Harsha Kakar
The attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario, Canada led the entire Pakistan political hierarchy claiming Islamophobia must be curbed. The same day, within Pakistan, local protestors blocked the funeral of an Ahmadi woman. It took a day of discussion between the provincial Government and protestors to permit the funeral to be held. Minorities in Pak, including Hindu’s, Christians and Sikhs face harassments, kidnapping, forcible conversions and murders. Such is the state that police refuse to register FIRs, forget even investigating.
In Canada, thousands marched in sympathy of the incident and its victims. In Pakistan, where minorities are killed daily, not a single sympathy march or candlelight vigil has ever occurred. Not one Pak entity has spoken on behalf of persecuted minorities. Voices are only raised for acts against Muslims abroad. Pak praises the New Zealand PM for her sympathy with Muslims post the attack on the Mosque, but none has replicated the same in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister, Shireen Mazari tweeted on the Canadian incident, ‘sad, how intolerance and hate for the other is becoming endemic across the globe.’ She has never spoken on intolerance and hate for minorities within Pakistan, disappearances of innocents by security forces, protests for which are ongoing in Baluchistan, Waziristan and Sindh. Shia’s and Ahmadiyya’s remain the most targeted Muslim communities in Pak, in whose favour not a word is mentioned.
Pakistan sought to lead the world on supporting Palestine, in the recent Israel-Gaza conflict, not that it achieved anything, except diverted Pakistani minds from ongoing problems of high inflation and pending economic collapse. Pakistan leaders claimed Israel was committing genocide of Muslims. Pakistan’s foreign minister accused Israel of employing ‘indiscriminate and disproportionate force against innocent Palestinians.’ Qureshi forgets that it was the Pakistan army training team, commanded by then Brig Zia, subsequently Pakistan’s army chief and dictator,which led the attack on Palestinians in Jordan, killing thousands, officially documented as Black September. The breakaway faction of Fatah named itself ‘Black September’ in remembrance of this massacre led by the Pak army.
Qureshi also forgets that Pakistan is the only nation which continues to employ air power and artillery against its own people in Baluchistan and Waziristan, claiming they are targeting terrorists.It has procured US F 16s solely for targeting terrorists on its own soil, in the bargain killing innocents. Wonder if they realise that Hamas is also designated as a terrorist group by many western nations. The most heinous atrocities on Muslims are led by Muslim nations themselves. The civilian population in Syria, Yemen and Libya are in dire straits, attacked by proxies of neighbouring Muslim nations,seeking to establish favourable Governments and control oil trade. Never have these actions been criticized.
Pakistan raises Islamophobia while enforces Blasphemy laws within. These laws exploit and target minorities. The number of non-Muslims arrested on fake charges of Blasphemy are growing by the day. No judge in Pakistan is willing to preside over these cases as it could invite wrath of the clergy.
Protests against the French President and demands for expelling the French Ambassador from Pak displayed the power of religious clergy within the state. Unwillingness of the Government to suppress these agitations, while accepting their demands, indicates that it is a party to these protests. While the world ignored Pakistan’s call for Islamophobia, the EU punished it economically for its actions for falsely accusing minorities under blasphemy laws.
Chinese genocide on Uighur Muslims is well documented. Millions are in prison camps while women are raped, forcibly aborted and sterilized, with the intention of controlling their population. The world is criticizing China, while the OIC maintains silence. Pakistan is the joker of the pack,as a mention of Uighurs and their treatment, results in Imran Khan and Qureshi rushing to change topics, stammering on the issue while struggling to deny genocide is occurring in Xinjiang. Their standard line is that such issues are discussed in private with China. At the first instance they will switch to Kashmir and Palestine and commence accusations.All this only because of Chinese funding. Globally suffering Muslim communities mean nothing to Pak leaders, only funds matter.
For Pakistan, Palestine and Kashmir are two issues of concern. It is aware that both are beyond their reach but comment it must. Pakistan claims Kashmir yet launches terrorists to kill the very Kashmiri’s it claims are its own. As Christine Fair, a US based strategic expert on South Asia tweeted, ‘If Pakistan really cared about Kashmir, they’d stop sending terrorists to kill Kashmiri’s.’ She added, ‘Pakistan is like Herpes. It’s the problem that never goes away, has no cure, and appears in embarrassing places at awkward times.’ The world has understood the lies and hypocritic statements emanating from Pak and has begun ignoring them.
Pak seeks peace in Afghanistan, while supporting the Taliban with funds, equipment, recruits as also encouraging its violent activities. In Afghanistan, it is Pakistan backed Muslim terrorist groups targeting their own Muslim brethren. The current spate of killings of innocents are planned and implemented with Pakistan support. Pakistan’s current National Security Advisor, Moeed Yusuf, fears Pakistan will be blamed for violence following US withdrawal from the country. He added that international media has been biased against Pakistan, as far as Afghanistan is concerned. Is there any reason for Pakistan not to be blamed or the media not to be biased.
It was Pakistan which exploited western nations for funds, which it channelled to the Taliban to target those who funded it. When it is accused globally, it claims it is cooperating. An article in the New York Times quoted General Hamid Gul, an ex-DG ISI of Pakistan when he mentioned in a talk show, ‘When history is written, it will be stated, that the ISI defeated the Soviet Union, in Afghanistan,with the help of America. Then there will be another sentence. The ISI, with the help of America, defeated America.’ With such intentions, the time is not far, when Pakistan will face global isolation.
Pakistan claims to support the global Muslim community, whereas the reality is that its support is only selective, while within, its behaviour is opposite of what it preaches. Pak supports terrorist organizations to target brother Muslims, while simultaneously claiming it supports them. If hypocrisy seeks a new synonym, then the ideal word would be Pakistan.
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