By Ashfaq Rehmani.
The PPP government had declared August 11 as Minorities Day in 2009 through the efforts of the then minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated in the country’s capital in 2011.
The day signifies Quaid-e-Azam’s speech to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, in which he said: “You may belong to any religion, caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State.” Pakistan was established as a secular republic at the inception of its nationhood in 1947. Since 1947, Pakistan has become more and more entrenched in purist Islamic thought that revolves around the theo-political jurisprudence of Sharia law.
The present government (PML-N) did not seem to be in the mood to celebrate the Minorities Day. On the other hand, the biggest Christian country’s head, the US second time elected President Barack Obama, arranged an iftar party in the White House this year and had proudly announced to support Muslims all over the world.
However, Information Minister Parvez Rasheed (giving a lame excuse) said that the Day would fall during the Eid holidays. Though Pakistan is going through a testing time but minorities are on our priority list, he added.
In the wake of the present critical situation, a criminal silence and nonchalant attitude of the Christian leadership in the country are very alarming. Pakistani Christians express their deep concern for the continuation of peace and harmony, not only in Pakistan but also in the rest of the world.
There have been many wake-up calls but the Pakistani Christian politicians/religious leaders have gone into a long snooze. The cases of Bishop John Joseph, Shantinagar, Gojra, Joseph Colony, Aasia Bibi and Rimsha Masih are some examples of the Christian leaders’ callousness.
During the past week, there are some invitations from different active Christian political/religious groups celebrating this day. Some called it Minorities Day, others Equality Day, while still others called it a black day. These leaders have declared the day according to their own mindset, thinking of themselves as community leaders. On the day, those leaders spent huge amounts of money for their vested interests. It is pathetic that when these so-called leaders are requested to support a needy person, they will not go for it and rather just present a list of excuses.
The role of the clergy in the development sector has left a question mark. Evangelical churches and bishops are involved in land grabbing. These black sheep must be marked
Some local Christian politicians, civil rights champions and religious leaders have been making money on the pretext of safeguarding minority rights, but these financial resources are being used in getting positions in other political parties and for their vested interest rather than spending those funds for achieving Christian prosperity and unity.
Some of them, as Christian representatives, have been a part of the Assembly that approved the blasphemy law and they kept quiet at that time. Now, we have a few Christian political parties registered to contest general elections but which have no contact with the Christian community at the grassroots level. They have not shown any seriousness in guarding Christians’ rights and are rather busy in making deals with major Muslim parties.
Christians are a small minority in Pakistan but their suffering is tremendous. I have been working actively for a democratic, tolerant and progressive social order and for socio-economic and political rights for religious-minorities.
