Pakistan’s minority communities rather than supporting them and building them up — it must be emphasised and commended. It is a rare story, alluding to the idea that the state might actually care about our minorities.
Will other past atrocities towards minority communities receive the same kind of attention and treatment? The Ahmadi tombstones destroyed in Lahore on December 3 come to mind, as does the Hindu temple that was damaged in Karachi on December 4. In a fair state, governments pay attention to minority fears and concerns. They also work towards allaying those concerns and protecting the vulnerable. While the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa chief minister has alleviated some suffering of a minority community, there are still other marginalised groups that need attention in all provinces of Pakistan.
It is time to stop giving in to fear about how terrorists might react. There are too many forces creating divides in our masses — whether it is through religious sectarianising, political beliefs or socio-economic class — making it increasingly difficult to single out who our real enemy is. First and foremost on the security agenda should be protecting minority lives and then minority places of worship. With Christmas around the corner, we should take note of the chief minister’s gesture to show our leaders that we are paying attention to how they treat our friends in minority communities. Some searching would lead us to find that our minority communities preach the same peace and tolerance that the dominating religion in our country preaches. Many members of religious minority communities are deeply patriotic towards Pakistan and would love to remain here if they could be afforded some peace.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2012.
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It is an encouraging act on the part of the Government, and is commendable. Let us hope, this would prove to the proverbial first step towards a more equitable, more responsible state.
applauds for this humane gesture. on the other hand my province is razing ahmediya graveyards in Lahore :(. we should protect our minorities, its our responsibility / or take it as a face-saving as sonner or later we will be shunned from civilized world.
I take my hats off to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti and to you, Sir, for writing this editorial. A truer line was never written. Your greatest part is the concluding sentence: “Many members of religious minority communities are deeply patriotic towards Pakistan and would love to remain here if they could be afforded some peace.” If this can be made the beginning point in Pakistan, then there is hope and possibility that better days will dawn for all the people of Pakistan. Then Pakistan will also become the exemplar of how minorities should be treated in multi-cultural countries, putting to shame many Hindutvavadis in India. Having made that beginning – if that beginning is indeed made – Pakistan could scale great heights. In instances of actions against minorities, Pakistan’s courts of law should act with alacrity and punish the wrong-doers. That will go a long way in redressing the balance which has been loaded against Pakistan’s minorities from the moment of its birth. I beg to enter a plea that non-Sunni Muslims of Pakistan should also be treated with better consideration. It is not the business of Pakistan’s parliament to decide who is a Muslim and who is not a Muslim, regardless of the sect to which one belongs. I hope and pray that Pakistan may be able to put behind the sad saga of inter-Muslim strife, which, to be sure, was provoked and fanned by the erstwhile British rulers of bygone days in obedience to the age-old dictum ‘divide and rule’. Modern Pakistan does not need that. Once you know who Pakistan’s real enemies are, there is no doubt that Pakistan can get rid of those elements. V. C. Bhutani, Delhi, India, 24 Dec 2012, 0511 IST