- As you sow…
The concept of the Promised Land is a pivotal tenet of Zionism, an ideology and movement that has cost approximately 8,000 Palestinians their lives and has driven thousands out of their homes. This concept has blindfolded Jews with their inherent right to re-establish their ‘national homeland’ in the territory stretching from the River of Egypt to the River Euphrates.
In the given scenario where religious intolerance is reaching new heights every single day in Pakistan, the country demarcated especially for the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent seems to be transforming into a promised land where no one but Muslims can breathe and live.
The US State Department placed Pakistan on a special watch list for “severe violations of religious freedom” back in January. “The protection of religious freedom is vital to peace, stability, and prosperity,” the department had said in a statement and demanded the re-designated countries to improve “the respect for religious freedom”.
What we have witnessed in the past few months is, in fact, alarmingly worrisome as Pakistan continues to take giant leaps towards inviting something deadlier. Two such incidents have occurred in the first half of Ramadan.
A mob comprising hundreds of locals and district officials razed two historic Ahmadi sites in Sialkot, a worship place called Baitul Mubarik that had been shut years ago by authorities to avoid violence and the historic residence of the belief’s founder which had been sealed by municipal authorities. It is pertinent to mention the state of occupation of both the sites to discern the difference between two perspectives that generally prevail: 1) Muslims attacked the sites but did not cause a single casualty which implies the value of human life in a Muslim’s heart; 2) the attack was not caused because of any triggering factor from the Ahmadis’ side and was clearly planned and executed by Muslims.
The world is giving us what we are giving to the world. If blasphemy laws in Pakistan are applicable only for Islam then the world will continue to go down the road and give us many more reasons to hold them blasphemers
Ahamdi community is factually the most hated minority in Pakistan, just like Muslims are in the US and Myanmar. Our sentiments caused us blood rushes and tears filled our eyes when we heard of the Victoria Islamic Centre in Texas being torched and completely destroyed just a few hours after President Donald J. Trump had announced a ban on Muslim entry to the US. If that was a manifestation of religious intolerance then isn’t the former incident an example of the same? If the latter is condemnable at every possible level then isn’t the former one as well? Or are the two incidents of different nature only because one building was a Muslim mosque and the other an Ahmadi worship place?
Teasing and tormenting someone without any provocative factor is puzzling; but causing affliction to someone who is causing you benefits is extremely dumbfounding. Charanjeet Singh’s assassination is one such shaking incident. A Sikh who was visibly a shop vendor but actually an activist of interfaith harmony and an author of three books, Charanjeet Singh is said to have feud with no one. While he is one of the several Sikh activists to be killed in Peshawar, the community continues to strengthen the ties with Muslims of the city by arranging daily iftars in different parts of Peshawar, a programme initiated by Charanjeet Singh himself.
Had Gagandeep Singh, the ‘hero’ of Indian Police, thought the same and let the angry mob beat and kill a young Muslim boy who had been caught with his Hindu girlfriend near a Hindu temple, our media would have highlighted the incident for several days with the tag of ‘religious intolerance in India’. But according to Gagandeep Singh he was just doing his duty. “I couldn’t have allowed the angry crowd to harm the [Muslim] youth. It would have weighed heavily on my conscience throughout the rest of my life had anything happened to the youth.” This sense of morality existed in him despite the notorious ‘love jihad’ campaign that is deepening its roots in India. And here a Muslim mob felt no shame in heartlessly lynching Mashal Khan who wanted to serve his country in the best possible manner – through awakened conscience. And Mashal’s death never weighed heavily on our conscience. Then who is more sensitive and high-minded?
If Gaganjeet Singh saving a Muslim in a Hindu-majority country is a heroic deed then why isn’t Charanjeet Singh serving Muslims in a Muslim-majority country counted as one? Why was Charanjeet Singh ruthlessly killed and the believers of his faith given a solid reason to feel dejected from Muslims and Islam? Perhaps, because it was Muslim whose life was at stake in the former case. In words of Baba Gurpal Singh, a leader of the Sikh community in Pakistan: “Unfortunately those working for interfaith harmony like Sardar Soran Singh and Charanjeet Singh don’t live for long. They need to be given protection.”
Charanjeet Singh’s profile on Facebook has a cover photo which aptly describes the current state of affairs: Izzat ek mehangi cheez hai, iski umeed saste logon se na rakhen (Honour is a priceless thing, it should not be expected from worthless people).
The world is giving us what we are giving to the world. If blasphemy laws in Pakistan are applicable only for Islam then the world will continue to go down the road and give us many more reasons to hold them blasphemers. If life and property of non-Muslims are not safe in Pakistan then we should not expect from the world to provide us equal and safe opportunities. As you sow, so shall you reap.
As a hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) narrates, “Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will, I will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment” (Sunan Abu Dawud).
Let’s wait till Doomsday to see who is rewarded and who is punished. But for now one thing is clear. Pakistan is heading towards its Armageddon if it continues to fail in giving religious minorities their due rights.
