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.
Turab, good job!
Umera, now the ball is in your court. Get on to your computer and phone and flood the MQM offices with messages from you and your friends. Now, you can’t say you are helpless.
We will be looking forward to hear from you how many messages you and your friends have sent to MQM’s offices.
I can support MQM to the extent that they really do alot more for the minorities and keeping Sunnis and Shias together with harmony.
people asking for MQM contact info here it is:
Contact Offices
MQM International Secretariat
54 – 58, First Floor, Elizabeth House, High Street
Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7EJ, United Kingdom
Phone: 44(020) 89057300
Fax: 44(020) 8952 9282
E-Mail: mqm@mqm.org
Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM)
NINE ZERO, 494/8 Azizabad, Federal B. Area
Karachi, Pakistan
Phone: ( 92 21) 6313690, 6329131, 6329900
Fax: 92 21 6329955
Muttahida Quami Fund (MQF)
54 – 58 High Street Edgware, Middlesex, HA8 7EJ, United Kingdom
Phone: 44(020) 89057300
Fax: 44(020) 8952 9282
E-Mail: mqm@mqm.org
Khidmat-e-Khalq Foundation (KKF)
ST-7, Block-14, Federal B. Area
Karachi, Pakistan
Phone: Administration 92 21 6333811 — Services: 92 21 6328464
Fax: 92 21 6323839
MQM (Overseas) USA Central Office
6355 N. Claremont Avenue, 203
Chicago, Illinois 60659, USA
Phone: (773) 381-0090
Fax: (773) 381-4690, (630) 766-9070
E-Mail: mqmchicago@aol.com
MQM New York Office
63-58, Grand Central PKWY, Forest Hills,
NY-11375, USA
Phone: 1 718 5338890 — Fax: 1 718 2058900
E-Mail: mqmnewyork@mailcity.com
MQM Canada Office
Shoppers World P.O
3003 Danforth Ave.
P.O. Box 93681
Toronto, Ontario: M4C 5R5
Canada
Tel. No: 1 (416) 376-3860
Fax: 1 (905) 848-2949
E-MAIL: mqmtoronto@usa.net
Source: http://www.mqm.org
please lets keep Karachi cosmopolitan and secure the minorities more than ever. Its small things like these which make me much more proud of the city….
Write to newspapers and concerned authorities to raise our issue
This blog, the responses to it, the editorial in the News and the HRCP petition all show that there are concerned citizens willing to uphold the rights of those who are too weak or too small in numbers to protest. I can say this about India, that we have not always been as vigilant about preserving rights of everybody as we should have been.
I also think that there is no point comparing this case with the Babri Masjid case (in which my personal views are that we should return the site to the status quo ante, as of December 5th 1992). That case has a long and contentious history. The earliest (western) references to a dispute on the site and allusions to the mosque having been built by demolishing an earlier temple at the site are from a travelogue by Joseph Tieffenthaler in 1767 and the earliest court case dates from 1885 (there are references earlier than 1765 about a dispute and one dating to 1710 that talks about the demolition of a temple). Even if we disregard documentary evidence of this kind, one needs to at least consider the fact that both communities had been praying at the spot at least since 1855, when the British put up a railing to separate the prayer areas for the two communities.
I am stating this not to make a case either way. As I said, I support the restoration of the mosque to its status a day before its demolition by the mob in December 1992. I also do not believe in undoing wrongs of history, even if they are real, by doing similar wrongs today. But I do want to point out that the Babri Masjid issue is an old dispute, with several larger historical and political issues involved. The case in Karachi is a simpler one of greed and commercial considerations, combined with an apathetic administration, at least at the local level. The latter is an easy issue to resolve, unlike the former.
Finally, I agree with the notion that this issue must be resolved because it is the right thing to do, not because of fears of a tit-for-tat effect. But I don’t think the notion of “do unto others what you would want others do unto you” is inconsistent with that of “doing the right thing for its own sake”. It is just another way of stating the same thing.
I am not sure if he is any worse “those Gondas in Punjab” but aren’t they all another cattle of fish? And doesn’t all the their politics (or whatever you may call it) leaves a lot to be desired for?
I wasn’t trying to make him an exception amongst all the politicians. He just happened to be focus of the comment MQ made and I was replying to that comment.
I was really just looking for ideas to be more effective, and complaining about the fact that sometimes I feel that I personally do not do enough about things that are happening in Pakistan.