Pakistan – A haven for minorities

Not so bad as it seems

Those who propagate maltreatment with religious minorities in Pakistan always forget Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius who had been the Chief Justice of Pakistan from May 1960 to February 1968

For all those who insanely desire to blame and defame Pakistan, the most favourite topic is ‘Atrocities against religious minorities in Pakistan’. So many baseless allegations are levied upon Pakistani society including forced conversions of minorities to Islam, sexual assaults on them and their social persecution. The government of Pakistan is also blamed of being in a state of oblivion regarding the maltreatment with the minorities. The matter of fact is that the religious minorities are enjoying all kinds of rights and liberties in Pakistan. People belonging to different religious minorities could be prominently seen serving in almost all walks of life. From judiciary to the law enforcement agencies, from educational institutions to media houses and from government offices to business organisations, religious minorities are everywhere enjoying all equal rights and privileges. Unfortunate are those who always look at the scenario with an eye blind to this positive aspect of Pakistani society.

Those who propagate maltreatment with religious minorities in Pakistan always forget Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius who had been the Chief Justice of Pakistan from May 1960 to February 1968. He was the first Christian Chief Justice of Pakistan. Justice Alvin Robert Cornelius briefly served as law minister in the cabinet of President Yahya Khan from 1969 to 1971. He had been the chairperson of Pakistan Cricket Board from 1963 to 1969. The government of Pakistan in acknowledgement to his marvelous services for Pakistan honoured him with a very prestigious award Hilal-i-Pakistan. When we talk of the rights and privileges which the religious minorities are enjoying in Pakistan, we cannot ignore the name of Justice Rana Bhagwandas who remained the acting Chief Justice of Pakistan for different intervals from 2005 to 2007. He was the first Hindu and the second non-Muslim to serve as chief of the highest court in Pakistan. Rana Bhagwandas also worked as the Chairman of Federal Public Service Commission of Pakistan. Then there comes another prominent name in the field of judiciary Justice Dorab Framrose Patel. He served as Chief Justice of Sind High Court from 1970 to 1976 and as a senior judge of Supreme Court of Pakistan from January 1976 to March 1981.

The list of prominent non-Muslims who served Pakistan with their talent of acting and singing is also very long. A very popular film-actress of the past, Shabnam, was a Hindu, singer Arthur Nayyar and the Banjamin Sisters belonged to the Christian community. Famous artists of the past Irene Perveen, Saleem Raza and Naveen Tajik were also non-Muslims. In today’s Pakistani society, Shallum Asher Xavier is a very much popular Christian guitarist, composer and music producer. Shallum has been awarded Best Guitarist of Pakistan two years running, as well as an award for Best South Asian Band and Best Composer for his composition of Khamaj, a very popular song all over the world. We have another big name of a Pakistani Hindu in the field of Fashion designing, Deepak Perwani. In 2007 he created The World’s largest Kurta of 101 feet tall and 59 feet three inches wide and presented it for the entry into the Guinness Book of World Records. The list of non-Muslim dignitaries who served Pakistan with a lot of sincerity and honesty could never be completed unless we add in it the names of the renowned columnist Ardesher Cawosjee, writer and diplomat Raja Tridiv Roy, dramatist Dr Dennis Isaac, novelist Bapsi Sidhwa, poet Kanwal Feeroz, director and producer of TV plays Ashar Azim, a prominent Pakistani businessman of international fame and repute Byram Dinshawji Avari and of cricketers Anil Dalpat Sonavaria and Danish Kaneria. All these personalities are a national asset for the Pakistani nation.

The story does not stop here. We, the Pakistanis are so welcoming, encouraging and caring to the minorities that we never create any hurdle in their way to join even the most sensitive institutions of Pakistan like the armed forces and the Intelligence Agencies. They are treated there on the basis of equality and performance. Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry was a fighter pilot of Pakistan Air Force who bravely fought against India in the wars of 1965 and 1971. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat. Major General (R) Kaized Maneck Sopariwala was the first Parsi to rise to the position of a Major General in Pakistani Army. On his brilliant services to the nation he was awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz (Military) by then President Musharraf in 2002. At present Major General Noel I Khokhar is the highest positioned Christian serving officer in the Pakistan army. He joined the Pakistan army in 1976 and was commissioned in an artillery unit in 1980. He served in a variety of command and staff positions and also with the United Nations. He is among those Christian officers who have made to the rank of a general. Now-a-days Major General Noel is serving as the Director General of Institute for Strategic Studies Research and Analysis (ISSRA) at National Defence University Islamabad, certainly one of the most prestigious institutions of Pakistan army. The officer holds a Masters Degree in ‘War Studies’ from Quaid-e-Azam University, Masters in ‘International Studies’ from Kings College London and a few days back he completed his PhD from National Defence University, Islamabad. In 2011 the President of Pakistan awarded him the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M). All these details must be an eye-opener to all those who misguide the world around with their propaganda that Pakistan is a tough-land for religious minorities. It is true that sometimes at some places a few incidents do occur against some non-Muslim minority but it happens there in US and UK too. There are countries like India, Afghanistan and Burma where minorities, either ethnic or religious, are living a life worse than animals; such countries must be taken to task for atrocities against the minorities.