Survey reveals Pakistanis see problems with blasphemy law
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ISLAMABAD: A survey conducted by a community-based development organisation reveals that non-Muslim Pakistanis face discrimination in almost all areas of life.
However, the discrimination faced by women, both Muslim and non-Muslim, within families and communities is similar.
Pattan Development Organisation conducted the survey in Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore and Islamabad during November-December 2014. Around 1,200 people participated in the focus group discussion on which the survey was based.
The respondents said that the constitution and law did not treat all citizens equally and a vast majority noted that there was a huge gap between the laws and their implementation.
Respondents noted that people in general believe their religion to be superior to that of others and the blasphemy law had aggravated the insecurities of non-Muslim Pakistanis.
The participants opined that the blasphemy law was being used for political and economic gains and no action is taken against those who commit blasphemy against religions other than Islam.
One of the participants mentioned that a church was torched in Multan but no FIR was registered.
Some 42 per cent of the respondents agreed that non-Muslim citizens do not dare criticise government policies or challenge violators of their rights out of fear.
Sixty-five per cent of the respondents agreed that hate against citizens of other faiths being spread and the state functionaries are not taking adequate action against the culprits.
The respondents also criticised Urdu media for not paying adequate attention to the issues of non-Muslim citizens and 53 per cent said that English language newspapers are sensitive to these issues and play a role in promoting interfaith harmony.
Furthermore, respondents agreed that school textbooks promote hatred against non-Muslims and non-Muslim students are forced to study Islamiat.
Meanwhile, Pattan Development Organisation’s national coordinator Sarwar Bari said that actors involved in policy-making such as the Supreme Court, parliament, politicians, media and civil society were on one page against elimination of extremism from the country.
The survey identified that political leaderships is not doing enough to protect the rights of minorities and respondents stated that more should be done, he said.
“Perhaps this is the best time to improve the condition of our minorities and to remove gaps in our legal framework regarding their rights,” Mr Bari said. “Our study shows that the public is also keen to see Jinnah’s vision translated into reality.”
At the same time the respondents remained divided over the question that Muslim neighbours come forward without any hesitation in support of non-Muslims in case they are under threat or attack.
“The non-Muslim participants said that their Muslim neighbours are friendly and did mingle with them, but in severe incidents they would not come to their aid,” Mr Bari said
He added that one of the reasons was that they were themselves afraid of mobs. Fear is also evident when lawyers are hesitant to take up cases of non-Muslim accused of blasphemy.
However, even non-Muslim respondents agreed that NGOs do come forward without any hesitation in support of non-Muslims when they are under threat.
Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2015
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Comments (45) Closed
Jan 20, 2015 08:21am
I thin Pakistan should accommodate the minorities better and change the blasphemy law for the betterment of the country. However if it makes you all feel better, there are many things which we Muslim can not say in Canada or USA either. Such as in Canada (Ontario) the catholic schools gets tax money but other religious schools do not. Also we can not say a number of things and if we do we are asked to integrate better it is the West claiming to be secular. There are the 10 commandments all over and chirstmas lights are put on every building with tax payer money while nothing for Eid or Dewali etc. So I think everywhere a change is needed to accommodate minorities.
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Jan 20, 2015 08:28am
I reckon we should not enforce our religon on the kids. Let them decide for themselves I haven't seen any thing good coming from any religon. Atleast I will not force my kid to affiliate with any religon. Yea you can teach them to be a good human and treat others around you with kindness and live your life so that you don't regret a single minute of it. Keep it simple. Dawn is doing great job by allowing my comment.
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Jan 20, 2015 08:41am
The governments and the people must first resolve the following:
"a huge gap between the laws and their implementation" exists. This gap should be resolved first.
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Jan 20, 2015 08:52am
Who are these respondents who have expressed enlightened, liberal views on the state of blasphemy in Pakistan? Surely they're not representative of the prevailing opinion, which supports both the constitution and its even more horrible application/non-application.
The government and the army (I know that's a bit redundant) lie to its people and the world to sustain themselves. And that's wrong. But by the same token it is wrong for the media to lie by omission -- even in order to change the popular opinion for the better.
Tell your readers the survey respondents were a teeny-weeny minority of liberal, English-educated people.
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Jan 20, 2015 08:52am
here is a prediction: the blasphemy law is never going to be repealed. it should never have been instituted. but, now that it is, pakistan is stuck with it.
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Jan 20, 2015 08:55am
Pin drop silence ? All Pakistanis are busy in queues to purchase petrol/diesel.
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Jan 20, 2015 09:26am
There was no need of a survey. It is pretty evident.
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Jan 20, 2015 09:53am
We need to improve this law not to suspend this law
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Jan 20, 2015 10:04am
I was reading the constitution of Pakistan and its ordinances the other day and i was shocked when i came across many Amendments that are promoting sheer discrimination. I really like to mention ""Ordiance XX"" of Pakistan where a Non Muslim particularly Ahmedi minority is not allowed to even say "Asslam Allaiqum" and they are not allowed to Imitate or use verse of Quran. It is shame that Islam is transformed into a Patent when Islam as a Religion is for the whole humanity.
Similarly Non Muslims do not select their members on national seats and what worse is that Minorities like Ahmedis cannot caste a vote at all. Also when you are casting a vote then your religion is checked and in my view when you are voting then you dont need to check anyone's religion as every Registered voter must be considered a Pakistani.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:07am
How civilized the society is depends on how they treat their weakest members in this case women and minorities. Is Pakistan society is civil society?
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Jan 20, 2015 10:11am
Acknowledging a problem is the first step to resolving it. I hope Pakistan uses this somewhat renewed mindset against terrorism and extremism to root out these ills from our nation.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:26am
@Sanjay Gupta Same question to you dear talking about Yesterday Muslims burnt alive in Bihar
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Jan 20, 2015 10:39am
Yes, clearly it does have problems.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:42am
Survey...did it include who are not literate and religious.? What was method of survey?
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Jan 20, 2015 10:45am
Congratulations to Dawn for publishing this.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:47am
@Malik Saab Malik Sahab Aap nay dukhti rug ko pakar liya...How unfortunate we are that we don't know our own constitution... it is should be taught in our school... people should be aware of their right and what is right and what is wrong... it is a deliberation and no one ever spoke about it...A constitutional democracy is in serious trouble if its citizenry does not have a certain degree of education and civic virtue.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:52am
Baseless propaganda, all common people whether muslim or not are facing discrimination in all areas of life.
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Jan 20, 2015 10:56am
@Sanjay Gupta look at your own country, how many minorities you guys have killed and suppressed over the years.
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Jan 20, 2015 11:03am
@Kalimullah It is much more efficient to suspend a law and develop a new one, than to improve a law. Simply revert back to the vision of Jinnah and Iqbal.
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Jan 20, 2015 11:15am
Has Pattan development corporation done anything right before? Who are the sponsors of this organisation? Never heard it doing anything good for the nation.
Notwithstanding above; We are all Pakistanis first and should behave as such; must respect all religions and their followers. Government must do its part and include anti-religion and sectarianism related activities in terrorism.
My request to all Pakistanis to respect all fellow Pakistanis irrespective of religion, and cast etc.
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Jan 20, 2015 11:30am
@Tranquil U r right, but u forgot to mention that 14 ppl have been arrested for the crime.
Indians(of all faiths, regions etc) have faith in the judicial system of india.
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Jan 20, 2015 11:49am
@HS gentleman i ask you to quote even a single incident that was initiated by the majority population.search it on internet about all the riots that have taken place in india and then comment .i have been brought up among the young educated muslim community some of my friends are serving the navy and the airforce of india. i am a hindu and live close to a mosque . u donot even dare to comment on our culture.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:08pm
@HS
No tit for tat.
Stop and think.
We have laws discriminating different people in our country. Don't mix up.
I guess India don't have stitch discriminatory laws. That's the whole point.
"A Muslim skills take a good thing wherever he finds."
So accept the advice and try to work for betterment.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:27pm
@Pukhtoon zalmay Agree with you 100 percent. Just because one is born into a religion does not mean they should just run with it. I don't see the utility of organized religion anywhere, except to make money and spread hate.
One should ask their children to think for themselves, if they want to practice a particular religion, then they must research several before picking one. Maybe its Islam or budhism. Maybe none.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:30pm
The problem is Huge. Get rid of this law.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:38pm
It is a very dangerous precedent.
Anyone on the road can just start saying that you committed blasphemy, and there you're in severe trouble all your life, if you stay alive.
This law should be taken care of...
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Jan 20, 2015 12:45pm
@HS .. Why don't you tell us the % of minority been there during 1947 and how much count do they have right now. I believe there will be a huge gap. In Pakistan minority count is almost negligible where as in India it's same as it was in 1947 or more.
Muslims in India have more rights then in your country.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:48pm
Yeah the questions on the actual survey and the way you presented them to us are pretty distorted Dawn. As for the discrimination against minorities goes,there is discrimination against minorities in every country. But I can tell you,from experience, that most Non Muslims also thrive in this country. Basically,it all really depends on where u live. If you live in a diverse,urban city like Karachi,Lahore,Nankana Sahib, there is minimal to no discrimination. But say you live in rural sindh,yes the feudal lords will discriminate against you. Nevertheless, we need strong laws and even stronger enforcement to protect our minorities.
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Jan 20, 2015 12:58pm
When you teach hatred, what do you expect? All should be told that all faiths are equal and none is superior than the other.
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Jan 20, 2015 02:00pm
@Ali (CA)
You opted to go there (to Canada) knowing what was in store for you.
Now that you are there, you want to make it like where you came from.
Why did you go?
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Jan 20, 2015 02:01pm
@Pukhtoon zalmay
May your tribe grow and prosper!
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Jan 20, 2015 02:13pm
@Ahmer Ansari
You are right. All Pakistanis are suffering.
Although some are suffering just that tad bit more because of their allegiance/non-allegiance to the State religion.
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Jan 20, 2015 02:19pm
The issue is mob lynching and mob management. With or without the blasphemy law, the mob will lynch blasphemy accused. Address the real issue.
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Jan 20, 2015 02:29pm
why the caption is so misleading? half truth is more dangerous.
It should be complete.
Non-Muslim Pakistanis face discrimination in almost all areas of life.
However, the discrimination faced by women, both Muslim and non-Muslim, within families and communities is similar.
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Jan 20, 2015 04:10pm
@kp It will be repealed pretty soon, when everyones eyes will open up. This ancient law sucks. Every prophet that came into this world was cursed at one time, but they never showed any anger against those blasphemous people rather forgave them. So who are we that don't even follow the teachings of all the prophets, if we truly, I mean truly believe and follow them in spirit and soul. Watch the movie PK it's an eye opener for every believer.
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Jan 20, 2015 04:53pm
@Tranquil
How that is related to laws? Pakistan minorities are down from 25% to 3%.
Your marks are negative overall. You don't have minorities.
Why Muslims killed a boy from other community?
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Jan 20, 2015 05:35pm
Pakistan as a nation is divided, polarized. There is schism, differences everywhere, and the"B" law only exacerbates this divide. We are a narrow minded, hypocritical, nation. This is because of many reasons, mainly those in power, wish this to be the status quo, and therefore it is. From school books to public speeches, to T.V. anchors to talk shows, the message is the same. One does not even have to mention what that message is, if you live in this country, it is pervasive, it is indoctrination to the extreme. This nation cannot hope to progress with this very warped, skewed mindset. This point has been well elaborated in the above article. I pity this nation, I pity the minorities, I sincerely think the Muslims have been the biggest losers in the creation of Pakistan. Do not believe one word I say, just try and calculate how many Muslims have lost their lives since August 14th. 1947, by fellow Muslims, and if anyone does, it will indeed be a research of great importance, to know where we really stand. Those who have lost their precious lives, cannot question, cannot answer, it is us who happen to be still alive have to be honest to this work, but who will?. Can Dawn do this honest work ???.
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Jan 20, 2015 05:56pm
This law is the black spot to any country. You cannot be secular with such a law. Country is going to get into 16th century and there is no future.
Millions of innocent minorities are killed on the name of this law. Stop this non senes and let every one live peacefully.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:29pm
@Jalaluddin S. Hussain : The blasphemy law basis is incorrect. The law has proven to be ineffective. It has been misused and it has caused more harm than benefit. It has to be repealed of fixed.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:33pm
@proudindian I lived 3 years closed to a mosque, and that was the closest religious structure we had. Before going to exam, I used to pray there for god to grant me strength to pass the exam. We used to go there in evenings when they used to have functions, several, Hindus from the area used to go there (still go there) to sing and participate and get prasad after the function. Best example of religious harmony, it's the god and feeling inside you which connect you to the supreme being not the outside view.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:37pm
We need to go back to Jinnah's Pakistan, where freedom of practicing any religion is a personal right. The state should not overburden itself with the responsibility of managing everyone's religious beliefs and gauging their religious righteousness. That is the job of God through his angels.
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Jan 20, 2015 06:52pm
@Ali (CA) Since similar things have been said in the past by others too, let me point out one difference between minorities in Canada and in Pakistan. The latter are not immigrants. Pakistan is where there home always has been. In the case of the immigrant, no new rights were given. In the case of minorities in Pakistan, rights were taken away.
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Jan 20, 2015 07:00pm
@Pukhtoon zalmay Appreciate your honest take....people like u are hope for a better future..
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Jan 21, 2015 04:21am
@Pukhtoon zalmay 100% agreed. I took my children out of Sunday school the moment I discovered what they were teaching to my kids.
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Jan 21, 2015 05:47am
@Ali (CA) While what you have mentioned has some degree of truth but comparing "merely asking to integrate better" with "having a law sending a person to jail for life or sending him to gallows" is not justified.
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