Forgotten pledges

Pakistan Resolution promised freedom to the minorities yet the state in incapable to protect the minorities

The significance of Pakistan Day has been ingrained in our collective memories through repeated lessons in history imparted in childhood. We recall almost instinctively that the Lahore Resolution, passed by the All-India Muslim League on March 23, 1940, endorsed what became the ideological justification and framework for the creation of Pakistan: the Two-Nation Theory. The Muslims of united India, defined by their distinct religious identity and culture, represented a separate nation in need of a separate homeland. Yet we forget (or are genuinely unaware) of the principles of constitutionalism otherwise articulated on this much-commemorated national holiday. Whilst laying down the political demands of the Muslims of India, the Lahore Resolution emphasised, with equal fervour, the provision of “adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards” for the “protection of … the religious, cultural, economic, political, administrative and other rights and interests” of minorities.

The Lahore Resolution envisaged a Pakistan not solely as a homeland for Muslims, but a state where pluralist ideologies and beliefs could survive and flourish, amidst tolerance and protection. Last week’s tragedy at Youhanabad is a black blotch on this vision of our state. Twin suicide bombs, perfectly timed to coincide with Sunday church services, ripped apart 14 persons and injured scores more, in one of the most populous Christian localites in Lahore. Some blamed lax security, others the superficiality of the state’s commitment to the protection of minorities.

The idea of Pakistan projected on March 23, 1940 has, however, become tainted with scores of such blotches. Gojra, August 2009: several Christian homes set ablaze killing eight individuals, including an infant. Joseph Colony, Badami Bagh, March 2013: 125 Christian homes and shops set on fire by a mob of over 7,000. All Saints Church, Peshawar, September 2013: twin suicide bombs detonated towards the end of Sunday services resulting in over a 100 casualties. Kot Radha Kishan, November 2014: a Christian couple burnt to death in a brick kiln by a mob, in the presence of police officials.

A reference to the lived experience of Pakistan’s Hindu minority reveals a similar tale of tragedy and persecution. The desecration of Hindu temples and dharamshalas, mostly in Sindh, forced conversions, land grabbing and illegal occupation of religious sites have, among other causes, resulted in the widely reported exodus of the Hindu minority from Pakistan. The Shia and Ahmadi communities have not fared any better, with the recent attack in Shikarpur a gruesome reminder of the former’s plight. A report submitted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan before the Supreme Court states that 200 sectarian attacks claimed over 687 lives in 2013.

The principles laid down in the Lahore Resolution or the pledge of freedom made by the Quaid in his oft-cited address to the Constituent Assembly in 1947 (“You are free; you are free to go to your temples …”) appear irrelevant amidst the harsh, altered reality we live in and have become accustomed to. To invoke such instances from the past in support of a more tolerant Pakistan is now almost cliche. We move in the direction of a homogenous nation state, home to the Muslim alone, albeit of a particular brand and zeal. To ascribe responsibility for this transformed ideal of the Pakistani nation on a single entity is difficult. Yet when our state continues to watch on the rising tide of violence, incapable of according minorities requisite protection or ensuring that justice is served, it becomes complicit in the twisted transformation of this nation. The government has largely remained idle with regard to recommendations issued on the subject by the Supreme Court in a seminal judgment last year. Petitions for the implementation of the Court’s orders are pending determination. While Pakistan Day is traditionally marked with demonstrations of our military prowess in Islamabad, residents of Youhanabad continue to flee their homes fearful for their security. We should commemorate the idea of Pakistan, humbled by the realisation that we have failed to uphold the principles it originally espoused to. Yet such realisation does not mean an abandonment of the ideal. The state appears committed to fight against extremism and terrorism. But such fight must of necessity also include a battle against those encouraging sectarianism, of the militant and non-militant variety.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2015.

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