Christmas: A Day to remember the Lost Souls

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The land of the pure, they call it. So what do we do with the impurity that exists in it? Purify it! At least that’s what the popular belief among the common, uneducated (at times the educated are no better) and religiously motivated population is. In a country like Pakistan, with a majority of Muslim population, the space for minorities is reducing with every passing day. It was only a few days back that the place of worship of the Ahmadiya community was attacked, not on an ordinary day, but one of the most holiest days for every Muslim in the world, the Birthday of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him).

Today, is also a day of joy, another birthday, of no ordinary being, but of a Prophet, Jesus (Peace be Upon Him). Merry Christmas everyone! The whole world rejoices. But perhaps, not the Christians of Pakistan that make up 1.59% of the total population of the country. A country that is dominated by Muslims, feels threatened by a handful of Christians. Blasphemy accusations remain the top reason why minorities, especially Christians are persecuted in Pakistan. In addition, Human Rights Violations of all sorts against the minorities remain on the rise.  

There is another birthday today, of a person that lives in our hearts; a person with unmatched integrity. There would have been no Pakistan without him. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, envisioned a Pakistan where not just Muslims, but people from all faiths and religions were free to lead their lives according to their free wills. He believed in a Pakistan, where there was no religion, not in the religious sense, but in the political sense. 

Sadly, today’s Pakistan is not what the Quaid had imagined. The Pakistan that we live today is a nightmare for minorities. A country where the various minorities are persecuted at free will; at least that is what happened during the 2009 Gojra incident, the 2013 Lahore incident and the 2014 Kot Radha Kishan incident. The Human Rights Violations witnessed during these incidents, including Rape, Murder, Flogging and Torching of houses was witnessed by the whole country.

Ms. Sherry Rehman, a former Minister and Ambassador to the United States of America is of the view that “Pakistan is increasingly failing to protect its minorities for two broad reasons: principally, rising religious intolerance and the space ceded to violent ideologies.” In addition to this, some segments are of the view that "state complicity is yet another factor which makes minority persecutions more rampant and left unpunished."

Although the Pakistani state is weak and ineffective, yet the majority of the blame of religious oppression and persecution lies on the society and the people, who are not willing to allow the minorities to practice their faith freely. On the other hand, the majority of Pakistanis living abroad expect the foreign governments to allow them the freedom to not only practice but profess their religion as well.

I know I have already saddened the readers by describing the sad state of affairs of the minorities in the country. Yet, I am not hopeless. I strongly believe that a time will come, when the minorities will be treated as equals and will have all the freedom they need to live freely, independently and with dignity.

Till then a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone, especially the lost souls who have been forgotten in the annals of our history.