While the Pakistani politicians and the ruling class leave no stone unturned to shed crocodile tears regarding how Pakistan itself is a victim of terrorism and therefore should not be labeled as a terrorist state, they conveniently ignore the highly deplorable treatment of religious minorities in their country, which is akin to an act of terror committed on its own people by the Pakistani government. In addition, to milk the highly emotional Kashmir issue and rev up the anti-India sentiments to garner votes, the political class of Pakistan leaves no chance to reiterate their support for the ‘aspirations of Kashmiri people’ and continue the give them ‘moral support’ against their struggle against India. Perhaps it is high time that Pakistan takes stock of the pathetic state of their own religious minorities, who are being treated even worse than second class citizens and have practically no rights or say whatsoever in the increasingly radicalized and islamisized Pakistan.

Widely publicized report of a UK based newspaper sometime back regarding the sad state of affairs of minorities in Pakistan highlighted the tough times that minorities face in Pakistan. As per the news report, the Hindu and Sikh minorities in Pakistan face an acute lack of cremation grounds in Pakistan, and they are forced to bury their dead instead of cremating them, a direct infringement of their religious beliefs. This recent report is just one amongst scores of other instances that have made life miserable for the religious minorities in Pakistan due to the apathy and inaction of the Pakistani political establishment. However, it is sad to note that the religious minorities don’t have any ray of hope left for their protection and religious freedom in Pakistan, where the government itself has enacted several laws as per the Pakistan Penal Code that systematically decimate the right of minorities in the country. Chief among them are the anti-Ahmadi laws and the infamous blasphemy laws that give state sanction to the mistreatment and persecution of the religious minorities in Pakistan. Due to the state sponsored terror that has been perpetrated on the minorities in Pakistan through such Dark Age laws, Ahmadis, a religious minority, have been declared as non-Muslim by the Pakistani state and are suffering from widespread persecution. On the other hand, the draconian blasphemy laws are instrumental in sending large number of people from the religious minorities in Pakistan to prison and 16 individuals are on the death row due to the blasphemy laws. Such retrograde laws increasingly enjoy widespread support amongst the general public in Pakistan and two prominent critics of these laws, namely Salman Taseer and Shabaz Bhatti were assassinated in 2011.

Immediately after the formation of Pakistan in 1947, nearly 23 percent of its population comprised of non Muslim citizens, which has shrunk to less than 3 percent today. It is evident that facing unrelenting persecution aided by the state, religious minorities have shrunk dramatically in Pakistan, and people have vanished into thin air owing to large scale conversions and migration to neighboring countries like India. Due to the same policy of state persecution adopted by the then West Pakistan leadership, Pakistan broke up and Bangladesh was created in 1971. Even at that time, there was mass murder and genocide committed against the Bangla speaking people and East Bengal Hindus were the main targets. However, it is evident that the political establishment of Pakistan has not learnt even from this bitter experience of the formation of Bangladesh and continues the policy of systemic extermination of the religious minorities, so that they cede to a threat to the Sunni-Wahabi nexus of radical elements in Pakistan.

Even Pakistani Shias have not been spared from attacks and discrimination in the radicalized Pakistan, even though they form a significant portion of the population. It is ironic to note that the founding father of Pakistan, Mohammed Jinnah was himself a Shia and even though majorly responsible for carving of Pakistan from India on the basis of the defunct two nation theory, he had a largely tolerant view towards the religious minorities. How would Jinnah react to the policy of state extermination of the minorities that was started by General Zia in form of top down islamization of the country is something that Pakistanis should ponder on. The Hudood ordinances brought into effect by Zia ul Haq have seriously curtailed the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. The imposition of an exclusive Islamic code on non Muslim in the form of Hudood ordinances resulted in the ill treatment of the religious minorities. In addition, the imposition of Qisas and DIyat ordinances have totally curtailed the rights of the religious minorities in Pakistan and left them with nonexistent legal support system.

What is deeply distressing is the silence of the Indian government on such systematic state repression of religious minorities in Pakistan. Even when a large number of Hindu refugees recently crossed over to India in wake of widespread atrocities, the Indian government failed to take up the cause of the religious minorities in Pakistan. On the contrary, Indian government should make it a point to deal with an iron fist against such widespread religious persecution in Pakistan, and should directly confront the Pakistani government on its dismal record in protecting its minorities, especially if Pakistan again tries to rake up the Kashmir issue in the international arena. Even without the context of the Kashmir issue, isn’t it a moral responsibility of the Indian government to oppose the extermination and systematic state repression of the religious minorities in Pakistan? However, the present Indian government, widely perceived as weak and ineffective, is in no position to take up this just cause. The onus now lies on the new government to take action to stop or at least effectively oppose the pathetic treatment of the religious minorities in Pakistan.

Image courtesy: Huffingtonpost.com