Uniting against intolerance on March 23
Tolerance is need of the hour, especially when hatred is everywhere and violence & intolerance is becoming the norm.
The writer is Manager Operations at Rozan
The categorisation of various groups of people as minorities is on the rise, while at the same time, there is a surge in forces of resistance in this country. Peaceful demonstrations have served as an inspiration for every peace-loving citizen, but we still need solid resistance to challenge the mindset that establishes one group as a minority, thus declaring the other a majority.
This can be well observed in our everyday lives as we put our tilt towards a majority group because it brings along privileges and perks of various kinds. Everything now, from airline flights to offices, has started using religious messages in public places even though there are many people in Pakistan who belong to different religions. Should one’s religious beliefs be personal or do they need to be displayed and pushed onto others? This is just one example of our insensitivity towards religious minorities while there are millions of such examples ranging from textbook material to religious festivity in Pakistan.
How many of us consider adopting neutral greetings with followers of other religions? This is reflective in our collective and individual acts. These acts are derived from our social and cultural norms taught in our homes, educational institutions and in our social gatherings. How many of our institutions adopt minorities, such as women, people with dissenting voices and opinions, or differently-abled persons?
The attacks on Hazaras, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and other innocent citizens suggest that the list of people whom we are intolerant against is long and serve as evidence that we don’t see other groups as our fellow countrymen but view them as inferior minorities.
Since religions preach to safeguard the lives of humans, why is there so much violence in the name of religion? It leads us to the conclusion that mixing cultures and social norms with religion is worrisome and should be avoided.
Tolerance is the need of the hour, especially at these times when hatred is everywhere and violence and intolerance are becoming the norm. However, there also lies a thin but twinkling light for resistance to this trend through a tolerant Pakistan campaign. The Insani Huqooq Ittehad (IHI) launched an initiative for a tolerant Pakistan in November of last year, saying that the silent majority must take a stand against intolerance. It said that unless we speak up and condemn intolerance, it will continue to divide our society and spread the seeds of hatred and violence, and ultimately, this fire will burn us all because if today it is targeted against Ahmadis, Hindus or Christians, tomorrow it will be against some other group. Hence, we will no longer be seen as human beings with individual identities. Instead, we will be identified only as part of groups that we have been placed into by a powerful majority.
Finally, the resistance to intolerance must be non-violent as were the recent protests by the Hazaras to mourn the genocide of the Shia community.
We need to take the pledge that in our everyday lives, we will avoid being intolerant whether we are paying utility bills or crossing signals — in order to give our future generations a hope for a tolerant Pakistan. March 23 is one such occasion when all peace-loving citizens should forge unity and make this happen. Together, we can make a difference for the sake of diversity, which is the real beauty of the Land of Pure.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2013.
This can be well observed in our everyday lives as we put our tilt towards a majority group because it brings along privileges and perks of various kinds. Everything now, from airline flights to offices, has started using religious messages in public places even though there are many people in Pakistan who belong to different religions. Should one’s religious beliefs be personal or do they need to be displayed and pushed onto others? This is just one example of our insensitivity towards religious minorities while there are millions of such examples ranging from textbook material to religious festivity in Pakistan.
How many of us consider adopting neutral greetings with followers of other religions? This is reflective in our collective and individual acts. These acts are derived from our social and cultural norms taught in our homes, educational institutions and in our social gatherings. How many of our institutions adopt minorities, such as women, people with dissenting voices and opinions, or differently-abled persons?
The attacks on Hazaras, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus and other innocent citizens suggest that the list of people whom we are intolerant against is long and serve as evidence that we don’t see other groups as our fellow countrymen but view them as inferior minorities.
Since religions preach to safeguard the lives of humans, why is there so much violence in the name of religion? It leads us to the conclusion that mixing cultures and social norms with religion is worrisome and should be avoided.
Tolerance is the need of the hour, especially at these times when hatred is everywhere and violence and intolerance are becoming the norm. However, there also lies a thin but twinkling light for resistance to this trend through a tolerant Pakistan campaign. The Insani Huqooq Ittehad (IHI) launched an initiative for a tolerant Pakistan in November of last year, saying that the silent majority must take a stand against intolerance. It said that unless we speak up and condemn intolerance, it will continue to divide our society and spread the seeds of hatred and violence, and ultimately, this fire will burn us all because if today it is targeted against Ahmadis, Hindus or Christians, tomorrow it will be against some other group. Hence, we will no longer be seen as human beings with individual identities. Instead, we will be identified only as part of groups that we have been placed into by a powerful majority.
Finally, the resistance to intolerance must be non-violent as were the recent protests by the Hazaras to mourn the genocide of the Shia community.
We need to take the pledge that in our everyday lives, we will avoid being intolerant whether we are paying utility bills or crossing signals — in order to give our future generations a hope for a tolerant Pakistan. March 23 is one such occasion when all peace-loving citizens should forge unity and make this happen. Together, we can make a difference for the sake of diversity, which is the real beauty of the Land of Pure.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2013.