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The Religious Intolerance in Pakistan
Publication: South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre
Date: February 12, 2002
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan remains one of the most
glaring examples of religious intolerance in the world. General Parvez
Musharraf's military dictatorship, barely a year old, has done little
to protect the civil and political rights of non-Muslim minorities.
With the continuation of the Blasphemy Laws and the Hudood Ordinances,
it is clear that governmental and legal structures elevate Sunni Islam
over all other religious beliefs while sanctioning discrimination against
non-Muslims and Shiite Muslims. Crimes against religious minorities such
as Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shiites persist while Sunni Muslim
perpetrators face little or no consequences.
In addition to severely limiting freedom of speech and assembly, blasphemy
laws alienate both moderate Muslims and non-Muslims. Section 295C of the
Pakistan Penal Code imposes the death penalty on anyone found to have
"by words . . . or visible representation . . . or by any imputation,
innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiled the name of
the Holy Prophet Muhammad."
In 1991, the maximum prison sentence for outraging the religious feelings
of any group was raised from two to ten years. In 1992, Section 123A of
the Penal Code was amended to declare any act prejudicial to the ideology
of Pakistan a criminal offence.
In July 2000, General Musharraf promulgated an order reviving the Islamic
provisions of the country's constitution, further criminalising any person
or group whose beliefs deviate from accepted Muslim orthodoxy. Such a
stringent policy supported the arrest of scores of members of the Pakistan
Muslim League (PML) prior to a rally planned for 8 July 2000.
More recently, on 11 January 2001, 17 people were arrested for participating
in an anti-"Blasphemy Laws" protest sponsored by the All Faith
Spiritual Movement in Karachi. Though three Christian detainees were released
six days later, the incident nonetheless demonstrates the methods of punishment
and intimidation the government uses to attack the freedom of expression
and assembly, particularly in relation to religious issues.
Like the blasphemy laws, the Hudood Ordinances require strict adherence
to Muslim practices and blatantly discriminate against non-Muslims in
a court of law. Criminalising extramarital sex, alcohol consumption and
gambling, the Hudood Ordinances stipulate that a non-Muslim's evidence
is inadmissible in cases liable for Koranic punishment and carries less
weight than that of a Muslim in cases liable for "secular punishment."
Indeed, in the latter type of cases, the law of evidence specifies that
two non-Muslim witnesses are needed in cases where one Muslim is sufficient.
Lawyers who represent non-Muslims in cases under these provisions are
themselves blacklisted by violent Islamic extremist groups.
Women have particularly suffered under the Hudood Ordinances, as they
are frequently (and wrongfully) charged for sexual misconduct such as
adultery. Approximately one-third of the women in jails in Lahore, Peshawar,
and Mardan in 1998 awaited trial for adultery. Although most women tried
under the ordinance are eventually acquitted, they must then endure the
stigma of having been under suspicion.
Both the regimes of Prime Minister Sharif and General Musharraf have
ignored the recommendations made in 1995 by the UN's Special Rapporteur
on Religious Intolerance. The Rapporteur advised that the Government "authorities
should check that Hudood ordinances are compatible with human rights and
urges that Hudood penalties, because they are exclusively Muslim, should
not be applied to non-Muslims." Now, in fact, the Hudood Ordinances
are stronger than ever.
Religious minorities are alienated and deprived of equal access to justice
in other ways. For instance, if a Muslim kills a non-Muslim, the perpetrator
may compensate the victim's family monetarily. If a non-Muslim kills a
Muslim, however, the perpetrator faces prison or the death penalty. Sharia
courts are also inherently discriminatory against non-Muslims.
The Federal Sharia Court (FSC) ensures that all legislative acts and
judicial pronouncements, including those of the Supreme Court, are compatible
with Islamic law. Additionally, three of the eight appointed members of
the court need not even be professional judges. According to Asma Jehagir,
Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the structure
of the sharia courts is evidence that, "The government wants to impose
a Taliban-style theocratic rule in Pakistan."
Another area of institutionalised discrimination relates to the electoral
system. Minorities can only vote for candidates who do not represent districts
or constituencies but whole populations of different minority groups spread
across a wide region. Consequently, minority candidates do not represent
the specific interests of minority groups.
Discontent with the segregated electoral system is mounting. As recently
as 19 October 2000, religious minority members of the Joint Action Committee
for People's Rights staged a hunger strike in Lahore. In solidarity with
the strikers, Mr. Farooq Tarq, General Secretary of the Labour Party,
denounced the separate electorate as "a scheme of religious apartheid
that promoted intolerance and served the purpose of divide and rule."
Not surprisingly, religious minorities generally comprise the poorest
sectors of society. As Peter Jacob, executive secretary of Pakistan's
National Committee for Justice and Peace, asserts, "Economic and
political deprivation is not merely the bottom line but a clearly manifested
motive of religious persecution." Most disturbing is the abundance
of unpunished harassment and killings suffered by religious groups at
the hands of the legal system and other members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
Out of a population of 2-3 million, tens of thousands of Pakistan 's
Christians live in city slums while sixty percent of them live in rural
areas, where they are particularly vulnerable to abuse. In these areas,
according to Archbishop Simeon Pereira, who is the most senior representative
of the Catholic Church in Pakistan, "Any Muslim who has a grudge
against a Christian can accuse him of [blasphemy]. "
Christians have definitely suffered under the blasphemy laws. In April
1998, Ayub Masih, a Christian man, was sentenced to death for allegedly
speaking favourably about Salman Rushdie during a dispute with a Muslim
villager. He was the fourth Christian to be sentenced to death in Pakistan
in the 1990s. Unable to get Ayub released, Bishop Joseph, a widely respected
non-violent activist for minority rights in Pakistan, shot himself in
the head.
Churches have been vandalised by Islamic extremists and Christian villages
have been looted and burned, leaving thousands homeless. There have also
been shocking cases of rape and murder. On their way home from working
at a factory, eight Christian women, seven of whom were teenagers, were
raped at gunpoint by Muslim men in May 2000. In 1998, four Muslim men
raped a seven-year-old Christian girl named Nageena.
In both cases, the perpetrators have gone unpunished while the victims
and their families have been threatened with facing the "consequences"
if they seek justice. Accused by his daughter's attackers, Ghulam Masih,
Nageena's father, was put on death row for allegedly killing an old woman
in his village.
Besides Christians, other religious groups face cruel and inhumane treatment.
Tens of thousands of Hindus serve as bonded labour to powerful landowners,
and Hindu rights activists and community leaders are subject to harassment
and arrest by the authorities.
The Ahmadis, members of a Muslim sect created in the nineteenth century,
are denied rights of expression. By law, they are classified as a non-Muslim
minority and are thus forbidden to use Muslim burial grounds. Several
Ahmadi mosques remain closed. As recently as 30 October 2000, gunmen opened
fire on worshippers coming out of a crowded mosque in Khatiala village
in Sialkot district, killing five people.
Tensions with Shiite Muslims also continue. In 1999, the U.S. State Department
reported that 300 people were killed in Sunni and Shiite conflicts over
the last two years. Sunni perpetrators of violence against Shiites are
rarely prosecuted.
The prosecutions that do take place precipitate further violence against
Shiites as shown in January 1999 when, in response to the conviction of
Sunni extremists, motorcycle gunmen opened fire upon a Shiite religious
service in Karamdad Qureshi, killing at least sixteen people. Shiite militants
are believed to be behind the recent killings of five Sunni Muslims in
Karachi on 28 January 2001. The week before, a prominent Shiite Muslim
cleric was shot dead outside a Karachi mosque.
Clearly, religious minorities in Pakistan are de facto second-class citizens.
In addition to facing direct discrimination in laws such as the Blasphemy
Laws and the Hudood Ordinances, in the courts and the electoral system,
religious minorities face severe mistreatment from militant members of
the Muslim majority.
Musharraf's regime has allowed religious intolerance to continue (some
argue in order to maintain popular support), and, judging from the general's
suspension of democratic institutions in 1999 and the introduction of
the perversely named National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Ordinance, the
culture of governmental and Sunni Muslim impunity will worsen.
- Human Rights Feature
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