The country is neither secular nor multicultural, nor even a safe place for minorities. Violations against minorities continue unabated. The International Human Rights Commission must take steps to protect these minorities from brutal violations.
As a country in South Asia, Pakistan has made a very poor performance on supporting human rights for several years. The country is neither secular nor multicultural, not even a safe place to be. Another extremely threatened category of Pakistan population is representatives of religious and ethnic minorities who experience discrimination and violence, as well as different forms of discrimination in the context of the state. These communities include; Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadis and Shia Muslims most of whom have suffered different degrees of human rights violations. Pakistan has undertaken obligations under international law to protect the rights of all its citizens; however, these minorities are on the constant target of state-supported and social violence. The violence is perpetrated when we authorize one not to be part of the place or deny them citizenship which ultimately results in the violation of their human rights.
The suffering of the minorities in Pakistan is complex, it can be blasphemy charges, forced conversions, sectarianism and even economic marginalization. Whereas the minorities depend on the government to protect their rights, lack of protection or where protection is a disputed option, minorities are forced to live in insecurity. The place is well known for its incidences of Mob Justice where killers are glorified as heroes. The catalogue of human rights abuses faced by the religious minorities includes one of the most appalling aspects of using blasphemy law in Pakistan that acts as a weapon of persecution and the fate of minorities becomes like “persecution without prosecution”. These include the Aboriginal laws of pressing charges of Blasphemy under which anyone who criticizes Islam, prophet Muhammad (SAW) or the Quran is subjected to death or Life imprisonment. Though these laws were formulated in order to safeguard religious feelings, they have been more and more employed as an instrument of oppression against those who have less rights – religious minorities, primarily Christians and Hindus.
In February 2011 one of the most infamous circumstances connected with the blasphemy laws was observed: Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was murdered by his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri who fired 38 bullets at Salman and we witness Mumtaz Qadri being celebrated as a hero in Pakistan. Taseer had been a long time advocate against these blasphemy laws and had gone on record to defend a Pakistani Christian woman named Asia Bibi (mother of five children) who had been accused of blasphemy after a quarrel with few women while working in a field, her case remains a metaphor in the Pakistani judiciary and legal system because she was convicted based on an unsubstantiated claim. In 2018 Asia Bibi was acquitted after nine years on death row; however, she is a clear illustration of a risk that religious minorities are still taking.
Even worse is the way the blasphemy laws have often been used to teach people a lesson for their troubles. People have been accused of blasphemy with the aim of avenging something as simple as a land issue or a business competitor. Under these laws it has become a common practice for people arrested to be lynched by mobs or worse subjected to torture before their cases are even heard in court. Another painful example is the case of Mashal Khan, a 23 years old student of Abdul Wali Khan University. Mashal was killed in 2017 when she was lynched by a group of students and other employees of the university on the grounds that he posted a blasphemous content online. His death is not an isolated event wherein the accusation of blasphemy has caused the mob to take the law into their hand. Soon after the death of Mashal, telecom authorities sent out a text message to all Pakistanis saying, “uploading and sharing blasphemous content on the internet is a punishable offence under the law, such content should be reported on pta.gov.pk for legal action”. Critics say this kind of message encourages a kind of vigilantism.
In addition to blasphemy accusations, minorities in Pakistan, especially Hindu and Christian women, face another grave issue: torture and kidnappings. Many young women who are Christians or Hindus, and from poor families are the most affected by the kidnappings by Islamist men who force them to convert and marry them. They are often hushed up and the police make light of the distress endured by these people. Mehak is only a 13-year-old Christian girl who was kidnapped in 2019 in Lahore as an example. After being taken captive, she was converted to Islam and wed to a Muslim man. In police and the courts of the place where the alleged abductor lived actions were relatively minor, and the local courts stated that the girl had willingly changed her religion. The above incidents have frequently occurred in Pakistan and despite few NGOs trying to fight against this menace, the practice is still in vogue. No political force is willing to counter these problems as the Pakistani government still lacks the courage to confront dangerous Islamic radicals.
Apart from physical violence and forced conversion, Pakistan minorities are locked out of economic opportunities. Untouchables, scheduled tribe Hindus, Christians and Sikhs are the most oppressed of the oppressed, least to say that the majority of them remain in the degrading and demeaning jobs as sweepers, working in the brick kilns and as farm laborers. It is also ordinary remunerated, risky, and virtually devoid of the potential for career enhancements. Since their economic status remains on the periphery of the economy, socially they remain isolated and can barely change their quality of life.
Though the religious minorities like Hindus and Christians face the severest persecution in Pakistan, Shia Muslims also have to live through grim persecution mostly by Sunni militants. The Shia people of Pakistan are a minority which constitutes approximately 20% of the population but they have been attacked by bombings, shootings and other hostile acts. In recent years, Shia Muslims in some of Pakistan’s cities including Quetta, Karachi and Parachinar have been under attack with militant groups seeking to carry out acts of terrorism with the intent of inciting sectarian violence.
One of the worst ones took place in 2013, two bombings in Quetta targeted Shia Muslims, with more than 100 people got killed. The attacks were carried on Shia Hazara Muslims who are an ethnic and religious minority that has been subjected to terror for years. The inability of the government to protect its people especially the Shia has made them feel insecure hence many of them have been forced to run away from their houses in fear. Shia shrines and mosques have also been attacked and many Shia religious figures are living under exposed threats hence the situation of human rights in Pakistan particularly its religious minorities is a sad message of structural violence and oppression. From the blasphemy law that has been used as a tool for persecution, mass forced conversion, abductions and sectarian violence continues to prevail, ethnic and religious minorities are living in fear. To the contrary, the state has, either by omission, as in cases of violence against these groups or by-passing laws that are unfair to these people, compounded their suffering.
The Pakistani government, along with the civil society organizations, have to keep demanding improvements in several areas, regarding the rights of these marginalized groups, from the international community. It is high time that Pakistan revisited its blasphemy laws to guarantee that every citizen irrespective of their religion or colour enjoy equal rights and protection and serious efforts are made to curb the persecution of minorities. Until these problems are resolved, Pakistan’s human rights situation will get worse, and hundreds of thousands of the population will remain at risk.
