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Inquiry and Analysis |884 |September 25, 2012   Calls To Put Pakistan On Genocide Watch Amid Mounting Persecution Of Its Religious Minorities By: Tufail Ahmad* Table of Contents Introduction Persecution Of Christians Persecution Of Hindus And Sikhs Persecution Of Ahmadi Muslims Persecution Of Shi'ite Muslims Conclusion Introduction  Close observers of Pakistan have voiced concern that the country is witnessing a gradual genocide of its minorities, the extent of which remains unrecognized by international human rights organizations. In April 2012, Nitin Pai, founder of the New Delhi-based think tank Takshashila Institution, expressed concern over the "systematic" killing of Pakistan's minorities, saying: "[The attacks] are called sectarian violence, gang warfare, ethnic cleansing, kill-and-dump or counter-insurgency. It is perhaps because there are individual names for these crimes that we are missing the possibility that they might amount to a bigger one – genocide." Similar concerns have been raised by others in Pakistan and abroad, particularly by the Shi'ite Hazara community. It should be noted that there have been previous cases of under-reported mass-killings in Pakistan which have been described as genocide, notably the massacre of some three million Bangla-speaking Muslims in 1971 (see image below of a 2007 protest by Pakistani lawyers and journalists, in which prominent journalist Hamid Mir holds a sign apologizing for the 1971 "genocide" of Bangladeshis). At a December 25, 2007 protest in Islamabad, prominent journalist Hamid Mir holds a sign apologizing for the 1971 massacre of Bangladeshis (fhiredekha.com) This paper will examine the growing persecution of Pakistan's religious minorities: Christians, Hindus and Sikhs, as well as Ahmadi Muslims and Shi'ite Muslims. In recent years, anyone who is not a Muslim in Pakistani society – or groups of Muslims who are not considered to be Muslim socially and religiously or under Pakistan's law – have been facing a sustained campaign of hate and religious persecution by Islamic groups and individuals, including government officials, legislators, judges, lawyers, police officers and clerics, who interpret law on their own terms and enforce it with the objective of making Pakistan a purer-than-ever Islamic nation. The persecution is manifested in the imprisonment of Christians and Ahmadi Muslims on charges of blasphemy; abduction of Hindu and Christian girls and their forced conversion to Islam; demolition and desecration of houses of worship; denial of food relief to non-Muslim flood victims by both government officials and wealthy philanthropists; denigration of and attacks on Shi'ite Muslims – and the deliberate and systematic killing of members of all these communities. Although not included in discussion here, it should be borne in mind that another significant group of the Pakistani population, the inhabitants of insurgency-affected Baluchistan, is facing persecution from Pakistani state and concern has been expressed (including by Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry) over a large number of Baluchis who have disappeared – widely believed to have been abducted and killed by Pakistani intelligence agencies. The depth of religious and cultural persecution of religious minorities in Pakistani society is reflected, for example, in the following revealing incident, which took place in the town of Pattoki. A group of Christians who drank tea at a Muslim-owned café were later required to pay both for the tea and for the glasses from which they drank, because these glasses, having been touched by Christians, were now deemed contaminated. Such incidents reflect the long-standing religious and cultural hatred suffered by Pakistan's Christians, Hindus and other minorities, manifested in threats, intimidation and violence, and often in the appropriation of their land and property by powerful local Muslims. Discrimination against Christians and Hindus is anchored in the Pakistani constitution, which bars them from holding senior posts such as President. In addition, a law from 1974 declares the Ahmadis non-Muslim, and, along with some later laws, forbids them to use Muslim names and symbols, though they identify themselves as Muslims and follow the teachings of the Koran. This 1974 law does not apply to Shi'ite Muslims, but militant Islamist circles and many mainstream Sunnis consider them to be non-Muslims as well, and have called on the authorities to enact legislation excluding them from the fold of Islam. The pressure on the religious minorities has led many to convert to Islam in order to survive. Such conversions are celebrated (prominent Pakistani journalist Maya Khan, the host of a show on Pakistan's ARY News channel, this year took personal pride in converting a Hindu boy on her live television show during the holy month of Ramadan), and even forced conversions are socially sanctioned rather than denounced. Pakistani officials incite against minorities with impunity. For example, former minister for religious affairs and TV host Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain sanctioned the killing of Ahmadi Muslims on television, yet remains employed by Pakistan's influential GEO television channel. Obviously, not all Pakistanis are involved in the hate campaign and discrimination against the religious minorities, and many would probably oppose these phenomena. But the social climate is such that it is difficult for a large majority to speak out. There is a small group of liberal commentators who, at considerable risk to themselves, constantly articulate a vision of a society based on tolerance, secularism and pluralism. However, their views are mainly confined to three English-language newspapers that play a commendable role in exposing the persecution of religious minorities, namely Daily Times, Dawn and The Express Tribune. Hence, these commentators' influence in shaping public opinion is inconsequential.  Citing statements of government officials, parliamentary leaders, community members and human rights activists, and other information culled mostly from the Pakistani media, this report analyzes the persisting patterns of persecution against religious minorities in Pakistan in the recent years. Cataloguing different types of attack, it examines how the cultural space for the existence of these minorities is rapidly shrinking in the Islamic nation of Pakistan – a country carved out of India in 1947 on the ground that Muslims and Hindus could not coexist. This concept, known as the Two Nation Theory, has been translated into a Pakistani policy framework known as Nazaria-e-Pakistan (the Ideology of Pakistan), which, over the years, has been responsible for gradually degrading the social status of non-Muslim Pakistani citizens in the country. The instances of persecution described below are by no means exhaustive, for the dominant Urdu-language Pakistani media often ignores such incidents, especially those occurring in villages and small towns. The under-reporting is due to the social climate in Pakistan, which regards such incidents as understandable or even positive. Another reason is the country's preoccupation with the war on terror. Persecution Of Christians In 2012, Pakistan's population was estimated at 190 million, of which Christians and Hindus together constitute roughly five percent. Of this five percent, the number of Hindus may be a little more than that of Christians in Pakistan, though some Christian writers have sought to put the percentage of Christians at nearly 15 percent of the total population. As examined below, Pakistani Christians have endured an unending process of religious and social discrimination over the years, with their girls being forced to convert to Islam and married off to Muslim youth without their consent, their lands and properties being occupied by powerful local Muslims, and Christian youth being implicated in alleged cases of blasphemy and shot dead. In recent years, the biggest attack on Pakistani Christians came in July 2009, when seven members of the community were burned alive and dozens of their houses were set afire by an angry mob in the Pakistani town of Gojra over alleged desecration of the Koran.[xi] Pakistani Daily Report: Christian Nurses Poisoned "Because Of Their Faith"; Christian Leader Michael Javed: "[Pakistani] Society Has Become Extremely Intolerant And... [Is] Not Allowing The Minorities To Live In Peace" In July 2012, nine Christian trainee nurses at the Civil Hospital in Karachi fell ill after drinking tea allegedly poisoned by their Muslim colleagues at their hostel. "They were claimed to have been deliberately poisoned because of their faith," a Pakistani newspaper reported. Christian leader Michael Javed expressed concern that "the [Pakistani] society has become extremely intolerant and... [is] not allowing the minorities to live in peace." Michael Javed, who is a former legislator, said: "The government has turned a blind eye to the persecution of minorities; our girls are being [forcibly] converted and our churches are being attacked.... A large number of nurses are Christians and are (already) subjected to ill-treatment and prejudice." William Sadiq, the coordinator of a welfare organization working for minority women, commented on the poisoning of the girls, "It could even be religious targeting." "The Christian leaders also shouted slogans outside the Karachi Press Club against the hospital's administration and the rising religious intolerance [in Pakistani society]," said a media report, quoting one of the affected nurses as saying that a colleague had made the tea after 10 pm and immediately after drinking the tea they fell ill. The targeting of Christians takes various forms. In July 2012, Pastor Victor Samuel Maseeh of Toba Tek Singh town in Punjab province was kidnapped by men who were wearing police uniform and arrived in a police car, leading to fear and panic among Christians. Maseeh was a pastor at the church of a Christian school and belonged to the Christian Colony, which has a population of 300 Christians. The kidnappers showed a false search warrant allegedly issued by a Lahore judicial magistrate. Similar attacks on Christians are reported by the Pakistani media regularly. 11-Year-Old Christian Girl Arrested Over Blasphemy Charges; Christian Youth Tortured To Death In Prison; Catholic Church Attacked In Sambrial District Of Punjab A common tactic used by Muslim clerics and the Pakistani land mafia is to accuse members of minority communities of blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad and the Koran, with the objective of seizing their land and property, especially churches. Victims have been known to be tortured and even killed in Pakistani prisons. In September 2009, 25-year-old Fanish Masih was arrested for desecrating the Koran and later died in prison. District Jail Superintendent Farooq Lodhi said he had hanged himself, but numerous other sources, including senior Pakistani officials, admitted he had been tortured to death. Punjab Minister for Minority Affairs Kamran Michael said: "I have seen the body and there were torture marks on it." Asma Jahangir, then chair of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), held the police authorities responsible. Pakistani Christian leaders Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha and Peter Jacob expressed concern that Pakistan's blasphemy laws, which allow the death sentence in these cases, were being abused. Following Masih's arrest, some 100 Muslim youths attacked a Catholic church in the Sambrial district of the Punjab province. Blasphemy cases are regularly brought against Pakistani Christians. In May 2004, Samuel Masih, who was serving a jail sentence under blasphemy charges, was attacked by a police constable inside the prison and later died. In September 2005, a case was filed against Younus aka Jonah in a court outside Lahore for committing blasphemy against a religious congregation of Muslims. In April 2007, a blasphemy case was filed against five Christian brothers in a court in the town of Toba Tek Singh. In Karachi, Qamar David was accused of committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in March 2008 allegedly by sending blasphemous SMS messages to a Muslim. In March 2011, he died in a Pakistani prison. In July 2010, Rashid Emanuel, a 32-year-old pastor, and his brother were arrested on charges of committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad and were shot dead inside the court premises in Faisalabad. In July 2011, Christian youth Noel Gulzar was accused of blaspheming the Koran. In one case, Christian youth Manzoor Masih was granted bail in a blasphemy case but was shot dead soon thereafter. In August 2012, Rimsha Masih, an 11-year-old Christian girl with Down's Syndrome, was arrested for allegedly burning the pages of a booklet used to teach the Koran. The incident happened outside Islamabad, after protesters beat up the girl and her mother. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), a non-governmental organization, condemned the minor's arrest, adding: "The spread of extremism and the authorities' preference for appeasing charged mobs, rather than taking the correct and lawful course, should make those in power as well as other political forces take serious note. It is deplorable that the country's political leadership refrains from speaking out against extremism and the injustices towards non-Muslims." In 1990-2010, at least 16 court cases of blasphemy against Pakistani Christians were reported by the media. In another incident in early 2012, blasphemy charges were brought against a Pakistani Christian who gave his name as "Jew Jurian" on an application for a national identity card, with the motive being that anything associated with the word "Jew" is blasphemous. Media Report: Eight To 10 Christians Being Forced To Convert To Islam Every Month In Sindh And Punjab; Christian Woman Kidnapped Along With Her Four Children, Converted To Islam Within Hours According to a media report, eight to 10 Christians are being forced to convert to Islam every month in the Sindh and Punjab provinces. For example, in early 2012, Seema Bibi, a Punjabi Christian woman, was kidnapped along with her four children after her husband couldn't repay a loan to a landlord. According to a Pakistani daily, within hours the husband was told that his wife had converted to Islam and wouldn't be coming home. Later, Seema Bibi escaped from her captors. Commenting on Seema Bibi's case and similar incidents of forced conversions, human rights lawyer Amar Lal spoke of the growing discrimination faced by minorities in Pakistan: "It is a conspiracy [aimed at forcing] Hindus and Christians and other minorities to leave Pakistan... As a minority, we feel more and more insecure. It is getting worse day by day." Father Emmanuel Yousaf, head of the Christian interest group National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), said his organization was helping Seema Bibi and a number of other Christians who were forced to leave their homes, adding: "Christian and Hindu girls are targeted more and more... Some of the [Christians protected by the NCJP]... are girls who were forcibly converted, and others... were falsely accused of acting against Islam or abusing the holy Koran." Forced conversion of Christians is continuing. Some recent incidents of forced conversions of Christian girls include: 28-year-old Tina Barkat was abducted, converted and forcibly married off to a Muslim youth; 17-year-old Samina Ayub was kidnapped, forced to convert and renamed Fatima Bibi in a town near Lahore; 15-year-old Uzma Bibi and 20-year-old Saira Bibi were kidnapped from Lahore and converted to Islam; 14-year-old Sidra Bibi was kidnapped from her home in Sheikhupura district and converted to Islam; 19-year-old Shazia Bibi was forced to convert and marry a Muslim youth in Gujranwala town. Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of four, was sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad (tribune.com.pk) Liberal Pakistani Governor Shot Dead By Security Guard For Defending Christian Woman Accused Of Blasphemy, Christian Minister Shahbaz Bhatti Shot Dead For Advocating Reforms In Blasphemy laws On January 4, 2011, Punjab Province Governor Salman Taseer, known for his liberal views, was shot dead by his own bodyguard for advocating reform in Pakistan's blasphemy laws and for supporting Aasia Bibi, a Christian mother of four who was sentenced to death on charges of blasphemy in 2010, and whose husband and children were forced to flee their home in Sheikhupura district. The assassin, Malik Mumtaz Qadri, belonged to Dawat-e-Islami, an organization of Barelvi clerics who espouse an extremely strict interpretation of Islam and advocate killing anyone who blasphemes against the Prophet. In a statement, 500 Pakistani clerics and religious scholars justified the governors' assassination, and Pakistani lawyers praised Qadri and garlanded him when he was brought in a police van before a court in Islamabad. The assassin's defense team was led by former chief justice of Lahore High Court, retired judge Khwaja Muhammad Sharif. The latter's decision to defend the assassin was seen as an ideological move that frightened every Christian and minority member in Pakistan. After Salman Taseer's assassination, a court in the town of Multan filed blasphemy charges against Pakistani lawmaker Sherry Rehman for advocating reforms in the blasphemy laws on a television program. Rehman later withdrew her bill calling for reform in these laws. In order to protect her life, the authorities appointed her Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S. Clearly, Pakistan's clerics and other influential figures are creating and nurturing a culture of intolerance that not only leads to violence against minorities but discourages liberal Pakistanis like Salman Taseer and Sherry Rehman from protecting minority rights. On March 2, 2011, about two months after Salman Taseer's assassination, Pakistan's Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, the only Christian in the federal cabinet, was likewise shot dead for advocating reforms in Pakistan's blasphemy laws. According to a Pakistani daily, the "Punjabi Taliban," a collective name given to Punjab-based Sunni jihadi organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), claimed responsibility for the assassination. It was reported that the assailants left leaflets at the crime scene warning that all others opposing the blasphemy laws would meet a similar fate. Some suspected that Bhatti was actually assassinated by the Pakistani intelligence, and unidentified Pakistani officials sought to blame India's intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) and the American Blackwater company, now known as XE Services. However, it is widely believed that Bhatti was shot dead for advocating reforms in the blasphemy laws of Pakistan. In an editorial, the Dawn newspaper observed: "Bhatti's killers may have escaped the scene of the crime, but the real culprit is known to all: an extremist mindset that has, with the sponsorship of some institutions of the state [a reference to the Pakistani intelligence], spread far and wide in Pakistani society. The tragic irony of a country created to protect the rights of a minority – Muslims in unified India – turning into a killing field for those standing up for the rights of minorities evokes a deep sense of pathos and helplessness." Click here to read the full report.