Pakistan as a country has a very bad track record for the way it treats its minority groups. It is ironic because the country itself was founded on the basis of giving a minority group protection of its rights, both political and economic. But what is more troubling than this dismal situation is that we as a nation show no introspection about how we are treating our minorities. Our national conscience is slumbering if not dead and our self-perception doesn’t show us all that is wrong with us.
The national reaction to many recent incidents of minority rights’ exploitation have laid bare the fissures in our society and the cracks in our national mindset yet we are reluctant to take a hard long look at ourselves in the mirror and undertake rectification measures whether socially (through education and awareness) or politically (by legislating in parliament and political activism by the public and public representatives). It should be apparent to us but the truth is the most difficult thing to face.
