Who should the law respect?
With 29.5pc of Pakistan’s population living below the national poverty line, do we actually not need an Ehtram-e-Insaniyat (respect for humanity) Ordinance to ensure that no food is eaten and nothing extravagant is worn in front of the malnourished, underprivileged and deprived stratum without sharing?
It all started in 1981 when the first ever Ehtram-e-Ramzan Ordinance was approved to “provide for measures [to] observe the sanctity of the month of Ramzan”. Thus the holiness of one of the holiest months of Islamic calendar was entwined with prohibiting of eating and drinking, and serving edibles in “certain” public places. The exemptions described in the ordinance benevolently included canteens and kitchens maintained within the premises of hospitals, primary schools, railway stations, airports, seaport, bus stands and in aircrafts. However, much of this was not conveyed to the masses owing to which the lion’s share of today’s intolerant denizens believes in gazing every single person (animals are spared for now!) found eating or drinking in open during the holy month with bloodshot, vengeful eyes.
Last year’s Ramzan will always be remembered in Pakistan’s history of religious fanaticism in context of the incident of soaking an elderly Hindu man in his own blood for allegedly eating biryani in public at around 6pm local time. Gokal Das was given the food as charity and was ruthlessly beaten by a constable and his brother for eating it roughly one hour before the breaking of the fast which was not even a dogma for him to follow in the first place. There might be a conflict in his reported age – 82 or 90 – but there is surely no dispute over the fact that he was beaten unjustly and illegally as per the Ordinance which states “No person who, according to the tenets of Islam, is under an obligation to fast shall eat, drink or smoke in a public place during fasting hours in the month of Ramzan”. Gokal Das, being a Hindu, was not under the obligation to fast in Islam’s holy month. Even if the executors of law were successful in implementing the injunctions of the Ehtram-e-Ramzan Ordinance, where did our societal tradition of Ehtram-e-Buzurg (respect of the elderly) fade away?
While this horrendous act of ill-treatment was perpetrated by a police constable, another member belonging to the same fraternity has different views. Now that Ehtram-e-Ramzan (Amendment) Bill has been unanimously approved by the Standing Committee of the Senate on Religious Affairs, District Police Officer (DPO) Gujrat Sohail Zafar Chattha has quite a few concerns regarding its implementation.
“The area under my supervision is in the vicinity and includes some part of GT Road, a busy highway between Lahore and Islamabad”, he said. “Roadside fruit and nimko shops are almost always open and this makes it extremely difficult to administer and implement the law in that area. It is indeed a hectic and painstaking task in this case to differentiate between a traveller and the one who has not fasted willingly. Closing all restaurants is not possible and its enforcement consequently results in loss of good will of the public.”
Dr Khalid Zaheer, Vice President of Al-Mawrid, when asked about the exemption given to travellers and ill in the Holy Qur’an (2:184-185), explicated, “If someone has a kidney problem or any medical condition which is hindering him from fasting, he should not fast. This was also extended to facilitate pregnant women who fear for themselves or their babies. It depends absolutely on the ill’s health condition, the best judge of which is the ill himself or herself.”
This explanation was found to be coherent with a relevant Hadith: “Allah has relieved the traveller of obligation of fasting and half of prayers and he has relieved the pregnant and the nursing women of obligation of fasting.” (Nasai Sunan, Hadith No. 2274)
He pertinently added that state in no capacity can make laws regarding the imposition of fasting and pilgrimage. “Such laws have no link with religion or Islamic Shariah and are probably made in accordance with the prevailing temporal and spatial conditions and understanding of people. Those among Muslims who do not fast should be invited, but neither they nor our non-Muslim brothers should be forced to respect our religion’s pillars through laws. All of this has to be derived out of mutual deference and willingness.”
“I have been trying my best to abide by the law, but how many times in history were we given such a protection?” asked Maria Sandhu, an emerging Christian student activist. “Our 24-hour long fasts last 40 days. We constitute 1.6pc of Pakistan’s population. Why are our fasts not given an equal amount of respect? Or has it been safely assumed that we cannot be tempted by the mere sight of foodstuff and drinks?
“I admit that I know very little of other religions but I am definitely fully aware of human instincts and enticements. It is no human impulse or desire to snatch away a tempting glass of water from the hands of a non-faster. I know I might be the next victim of lynching after giving this statement but the truth cannot be concealed or altered.”
“Fasting in the month of Ramadan tests our faith in God and teaches us nothing but self-control”, appended Dr Khalid Zaheer. “Self-control, as the term implies, is control on oneself which cannot be exercised by constraining others from something which is a fundamental human need. It is but natural to eat and drink and fasting is all about kerbing your instinct, not others’, in the way of God.”
In reply to what should be done if a faction does not give its assent for such a law as the latest bill, he said, “In case a law has been made and a faction, whether in majority or minority, does not approve of it, the group of individuals can seek help and protection from police. However, our legislators, too, should avoid formulating needless laws regarding matters that purely demand compassion and respect”.
Commenting on what can be done by our police in this regard, DPO Sohail Zafar Chattha quoted a precedence set by American police. “A lady was caught stealing five eggs back in 2014 by an officer. Instead of detaining her, the Alabaman cop not only bought her those eggs but also delivered two truckloads of food to her home after finding out that she was responsible for feeding her daughters and grandchildren.
“‘It gives a positive image for law enforcement’, the compassionate officer had said. This is one success story that was lauded by society, public as well as courts. Similarly, two models can found to be operative within Punjab. One is Gujrat where exemptions are given owing to the obvious difficulty in implementing the law in its entirety, while the other is Sargodha where banners showing acquiescence for the law have been put up all over the city. Thus enforcement of law is not necessarily ‘two and two make four’; there are and will always be exceptions.”
Similar divide can be seen among politicians, with one side introducing and approving the bill and the other criticising it severely. In a series of tweets in May 2017 Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari emphasised that the law was outrageous and un-Islamic. “People are going to die from heat stroke and dehydration with this ridiculous law… Not everyone in Pakistan will be fasting – children in school, the elderly, people with medical issues. Should we arrest them for drinking water?” She also found it pertinent to mention, “We are more than capable to resist temptation and keep our fasts”.
Although the original ordinance, of which this bill is an extension, exempts the aforementioned from the detention, fine and imprisonment, there are certain cases which are much more subjective. To illustrate, people suffering from health conditions purely based on symptoms such as severe migraine, pregnant women and nursing mothers who, despite the exemption given to them, have to judge their own condition and decide accordingly whether or not to fast, etc.
With 29.5pc of Pakistan’s population living below the national poverty line, do we actually not need an Ehtram-e-Insaniyat (respect for humanity) Ordinance to ensure that no food is eaten and nothing extravagant is worn in front of the malnourished, underprivileged and deprived stratum without sharing? We need to set our priorities because while breaking a fast may require only engulfing mouthful of saliva, demeaning the noble cause behind it will surely take more of such laws.
