Mob violence heightens insecurity among minorities

Huddled in a small group, three Christian men pore over the newspapers early in the morning in the congested Mozang area of Lahore. All around, vendors serve up thick, milky tea, glasses of ‘lassi’ (a yoghurt drink), greasy ‘parathas’ (flattened, fried bread) and spicy omelets. The newspapers, borrowed from a nearby stand, display vivid pictures of the mobs that rampaged through city streets on 14 February, burning random targets, including parked cars and motorcycles, as part of ongoing protests against the publication in a Danish newspaper of cartoons seen by many Muslims as blasphemous. The building of the Punjab Assembly, a local bank and several commercial plazas located along The Mall, Lahore’s main commercial artery, were among those set ablaze. Three people have been killed so far and tensions remain high, with further sporadic incidents of unrest reported. Similar violence has shaken the northern city of Peshawar and also affected life in the federal capital Islamabad. The volatile situation has also meant that members of minority communities in Lahore and other Pakistani cities are feeling insecure. Around some churches an attempt has been made to set up rudimentary barricades and in the Rehmania colony area, groups of young Christian men keep watch over the local church, acting as a makeshift vigilante force. "We always become targets when there is a battle between Muslims and the West. We fear this may happen this time too, even though we oppose the cartoons and feel the pain of our Muslim brothers," Father Iqbal, a Christian clergyman who heads a small church in the area, said. There is reason for the concern. In the past, the country’s tiny Christian community has faced attack as a means of seeking revenge for the US-led attack on Iraq, or other actions by Western governments perceived as being ‘anti-Muslim’. Churches have been set ablaze, congregations shot at and Christians killed. Some of the worst violence was seen in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, when at least 25 Christians were killed within a year as a result of acts of terrorism that took place in various places across the country. Commenting on the current situation, the Archbishop of Lahore, Dr Lawrence John Saldanha, explained: "Violence against weaker communities is resurfacing because the government has failed to deal effectively with similar incidents in the past." Indeed, over the past two decades, non-Muslims have faced increased discrimination, despite the fact that the constitution of Pakistan grants them equal status as citizens. Rights activists argue that actions by the state have fed the growing bigotry and intolerance that today runs through society. "More needs to be done to ensure the rights of minorities are protected. At present there is no commitment to this and non-Muslims live as second class citizens," Joseph Francis, who heads the organisation CLASS (Citizens for Legal Aid), told IRIN. Most recently, the kind of discrimination that exists and has been institutionalised, has been questioned in court. The case involves a Christian student who gained a place on merit at the prestigious King Edwards Medical College in Lahore. She was however denied a seat at the Institute of Learning because a Muslim student with the same marks was, under existing rules, granted 20 extra points for being a “Hafiz-e-Quran’ (one who knows the Holy Koran by heart). In her appeal to the Lahore High Court, the Christian student has asked if she, as a Christian, is indeed an equal citizen, and is seeking either that she be tested on knowledge of her own religion – or that the additional marks be scrapped. The same uneven treatment exists in the case of prisoners, with remissions that are routinely granted on the basis of Islamic knowledge, effectively denied to non-Muslims. But the situation is grim for all minority communities, including the Hindus and Sikhs in Lahore. Recently improved ties with India have meant these communities are receiving greater recognition by the Pakistani authorities, but the fear of violence remains real. “My child, who is aged six, was spat at in school and called a 'dirty infidel'. We are no longer sending him to school till things calm down,” Parvita Diyas, a Hindu mother who lives with her family close to the Mochi Gate area, remarked. Over the past 25 years, since harsh ‘Islamisation’ policies were put in place in the 1980s under the late military dictator, General Ziaul Haq, thousands of non-Muslims have fled the country. Hindus, based mainly in the southern Sindh province, have moved in large numbers across to India, while Christians migrated to Canada, Australia, the USA, Germany and other countries across the world. The exodus meant the community lost some of its most skilled and highly educated members. Non-Muslims make up around three percent of Pakistan’s population of 149 million. Of these, two percent are Hindus, concentrated in Sindh, and around one percent Christians, the largest number based in the Punjab province. Other communities present in the country include an estimated 286,000 Ahmadis, a group that was declared ‘non-Muslim’ by the Pakistani government in 1974, as well as smaller numbers of Sikhs and Parsis (the ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran that survives there in isolated areas and, more prosperously, in India). All suffer discrimination in various forms, with the Ahmadis, who face the most acute persecution, prevented under specific laws from openly practicing or preaching their religion. Other legislation, such as the controversial blasphemy law, has also been used to victimise members of minority communities. Meanwhile, the current tense situation, with religious leaders announcing further rallies and protests in the days ahead, brings with it specific threats to minority groups. The sense of fear is running high – and as Father Iqbal put it: “We can only pray that the ongoing violence is not turned towards us and hope that peace will be restored soon, before things get any worse.”