Pakistanis and the religious minorities of Pakistan

 

By Abdul Malik Mujahid

 

There was a time when we never locked the doors of our homes in Pakistan. That is now history. Since Pakistan's support for Afghan Mujahideen against the former Soviet Union, criminal elements  in Pakistan are better armed than police in Pakistan. Our almost porous borders with India, Afghanistan, and Iran have been another source of smuggled arms. These arms are not only used for crimes, but also to subjugate the poor and the oppressed, as well as in political competition and sectarian violence. The latest victims of violence are the Christian minority of Pakistan.

 

Since the development of a coalition of major religious political parties in Pakistan resulting in the MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-amal), which includes Shias, Deobandis, Barelvis and Jamat-e-Islami, sectarian violence between Shias and Sunnis has subsided substantially. This correlation may be accidental, but certainly noticeable. This is not to say that all Shias and Sunnis approved of this sectarian violence. To the contrary, whenever any Shia or Sunni was killed during these or in other random killings, their funeral prayers were attended by members of both groups. Many observers, therefore, asserted that it was not a sectarian fight, but some anti-Pakistan elements that were using violence for their purposes. Unfortunately, violence against Christian minorities has now taken the place of sectarian violence.

 

Putting guards at the doors of churches is not enough. The criminals must be arrested and punished through due process of the law. It is good that all Pakistanis, including religious organizations, have condemned these attacks. The religious groups, however, should play an active role in protecting Christian minorities in Pakistan through dialogue with the small, extremist, fringe groups whose speeches have been linked to the killing of Christians in Pakistan. The whole body of the Quran and the path of the Prophet will be in support of mainstream religious organizations who work to defeat the street ideology of anger among these fringe groups, who consider such violence legitimate in their theology.

 

Although Christians in Pakistan accepted Christianity because of the influence of western missionaries, their lives cannot be taken as a proxy to unleash one's anger towards the West. It is against Islam and the laws of Pakistan to kill anyone, including a member of a religious minority. These killings also play right into the hands of those extremists in the West, who use such incidents to fuel enmity against Islam and Pakistanis.

 

Pakistanis have set a beautiful example of religious tolerance in the aftermath of Gujurat, India's violence last year when over 500 Masjids were destroyed, over 5,000 Muslims killed, and over 250,000 Muslims were made refugees. Not a single Hindu temple in Pakistan was destroyed, and there was no report of retaliations against Hindus. The Hindu minority is well represented in all professional spheres of life compared to the Muslim minority in India. That is why when the daily Hindustan Times, Delhi, India published a full-page cover report in their Sunday issue on the surprising findings of a Indian journalist about the good treatment of the Hindu minority in Pakistan. The issue was withdrawn from the market and the editor Khuswant Singh lost his job.

 

Most Pakistani-Christians were untouchables living under the Hindu caste system. They accepted Christianity because of their desire to leave the shackles of their caste system and because of the extensive support provided to them by Christian missionaries to get out of Hindu caste system. Those ex-Untouchables are now moving away from their historic professions of being bhangi and sweepers to teachers, government employees, etc. Most of the nurses at Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi, one of the largest hospital in Pakistan, are Christians who used to be untouchables.

 

It is the duty of all Pakistanis, individuals and their organizations, to think about how they can enhance the life and security of all Pakistanis, including Christians. We should not allow a few extremists who have no knowledge of Islam to jeopardise the law and order situation in Pakistan. Those extremists should not be allowed to create terror in the minds of the minorities in Pakistan, who are given protection by Islam and by the Law of Pakistan.

 

Let me just quote the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, who allowed a Christian delegation from Najran to celebrate and worship in his own mosque, according to historians Ibn Hisham and Ibn Sa'd:

 

"Najran has the protection of God and the pledges of Muhammad, the Prophet, to protect their (the Christians') lives, faith, land, property, those who are absent and those who are present, and their clan and allies. They need not change anything of their past customs. No right of theirs or their religion shall be altered. No bishop, monk or church guard shall be removed from his position."

 

It was in this spirit that, when I spoke to two Masjid congregations in Karachi, Pakistan during my recent trip there and brought up the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, I found the thoughtful faces of those worshipers quite concerned.

 

When I told them about the statements of his wife Marianne Pearl in appreciation of all Pakistanis, and her statement that she wanted their child to be a bridge builder in this world, I could literally see the audience was touched.

 

Based on the media images, I was a bit worried about bringing this subject up in a Masjid in Karachi. I even thought of some safety strategies in case I encountered hostility. But my heart was strengthened by the responses I received. I could see true Muslims and true Pakistanis sitting in that Masjid truly concerned and in sympathy for Daniel Pearl.