Pakistan: ‘Minorities stayed away from polls’

Ahmadiyya Times

“In a metropolitan city like Karachi, which is comparatively more vibrant, non-Muslims were forced to vote for a certain party.”

Apart from a handful of constituencies in Sindh with a significant non-Muslim population, minorities remained indifferent to the May 11 general elections in Pakistan, experts noted at a symposium held on Saturday. “We [minorities] are in a position where it’s easy for anyone from the ‘majority’ to come and threaten us. We get scared even by those who have no standing,” said Sabir Michael, a professor of economics at SZABIST. “In a metropolitan city like Karachi, which is comparatively more vibrant, non-Muslims were forced to vote for a certain party.” He was speaking at the conference titled “Expert Group on Communities Vulnerable Because of Their Beliefs” organised by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). The experts noted that major political parties, who claim to be secular, avoided fielding non-Muslim candidates from general seats even in their strongholds. Whatever few nominations they filed were mere “gimmicks to impress the international organisations”, they claimed. “A party like Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam nominated a Christian woman on reserved seats for females in Baluchistan,” said Zahid Farooq, a Christian social activist. “But parties, like the Pakistan People’s Party having a known secular bent, did not do it this time.” Speaking about rural electorates, Sham Kumar, a freelance journalist from Balochistan, said the feudal structure was so well-entrenched in the rural areas of the country that non-Muslim individuals did not even have an identity. “The feudal lords rule the roost no matter how many laws you come up with, the reality on the ground is different,” he maintained. Other speakers hailed the joint electorate system as the way forward for the “integration of different communities”. But the Ahmadiyya community resented the election commission’s decision of issuing a separate voter list for the community exclusively. “We boycotted the elections because of this discrimination,” said Masood Khan, a community spokesperson. The election commission printed a separate voter list for the Ahmadiyya community containing their names and addresses “jeopardising” their security, he said. “It was illegal and we did not have any platform to appeal against the decision,” Khan added. The observers also highlighted some of the key issues being faced by the minority communities, including the educational curriculum and the media’s lack of empathy. Inder Ahuja, a Hindu activist, claimed that minority students of class I and II were forced to learn the basic Islamic injunctions at government schools, as these were part of the compulsory syllabus. The media’s lack of attention toward the issues of the minorities was raised by Michael. He said the electronic media in the country was still in its early years but the whole industry had been hopelessly commercialised. “The minorities get airtime only during their religious festivals and sometimes on August 14 but they are ignored throughout the year.” Aijaz Qureshi, a rights activist, disagreed however. He said the regional electronic media, especially in Sindh, had regularly highlighted concerns like “forced conversions” and had constantly been at the forefront of minority cause.