Forced conversion
March 18th, 2012
The issue of forced conversions of Hindu women to Islam, after being abducted and made to marry Muslim men, has been raised vociferously by leaders of the Hindu community. But now, it seems that the whole operation of forced conversions is taking place in a far more organised manner than had been previously thought.
The PPP MNA Dr Azra Fazl, who is also President Asif Ali Zardari’s sister, has said that Hindu women are being kept in madarssas in Sindh and then forced to wed Muslim men. She stated this is what had happened in the case of Faryal Shah, a Hindu girl whose conversion has created much controversy in Sindh. Dr Fazl’s words come just as California Congressman Brad Sherman’s letter on the case reached President Zardari, demanding that Faryal be returned to her family.
Several other members of the National Assembly backed Dr Fazl, including members of the minority communities. The attention directed towards the matter by the legislature is important. What is happening to minority community members — especially women, who are doubly vulnerable, needs to be taken up at the national level. Clerics and madrassa leaders, acting against Hindus must be penalised under the law. There must also be a wider effort to alter mindsets, which lead to the harassment of the community and the increasing cases of abduction in the first place. As a result of these and the kidnappings for ransom seen in Balochistan, thousands of Hindus have fled their homes and moved across the border into India.
It is shameful that we cannot keep our minority communities safe. The long delay and the equally long silence from mainstream society on the issue have worsened matters. It is hard to say what will happen next. The tide of hatred and intolerance that has swept across our country is difficult to reverse. But some effort to do so must be made, so that, in time, we can return to a situation in which members of different religious communities are able to coexist.
President’s address
March 18th, 2012
The government has made much of the fact that President Asif Ali Zardari is the first president to address a fifth joint session of parliament, the implication being that the party managed to stay in power for the duration of its term. That, indeed, is cause for some celebration since we have seen time and again that democratically-elected governments have not been allowed to finish their term in office, mostly because of military interventions. That this has not happened this time around, or is likely to be the case, is in itself cause for some hope that perhaps, finally, democracy may be taking root in Pakistan.
As for the contents of the speech itself, there are some points that one would agree with, such as the passage of the Eighteenth and Twentieth Amendments, the constitution of a new National Finance Commission Award, and the passage of legislation on safeguarding the rights of women in society, and, in particular, in the workplace. However, there are many points in the speech which one would disagree with. For instance, the president said that the government had done much on Balochistan and one is not sure if this claim would be received with any degree of credence by many people in the country, even outside the province. The abduction of people from the province — many of whom are later found on roadsides as mutilated corpses — is continuing and instead of tackling this issue with the priority it demands, we are being told that this is the work of some foreign agency.
There was also the claim that the current government has done many things in line with the image of the founder of the country, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and in that regard, we are not sure how much to agree with Mr Zardari. The plight of minorities — the Hindu and the Ahmadi community in particular — is far from good and the state seems to have taken a back seat in ensuring that they live a safe existence, free to practice their faith without fear of harassment (or much worse). Furthermore, the perception that the current government is mired in corruption has in fact been reinforced over time. To that end, one would have to agree to a considerable degree with what the leader of the opposition said in response to the president’s speech: that which country was Mr Zardari talking about in his speech.
Fallen hero
March 18th, 2012
The fight against terrorism and militancy is a hard one and needs the support of the whole country. This is all the more so since we have seen, time and again, that those who do have the courage to fight the militants are left to confront them on their own or are instead targeted. This happened with the many lashkars that were raised to fight the Taliban and also with several law-enforcement officials who have taken the fight to the militants. The tragic death last week of Abul Kalam Khan, the Superintendant of Police (rural), would fall into this category. A young suicide bomber struck his car in Peshawar, killing Khan and injuring four other persons including his guard and driver. Khan has been described by senior police officers as being outstanding in the performance of his duties. Perhaps, this is why he was killed; or, perhaps, he was assassinated simply because he was a security officer. Many personnel wearing uniform have, after all, died at the hands of militants over the past few years.
The suicide attack in Peshawar proves that militants remain active and able to strike at will. If top police officers can be so easily felled, we cannot expect the force to be able to do very much to protect either itself or others. What is obvious is that the policies used so far have failed miserably and we need more innovative ways to deal with extremists. Otherwise there is a real danger that they will win the bitter war that is being fought. The death of a competent and committed police officer makes it a little harder to fight this battle. We need more people like him. We also need to stop the militants by blocking their capacity to recruit more bombers, train them and send them out on their missions. Our lack of success in this is alarming. The cost we have paid for this failure is already huge. We simply cannot afford still more loss of life or the murder of people engaged at some level in the war on terror. Each such death makes the militants a little stronger and a little more confident of their success.