Adil Najam
Religious intolerance must never be tolerated. To be silent in the face of intolerance is intolerance itself. It is a blot not only on those who commit the acts of intolerance, it is a scar on the face of societies that allow it.
One of the very first posts we had done here on ATP was about the alleged demolition of a Hindu temple in Rangmahal Lahore (here). We followed it up with a second post demonstrating that by design and by default key forces in the media and amongst politicians tend to distort issues for their own myopic gains, even at the cost of the larger issues at stake (here). A third post on this issue from ATP followed up the story further and tried, as best as we could, to separate the facts from the rhetoric (here).
Vigilance must, however, be ongoing.
Now one hears from a hard-hitting editorial in The News of a more blatant act of desecration of another Hindu Temple – this one in the Baghdadi area of Lyari Town, Karachi. Once again, it is greedy land grabbers playing on the religious insensitity of society to gain a little personal benefit without paying any heed to the massive costs and deep wounds they inflict upon an already maligned social fabric through their nefarious actions.
The News editorial (11 October, 2006) gets it exactly right; so let me quote from it in full:
Stop the desecration
In an ultimate insult to any place of worship, a Hindu temple in Karachi has reportedly been encroached upon by local butchers and parts of its compound have been converted into a slaughterhouse. This is most insensitive to the religious feelings of Hindus since cows are considered sacred by them. The actual culprits behind the steady encroachment in the compound where the temple is situated are not the butchers — who are plying their trade there with impunity — but the land grabbers allegedly operating with the collaboration of the local police. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has rightly demanded that the Sindh government and the city nazim take immediate action to stop this encroachment, not least because it offends the religious sensibilities of a minority community.
According to an application sent by the HRCP to the provincial government, the land grabbers have forced the Hindu residents of the century-old Pawaldass compound in the backward Baghdadi area of Lyari Town of old Karachi to sell their properties at cheap rates. The land grabbers’ tactics range from monetary inducements to the poor Hindu families to violence carried out with the active involvement of the local police. There are even reports of a Muslim praying area having been forcibly established inside the compound. The action of the land-grabbers is doubly criminal. They are dispossessing the residents, taking over their temple in the process. In addition, they are in direct violation of the West Pakistan Evacuee Properties Act of 1957. Both call for the immediate action the HRCP has demanded. The action should not stop at prevention of further encroachment by the land grabbers, but should extend to the return of the residents’ occupied properties. At the same time, of course, the religious rights of the Hindu residents must be completely restored. It is about time that we began to respect the religious feelings and sensibilities of those of other faiths, especially since we tend to be very sensitive ourselves if our own sensibilities are slighted. The government is eager to project itself as progressive and for that alone it should ensure that the shenanigans of the land-grabbers and their patrons in the local police are stopped immediately. It goes without saying that if a mosque were encroached the government would act immediately — it needs to show the same promptness with respect to safeguarding the rights of the minorities as well.
It is good that the media (The News) and civil society (HRCP) are vigilant and demanding action. Their demands are exactly right and we must all join with them in this cause. But more than that this is again a moment when the government must act, and act immediately, to stop this gross viloation, to make up for what has happened, and to take real measures that can insure that this will not happen again.
I would call this racism and what goes on in our society with minorities as apartheid.
Very few care for the Quaid’s words any more. To do such a horrendous thing is to betray the Quaid’s dream of a free nation.
Be it the land grabbers, the maulvis or any of the other vultures, all have wreaked havoc on the silent, weak and wretched amongst us.
I look forward to the days when Pakistan and India will be one again as they were before. Then, pre-partition India was called the bride between Muslims and Hindus.
[quote]
“MQ,
Thank you for making me realise that I am not helpless or ineffective when it comes to happenings in Pakistan. I will definitely keep you updated about my writing and calling campaign.”[/quote]
Umera:
You wrote the above comment on 12 October. I was wondering if you were able to call or write to any of those addresses as you intended to. I hope you won’t take my comment as unnecessary pressure or a “flexing of muscles” as an earlier commentator accused me of doing.
[…] The comments made on the article are even more interesting. One comment explains how people build mosques to grab public land, a situation very similar in India regarding temples and mosques. Unfortunaltey rules are not the same for masjid and mandir. Somehow abandoned or old mandirs seem to be a fair game for land grabbers whereas masjids seem to be encroach upon public lands without proper demarcation. Rules should be applied in the same way for both the majority and minority’s places of worship. I know for a fact that many mosques in Federal-B-Area karachi are built on amenity plots (mostly cricket grounds) and they keep expanding over the years by taking more and more space around them but nobody dares to regulate them. Masjid or mandir, they should both be given properly demarcated plots, with consideration for future expansion, and both should be provided govt security against land grabbing. […]
This discussion has taken off on a tangent. Instead of focusing on “What must be the policy that Pakistan should adopt regarding safeguard of the non-Muslim properties in Pakistan” folks have fallen into the ditch of “India vs. Pakistan” and “We are better than you” argument. This is childish and serves no purpose. Every nation must protect their minorities regardless of its size as a matter of principle. I have suggestion for my fellow Pakistanis. In your arguments please do not drag India in. She has nothing to do with what we should be doing in Pakistan to safeguard our minorities. India does not speak for the non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan. Please stay focused. Thank you.