Imran Khan's different strokes for different people

Pakistani premier Imran Khan wants to teach India how to treat its minorities. But Yogesh Pawar finds that India's western neighbour sets the bar rather low.

As the bird flies, Islamabad is over 1,600 km from Mumbai but a recent remark by Pakistani PM Imran Khan is leading to much amusement among the Ahmadiyyas of this Indian coastal metropolis. Khan, it will be recalled, said: “We will show the Modi government how to treat minorities.”

Ahmadiyya welfare committee vice president Pervez Ahmed and the missionary-in-charge Arif Khan laugh heartily at the community's Bombay Central mosque calling it “a strange paradox that the Pakistani PM expresses concern for India's minorities when Ahmadiyyas face persecution violence and attacks in Pakistan almost daily.”

Ahmed points out how the second amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (which made the Ahmadiyyas into a non-Muslim minority overnight on Sept 7, 1974 under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto) and an ordinance (promulgated under late Gen Zia-ul-Haq on 26 April 1984) declare Ahmadiyyas as non-Muslim apostates and robs them of religious identity and rights.

Different strokes

“Ahmadiyyas have been mercilessly killed in Pakistan from 1953 onwards when the community was targeted in riots. Whether it was the 1974 anti-Ahmadiyya riots (the bloodiest which left over a thousand dead) or the May 2010 attacks on Ahmadiyya mosques, which killed 84 in a suicide attack, repeated attempts have been made to wipe out the community in Pakistan,” laments Ahmed who adds, “While major incidents get highlighted, the almost daily subjugation/persecution of the reduced-to-second-grade-citizens Ahmadiyyas doesn't. Such hatred, bigotry and organised attacks aren't possible without the state's active collusion and/or blessings.”

Arif who is listening in points out underlines why the majority Sunnis target his community. “We follow teachings of our nabi and Ahmadiyya sect founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad who carried forward the legacy of the Holy Prophet.” He also feels the Pakistani PM Khan must ensure nobody is treated unfairly irrespective of religion/creed. “This will be in keeping with the spirit of Islam which he invokes all the time.”

Ahmed also cites the Imran Khan government's handling of Atif Rehman Mian's appointment to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) in late September to highlight the discrimination the community faces in Pakistan. “The same Imran Khan who's worried about India's minorities is unable ensure equality for even one of the most distinguished Ahmadiyyas,” sighs Ahmed.

He is referring to the Pakistani-American economist (Professor of Economics at Princeton University, Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Woodrow Wilson School and the first Pakistani among International Monetary Fund's top 25 world economists) Atif Mian, who was invited by the Imran Khan government to join the EAC. Immediately a notice in protest was served to the Senate and National Assembly, by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F to which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Jamaat-i-Islami, Awami National Party, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and the National Party were signatories. Despite some tough posturing in the beginning, the Imran Khan government quickly rescinded the invite to Mian after threats of massive protests.

Anti-Semitism

If fellow-Muslims like Ahmadiyyas face such treatment, one can only wonder about the plight of other minorities. The Jewish community which helped build Karachi (architect Moses Somake has designed some of its most iconic buildings) is a case in point. Anti-Semitism saw many flee and only 748 families are left according to the latest census. Karachi-based historian Hidayat Warsi says since the razing to the ground of the Magen Shalom Synagogue (in July 1988 under Gen Zia-ul-Haq's tenure) where a shopping plaza - Madiha Square now stands, things have gone steadily downhill. “Solomon David Omerdekar had built it in 1893 and a community hall was added to it two years later in memory of his wife, Shegulbai. By the end of WWI, his sons established a Hebrew school in the premises and got the Nathan Abraham Hall constructed. The prominent Karachi citizen and surveyor of the local civic body Solomon's buried along with his wife in Karachi,” he reminisces with a sigh.

Increasing tensions between the Arab world and Israel have seen a proportional increase in attacks on the Yehudis (a derisory term) in a Wahabised Pakistan. So much so that when the Pakistan Cricket Board appointed a German Jew Dan Kiesel as a physiotherapist for its team, this led to widespread protests in the Pakistani Parliament. Such persecution and attacks have seen the community flee in hordes.

Christians under fire

The Christian community which forms 1.6% of the Pakistani population has also seen a spate of attacks from hardliners not only in Karachi, but many other places like Lahore, Faisalabad and Peshawar which are home to the community.

Unlike well-to-do Goan Christians settled in Karachi, most Pakistani Christians are descendants of Dalit Hindus who converted during the British era to escape casteism. While the former have found it easy to flee to Portugal, Canada and Australia given their fluency with English, exposure and education, the latter still form a large chunk of garrison town labour and are often the poorest.

“Accusations of blasphemy make it easy for mobs to indulge in violence against such poor Christians, with militant Islamists targeting the community while authorities look away,” says Ashiq Masih on the phone from a safe hiding place. He should know. His wife Asia Bibi, a “blasphemy convict” was on death row since 2010.

A caste row on June 14, 2009 saw both the couple clash with neighbours. Only unfortunately for Bibi her village Ittanwali is a Muslim majority village. She was accused of blasphemy by mobs which repeatedly attacked her asking her to recant, apologise and convert. When she refused she was later arrested by the police and put on trial in a court which sentenced her to death under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Both then Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities were killed for speaking in favour of Bibi in 2011. In fact the arrest and death sentence for Taseer's bodyguard-turned assassin Mumtaz Qadri has seen widespread protests across Pakistan.

Buoyed by the international support Bibi who had lost in the Lahore High Court, appealed in the Supreme Court which threw out the case against her and acquitted her of all charges. “We hoped this would end our troubles but they've only increased as mobs now bay for our blood,” wept Masih who is in hiding with his wife.

After right-wing fundamentalist groups such as JUD, Jamaat-Ulema-e-Islam, Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) and others took to the streets demanding a public killing of Bibi, the Imran Khan has again capitulated. It has passed orders preventing her from leaving Pakistan. “Imran Khan's party is ruling in both the Centre and in Punjab. We expected he'll support us but the opposite is happening,” says a bitter Masih who has appealed to the US president and the British and Candian prime ministers for asylum.

Unfortunately Bibi's is not the only case. There have been a spate of attacks on Christians. An attack on a church in Quetta (Dec 2017) killed nine and injured 57; a suicide attack on Easter celebrations at a Lahore playground (March 2016) left 70 dead and more than 340 wounded; twin bomb blasts at churches in Lahore (March 2015) killed 14 and hurt more than 70; twin suicide bomb attacks at a Peshawar church in 2013 left 80 dead; nearly 40 houses and a church were burnt by a mob in Gojra town in Punjab (2009), with eight burnt alive and churches and Christian schools were set ablaze by a mob, in Faislabad (2005) making the community flee.

Hatred for Hindus

“If fellow Abrahamic faiths like Judaism and Christianity are not spared, the less said about other minorities like Hindus, the better” says a prominent Zoroastrian academic from Karachi who wants to remain anonymous fearing reprisal. This scholar with extended family in Mumbai and Pune (in India) feels, “Allah-Army-Amrika has always driven this country. With relations with US strained the former two are emerging stronger. The army likes to use Islamist anti-blasphemy vigilante groups to keep the government in check.”

He points out how Pakistan has always been in denial about the persecution of Hindus given its continuous hostility, wars and friction with India. “Pakistani Hindus are accused of working for Indian security agencies. Many in the Pakistanis while condemning India make it about Hindus. Alleged atrocities in the Kashmir Valley by Indian security forces or riots like the one in Mumbai (1992-93) or Gujarat (2002) are used to justify attacks on Hindus in Pakistan.” The academic says since the very identity of Pakistan is based on the opposition to a “Hindu India out to annex Pakistan” this makes the lives of Pakistani Hindus very difficult. “Religious persecution apart, this also plays out as socio-cultural and political oppression and subjugation.”

Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) president Gopal Khamuani says: “No day goes by without complaints of forceful abductions of young Hindu girls from Sindh by Muslim lumpens who then forcefully violate and convert them.” While praising efforts by lawmakers like Ramesh Vankwani who helped pass the Hindu Marriage Act in the Parliament he added, “Getting Hinduphobic authorities to implement it is still a challenge.” He also complained about the destruction of several ancient heritage Hindu temples in the country by auhtorities.

Yet there are some like Pakistani scholar Umair Jamal whose research paper exploring the issue of minority religions in a majoritarian Pakistan has been published by the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (IMEIS) in the UK's Durham university insist that its too early to judge Imran Khan. But he admits, “The cases of Asia and the handling of Atif Mian show Pakistan has a long way to go before the state is finally in control of the existing socio-political circumstances. Its not the state or Khan's government which are not interested in making sure all religious minorities receive equal treatment. Rather its the divisive nature of the politico-religoius environment which has hindered the government efforts.”

It seems difficult to believe but the increasingly Islamicised and homogenous Pakistan was once diverse the Zoroastrian academic says. “Minorities who were 15% of the population during Partition now account for less than 4%. Unless Imran Khan demonstrably takes steps to address their concerns, there might be no minorities to speak in the coming decades.”

Double standard

On Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s birth anniversary, the Pakistani premier had tweeted: “Quaid envisaged Pakistan as a democratic, just and compassionate nation. Most importantly he wanted our minorities to be equal citizens. It should be remembered that his early political career was as an ambassador for Hindu-Muslim unity. His struggle for a separate nation for Muslims only started when he realised that Muslims would not be treated as equal citizens by the Hindu majority. Naya Pak is Quaid's Pak & we will ensure that our minorities are treated as equal citizens, unlike what is happening in India.”

Jamal feel both India and Pakistan need to stop using the equal rights narrative to score brownie points against each other. He cites reports of human rights excesses against minorities coming out of India recently to point out how it is headed Pakistan's way. “This undermines India's of being a secular democracy,” he says and strongly recommends both countries walk the talk in making minority lives better.

Will this advice lead to introspection or more finger pointing?