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Non-Muslim citizens of the
Islamic Republic of Pakistan are treated as separate and unequal
citizens in a form of religious apartheid. The Constitution
and laws of the land are overwhelmingly preferential to Islam,
the State Religion, and Muslims. Systematic exclusion of Hindus
and other minorities ranges from humiliations such that a
non-Muslim lawyer cannot appear before Federal Shariat Court
to Constitutional provisions that the President and Prime
Minister of Pakistan must be Muslims. Religious extremism
and fanaticism sponsored by the State that disenfranchise
its own minority populations have engendered fringe factions
that endanger the wellbeing and lives of minorities, including
Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Ahmadiyas, and Shias.
Alleged blasphemy of the
Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death sentence. Most
of these cases are either false accusations or pursuits of
personal vendettas—a tool of repression often used against
Hindus and other minorities. Several of the judges in the
High Courts, as for example, Justice Akhter of the Lahore
High Court, are advocating that it is the duty of a Muslim
to silence the voice of a blasphemer. (i)
A report recently published
by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Islamabad,
notes:
"Four primary themes
that emerge most strongly as constituting the bulk of the
curricula and textbooks…are that Pakistan is for Muslims
alone; Islamiat is to be forcibly taught to all the students,
whatever their faith, including compulsory reading of Qu'ran;
the ideology of Pakistan (sic) is to be internalised as faith,
and hate be created against Hindus and India; and students
are to be urged to take the path of Jehad and Shahadat.”
Further, "Associated with the insistence on the Ideology
of Pakistan has been an essential component of hate against
India and the Hindus…” (ii)
Many of the approximately
2 million Hindus in Pakistan are compelled to pay regular
sums, as a type of ransom, to extortionists and local leaders
in exchange for the physical security of their families and
themselves. (iii) It is conventional wisdom that no job higher
than a clerk’s post may be obtained by a Hindu. Furthermore,
Hindus usually need a Muslim as a silent partner in order
to run a business.
Many Hindu temples have
been desecrated, destroyed, or converted into government offices
in Pakistan. In 1992 alone, hundreds of Hindu temples were
destroyed in Pakistan in response to communal riots in India,
in which Pakistani Hindus played no role. Despite official
promises to rebuild these temples, in many cases, little or
no action has been taken to redress the situation. Illegal
encroachments on Hindu temples and lands, molestation and
abduction of Hindu girls, demanding of huge ransoms in kidnap
cases, and frequent arrests of Hindus on false charges have
become commonplace in Pakistan.
The plight of Hindus in
Pakistan is nowhere more evident than in the fact that the
population of Hindus in 1947, at the time of Partition, was
estimated to be anywhere from 15 to 24 percent. There is no
authoritative claim on these numbers. In 1998 the Hindu population
in Pakistan was 1.60 percent. (iv) Where and how have these
Hindus disappeared? The Hindu American Foundation urges the
following:
1) That the United States of
America publicly and unambiguously acknowledge and decry the
persecution of Hindus in Pakistan;
2) That the United States of
America rescind the non-NATO major ally status designation
for Pakistan;
3) That the United States of
America condition monetary assistance ($700 million proposed
for 2004), debt relief and granting of non-NATO ally status
to Pakistan on cessation of legal and functional discrimination
against religious minorities, including Hindus, in Pakistan
as well as revision of current hate-mongering and biased educational
materials and curricula in schools.
Download
as PDF
(i) Daily Dawn dated August
28, 2000.
(i) The Subtle Subversion: The State of Curricula and Textbooks
in Pakistan," Sustainable Development Policy Institute
(SDPI), Islamabad, Pakistan. http://www.sdpi.org/what%27s_new/reporton/State%20of%20Curr&Textbooks(final-BB).pdf.
(iii) Newsline Special, Pakistan. December 2000, pages 77-79.
(iv) Census of Pakistan, http://www.statpak.gov.pk/depts/pco/statistics/other_tables/pop_by_religion.pdf
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