J.L.Koul Jalali
In yet another incident of persistent atrocity early this month eleven Hazara coal miners in Baluchistan province of Pakistan were abducted by terrorists and killed. IS claimed responsibility for this heinous act of persistent atrocity. Relatives of the eleven killed Hazara miners have refused to take their dead bodies for burial till their demands are met.
Hazaras are a Persian speaking ethnic group whose homeland is HazaraJat in Central Afghanistan. In Pakistan they live mostly in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. Hazaras are Shia Muslims and In Pakistan they are suspected of loyalty towards Iran.
The ruthless killings have again drawn attention of the world community towards persistent killings of Hazaras and have been condemned widely. There have been protests and demonstrations mostly at many places in Pakistan. Because of their somewhat Mongolian physical features Hazaras are easily identified and in recent years thousands of Hazaras have been killed in repeated atrocities in Pakistan.However nobody has been ever punished for these persistent ruthless crimes.
Actually atrocities against minorities in Pakistan started soon after Pakistan came into existence in 1947 but got intensified during eighties of last century when Islamisation started there under General Ziaul Haq.Initially atrocities were mostly confined to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians. But later these got extended to Shias, Ahmadiyyas, Muhajirs, Sufis, Hazaras, Seraikis and other similar sects and groups living in different parts of Pakistan.
These persecutions and discrimination assume the form of abductions,murders,mass killings, bombings, suicide bombings, forceful conversions to Islam,threats of violence, extrajudicial killings and killings on allegations of blasphemy mostly based on personal vendettas and religious bias. The motivating force behind atrocities against these minorities almost in all cases is ideologically faith oriented. Whereas Ahmadiyyas have been declared heretics long back,there is a deep religious cleave-age between the majority Sunni population of Pakistan and the Shia minority.
The worst is that in Pakistan even attacks on and desecration of holy places of minorities have turned into recurring occurrences. Only about a fortnight back on thirty first December, a Hindu temple including the Samadhi of a Hindu religious leader in its premises in Karak District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan were set on fire by a mob led by some clerics and supporters of radical Islamist Jamiat-e-Islam party Fazal ur Rehman group in Pakistan. According to Police authorities in Pakistan one hundred persons including seven leading clerics were arrested. India lodged a strong protest against this heinous crime and sought strict action against perpetrators of the crime.
This heinous crime again brings into focus almost perpetually continuing decades old discrimination and persecution on religious grounds against minorities in Pakistan. It again draws attention to Nehru-Liaquat Pact arrived at between the then Prime Minister of India Mr.Jawahar Lal Nehru and the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Mr.Liaquat Ali Khan at New Delhi in April,1950. Partition of India in 1947 had resulted in exchange of populations between India and Pakistan.Under the agreement among other matters,minority rights in both the countries were confirmed and both the countries set up their Minority commissions. But seeing the plight of minorities in Pakistan it has not worked. Rejecting the opposition criticism of Citizenship Amendment bill in Parliament of India in December,2019, the Home Minister of India Mr.Amit Shah clearly stated that the Pact has failed. He said that had the spirit of the Pact been followed by Pakistan there would have been no need to bring the then Citizenship Amendment bill.
In any case,the obvious fact cannot be contended that after partition of India in 1947,the population of Hindu,Sikh,Buddhist,Jain and Christian minorities who lived in areas which became later Dominion of Pakistan and now Islamic Republic of Pakistan has dwindled drastically whereas the population of Muslims who lived in areas which later became Indian Union has grown fabulously. The reasons for this are not far to seek. While in India rights and security of minorities have been continuously and effectively safeguarded,Pakistan has persistently contravened the provisions of the Pact through consistent neglect and persecution of members of minority communities even though the Pact required each country to ensure that its minorities enjoy complete equality of citizenship with others and receive treatment identical to that available to other nationals of their country.
In another such recent incident, ignoring UNGA resolution, Pakistan government decided to transfer management of Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara to non-Sikh body. India strongly protested and the incident has been resented all over the world.
In a speech at the UN session on “Culture of Peace” in December last year, First Secretary in India`s Permanent Mission agreed with the fact that anti-semitism,Islam phobia and anti-Christian acts need to be condemned, and India firmly condemns such acts, but stated that UN resolutions at the session on “Culture of Peace” on such important issues speak only of three Abrahamic religions Judaism,Christianity and Islam.
He said that the august body has failed to acknowledge the rise of hatred and violence against Hindus,Buddhists and Sikhs and referred to the shattering of iconic `Bamyan Buddhas` by Taliban in 2001, and killing of twenty five Sikh worshipers in terrorist bomb attack by fundamentalists on a Sikh Gurudwara in Kabul in March last year. He said that in such resolutions these religions aiso need to be added to the list of three Abrahmic religions because till this selectivity exists,the world can never truly foster a culture of peace.
(The author is Freelance Journalist )
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