Check box religion
-Illustration by Mahjabeen Mankani/Dawn.com
Know thy box. I mean do you know what box your faith can fit into? You better check that out or you won’t be able to vote in general elections. You need to fill out Form IV to register yourself as a voter and if an enumerator has already luckily knocked at your door he would have filled Form 1 and 2 for your family. These and all other forms of the Election Commission include an array of check boxes titled Muslim, Hindu, Christian etc. You can’t help but fit yourself into one of these and in case of any confusion or hesitation you are awarded a liberal ‘Others’ box as well.
If you are a Hindu or a Christian your checked box is believed in as such. But if you are a Muslim you have to prove it. Don’t worry; you won’t be asked to walk on fire nor would you need to recite anything from your Islamiat text book. No, not even your deeds or character matter. The procedure has been simplified. All you need to do is sign or thumb impress a special For-Muslims-Only Oath declaring that you are not an Ahmadi. If you are not an Ahmadi, you are a Muslim for the purpose of and to the satisfaction of the state of Pakistan. All those who sign the Oath can take pride in being constitutionally declared Muslims besides being registered voters of the same status. [Reminder: Ahmadis were declared non-Muslims through the Fourth Constitutional Amendment in 1974].
Hey, but wait a minute. Why would the Election Commission need to know what religion I believe in? Don’t we have joint electorate system where everybody from an area votes for the same set of contestants?
Yes, we currently have the joint system but we have, over time, experimented quite a lot with representation of non-Muslims in elected Houses. It has been a debate in this country from day one but the calls for separating voters and contestants on the basis of religion were resisted till Gen Zia’s time. The electoral circus of 1985 was the occasion when finally the religious right was granted its long standing wish and this system remained unchanged for the following four elections as well. It took us another general, the puppy-loving, singing and dancing type this time, to revert to the joint electorate system.
The Commission was overwhelmed by the reversal order of 2002 and when it started the campaign to update the voter lists in November 2003, it dropped the column on religion from its Forms and also the For-Muslims-Only Oath; soon to be reminded, rather rudely, that it had misread the situation. The ‘enlightened’ Order issued by President Musharraf in January 2002 was ‘moderated’ in June declaring that notwithstanding the joint electorate system the status of Ahmadis shall remain the same. This moderation was ostensibly mediated by some visitors to the Presidency with the right length of beards.
The President’s words were there but still the poor Commission could not comprehend the utility of those check boxes. The guardians of our faith actually had to seek support of the court to make known who was in charge of matters related to religion over here. A petition in Lahore High Court challenged in January 2004, the Commission’s decision to do away with the oath and the column on religion. Soon the Oath made a proud come back followed by a victory march by those sacred boxes.
Ok, they won. But what purpose does this information serve that the state of Pakistan is so obsessed with? I couldn’t find a plausible justification until I was helped by a person with the right level of faith.
Suppose a non-Muslim, Tariq Pervaiz, a Christian or Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi decide to contest a general seat of National Assembly. Around four lac or so poor electors of that national constituency would never know that they are voting for a non-Muslim for his name is very deceptive.
Even worse, the same non-Muslim person gets elected by the House as the Prime Minister or God forbid, the President of this nuclear armed fort of Islam. What a shame and what a great constitutional blip that could be.
So more than 80 million voters of Pakistan are made to check one of those boxes and sign that Oath to block that one in 80 trillion chance of a non-Muslim deceitfully rising to the highest political office.
Thank you, Election Commission for reminding us that we live in an extremely insecure security state.
The writer works with Punjab Lok Sujag, a research and advocacy group that has a primary interest in understanding governance and democracy.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
In Pakistan, religion is matter in every field of life. If you are not Muslim then you 've to ready to face problems.
Religion is a private matter between a person and his God. No one has right to come in between whether government or any other organization. No religion or philosophy has sole right to be correct. When govt. gets involved it makes problem of intolerance worse. See what happening in Sindh. There is abduction of Hindu girls and forced conversion. This is result of 60 years of brain washing and biased education system. Why does it matter what religion one belong to. They are children of same God. He may have enlightened different people at different time in history in different form.
The whole story makes a painful reading. Will the chief election commissioner or the Law minister or thesupreme judiciary of pakistn, let us know as how many countries in the world have framed such check-box of religion or the states which have made it necessary to mention the name of religion in the pasports as is the case with pakistanis belonging to the Ahmadiyya community.
Initially some laws were declared for only Ahmadies but now our society is demanding more for other sects of Islam and Pakistan is become a model for others where one sect cannot tolerate other. May Allah save us us from further divisions.
This is a false and misleading statement. I have never been asked to provide any information concerning my religious persuasion in any western country.
we always try to promote non issues. It is strange tht how mere a check box can hinder our progress. I also want to ask those scholars who blamed religion for all problems of pakistan. Dear fellows, can you identify any single islamic govt since last 65years in this coutry. Is our current gvt is islamic? Freinds we always blamed religion to hide our blunders. Infact we hv not any single islamic since the creation of pakistan. Our secular group always remains in power and blamed religion for their incapibility. Yes we r stil immiture tht's why blaming a smal checkbox for all problems created by ourselves.
Pakistan's name was changed to "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" in 1956. Islam is the official state religion and from 1979-1988, General Zia's military government was based on an interpretation of islam and brought religion into mainstream public discourse on a whole new level. Religious parties today retain strong political ties with the military, intelligence and supposedly secular parties and religion continues to determine everything from media laws to Supreme Court decisions. People may not accept these issues to be truly representative of Islam, but the truth is that religion is subjective and dragging a single interpretation and making it the writ of the state IS to blame for the majority of this country's problems.
Religion is a personal matter…should not be controlled by state or even by so called mullahas.
At the time of partition it was a hot topic in west that being a religiously uniform nation pakistan will be a very successful nation and india being so diverse will fall soon. But after these 60 years just opposite has happened. Pakistan is falling with every passing day and india is becoming powerful in every sector day by day.
The only difference is that pakistan have never been flexible…rigid in being a religious state…rigid in its approach…eyeing every through the spectacles of religion.
The problems in india are even the same as in pakistan- corruption, divide and rule policy by politicians. But the society is so flexible and tolerant in terms of relegion, region, caste and even nationality. In india it doesnt matter to which religion, caste or nation u belong if u can contribute to the society u are the most welcome. And its been improving very fastly from the last ten years. You have to suffer only bcoz of corruption not bcoz of your religion.
Inter religion and inter caste marriages are increasing. Most of indians now dont consider pak as an enemy. All this is in general…5-10 percent exceptions are there. In short indian society is so tolerant and flexible and this flexibility has open new doors.
Rigidity has never helped anyone be it a religious rigidity.
If pakistan has to develop it has to shed of its rigidity in every aspect.
Having faith in The Almighty Allah doesnt mean that you discriminate among people who doesnt believe what u believe. Everything even those non muslims belong to ALLAH. Dont you think disrespecting any human being is disobeying the Almighty?
what is the status of muslim voters in states like india, the netherlands americas , no discrimination ?>>?
They are very much better than you. You come to india and then you will know what is their status here in India. They have every right as a normal voter.
Though not generally true we really are trying to prove it right that "Religion is opium for the masses". We are using this opium to exercise greater control over people's lives and giving them a feel of cattle with herdsman.
It is funny to read some of the comments. How many of these so called intellectuals woule be fine with a role reversal. If USA and other European countries have laws similar to Shariat which provides previliges based on religon, would Muslims be fine with that.
The state has nothing to do with faith/religion of an individual in human society. No one has the right to disregard, disbelieve , reject or change the name of my father or my religion. No one can do it without making of every thing upside down in inhuman society. No other person or any assembly has got the to change or reject these two points of a person.
If I have to mark the box,it has to be other because I am muslim only by the culture and the family I was born in and grew up with . Religion is an individual deal with God and personal ego.
So God Forbid, if a Non-Muslim became the President of Pakistan with joint electorate system, Pakistan would not progress as it has since its independence as now?
yes,religon is always used as tool 4 personal aims…
I guess we have enough of this discussion and it leads us to no where unless the policy makers "think out of the box".without getting influenced by the so called difa e Pakistan brigade..
Pakistan was created to be a peaceful place for all Muslims so that they are not oppressed by the majority Hindu population. At that time, there was no official declaration about Ahmadis being non-Muslims. The majority of the non-Ahmadi Muslims were considering the Ahmadis as non-Muslim and Kafir.
In the making of Pakistan, Ahmadis played a leading role while most of the maulvis were opposed to the creation of Pakistan. If the Ahmadis have no rights in Pakistan, what rights those religious parties have in Pakistan? Those who did not support the creation of Pakistan should be singled out as non-voters in Pakistan. Those who vehemently opposed the creation of Pakistan and even abused Muhammad Ali Jinnah Sahib should not be eligible to vote in Pakistan. They should have no rights in Pakistan. They should be asked where they want to go.
I agree with Gilzai and farooque, specially if maximum Pakistanis tick the OTHER box, where will be Islamic republic? Many non-Ahmadis are frightened and forced into signing a bad, black declaration, without knowing what is wrong with the Ahmadi faith.
What a terrible plight Pakistan is in. This form is actually a mockery of faith. And hyprocritical to the core.
Even if you actually are a muslim and check the box as a muslim. The illogical and murderous stance adopted by fellow muslims within the sects is beyond comprehension. The sects are numerous in number differing only slightly in interpretations but united on the basic articles of faith. Yet the grafitti on the wall, the recent murder of Shia pilgrims, this butchery dating back to the 1990s, the dreadful bombings of mosques and people and they are all muslims. In fact, the ruthless, unjust actions are only against Muslims – sometimes with an incident or two involving muslims thrown in. Just have a look at the statistics. Is there no way this can be curbed? Cannot the Government and the Judiciary make the Ulema sit at a table and wrangle it out? Until this nefarious outlook and hostile elements are resolved and rooted, the writer of the article or people of other faith need not bother by these attempts and concern of the Election Commission as to whether finally the President would be a muslim. Please restore the sense of justice in the Ummah first and then print a form otherwise its a farce.
right on, brother!
Hypocrites of highest order. Pakistan was made on the bases of religion not secularism! As Muslims we should follow what the Quran preaches not our leaders. Its really hypocritical and yet funny that during the creation of Pakistan, Islam was used every now and then to pursue the agenda of creating a separate land and once that was accomplished, you guys now want to kick Islam out and downgrade it to the level of "personal choice" only? So Pakistan, you can fool the muslims but you cant fool allah and he will punish you! Before any of you ignorant call me mullah, i just need you to know that i make more money than you, and have a better sense of fashion, so keep your comments to yourself.
agree 100 %
Mr. Suleman, your sense of logic really amazed me. First, you really did not have to reveal your money making or sense of fashion to justify you are not mullah. You have right of opinion and freedom of expression even if you don't make any money.
On a more serious note: I must remind you state of Pakistan was created for Muslims to practice their religion freely and not on the basis of Islam. There is big difference between two. While the former allows its citizens to practice faith freely, the later tends to impose Islam on its citizens. If you think Pakistan was founded because Muslims needed a seperate state, then today any religion or sect being persecuted in Pakistan has the right to self determination. This logic is counter productive. Believe me if you really want a peaceful and progressive Pakistan then stop imposing religion on its citizens and let it be their self choice. Let everyone exist together. Look what this religious fascism has already done to our country. Lets mutually coexist.
yes lets mutually coexist together with each other
Its not a big issue we can't say minorities are insecure in Pakistan, we can find religion box check list, all over the world in there census forms, birth certificates and citizenship applications. Now matter is ECP. It's not a great idea that electrol form should be ticked in religion box. We are living in era electronic communications and database systems, which already we have, Nadra so, we do should do share Nadra data to ECP. Again for state we must need all information from every single individual. Which is very important for state security as well as
The problem is who's Islam, Sunni, Shia, Deobandi, Ismaili, Brelvi and so on? Get out of these shakels fellow Pakistanis, please , you will be lot better off.
Tell me Suleman sahib.Why is it when Pakistan was created millions of muslims from India did not migrate there? Why did they stay put in India?They felt that they can get a better deal there as a minority.Unfortunately it is not so for the minority in your country.This is a fact and you cannot deny it.As muslims then you should do some soul searching.Predomination of you religion does not mean that you can degrade the minority religions.Even your Quran forbids that.
Mr Suleman,
Which Islam are you talking about? Shia, Sunni, Deobandi, Barelvi, Ehl-e-Sunnat, Ehl-e-Hadith, Ehl-e-Quran, Wahabi, Salafi, Bori, Fiqa-e-Jafriya, etc, etc, etc.
Looks like you have not learned anything from the chaos of the past decade. Keep dreaming of an Islamic Empire, people like you have been dreaming about it for the past 1,400 years. Please name me one country in the world which is advanced and where religion and politics remain deeply intertwined.
Suleman, Pakistan was made for MUSLIMS of Sub-Continent just so they could lead their lives without fear of the majority i.e. Hindus. Having said that, since the land where this country was to be carved still had a considerable population of non-muslims; equal rights were to be bestowed to them as well since Muslims of the time were searing through this disparity by the majority themselves and they understood what it meant to be marginalised. Never was it sought or thought by the founding fathers that this new country was to be made such an Islamic Country where the local non-muslim population was to be made a third class citizen.
If you follow and understand Quran, then you know equality and Justice are the foremost virtues set in the Holy Book for all humanity to follow, especially the Muslims.
We should leave the matter of faith of Qadianis for Him to decide as He is the best disposer of all affairs; and give them their rights as equal citizens which is granted to them by our constitution.
By the way, lets not go into the petty details of money making and fashion. Do you think you make more money than Fazlur-Rehman and Samiul-Haq?