He further continued, speaking on the recent Supreme Court ruling on electoral bonds wherein the electoral bonds were declared as unconstitutional, “It is particularly important in a pre-electoral context to ensure an open space that respects the meaningful participation of everyone. I welcome the Supreme Court’s decision last month on campaign finance schemes, upholding the right to information and transparency.”

The Indian government has in turn called the concerns raised over India’s electoral process are “unwarranted.” In response, while addressing the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Arindam Bagchi said “We thank the High Commissioner for his global update. We have noted his comments about our forthcoming general elections. However, his concerns in this regard are unwarranted and do not reflect the reality of the largest democracy in the world. We have no doubt that as in numerous occasions in the past, the Indian people will freely exercise their vote to choose a government that they believe can best give voice and flight to their aspirations.”

The latter response by the Indian government is being hailed in several sections of the Indian media as a strong and bold response by the government.

On February 8, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that the BJP led Indian government  is deploying the use of ‘abusive’ foreign funding laws in the country and making unfounded financial investigations, and using various tactics to conduct unjustified targeting of civil society organisations. In the statement the HRW argues that there has been an arbitrary application of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) against non-profit entities which is ‘politically motivated’. The statement argues that such instances and abuse of laws can undermine India’s democracy.

Related:

 Subversion of Parliamentary Democracy: Concerned Citizens Groups release a “charge sheet” against the government of India

“Mockery of democracy”: Supreme Court on Chandigarh Mayoral Election misconduct

Unveiling hidden divides: caste, gender and the myth of Indian growth 

The post UN High Commissioner of Human Rights raises concerns about minorities in India, government calls them ‘unwarranted’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

1. Location: Patna, Bihar

Date: October 29

A hate speech targeting the Muslim community was delivered by Hindu supremacist monk Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati at an event in Patna. In his speech, he demonized the Muslim community and justified the use of violence against Indian Muslims while using disinformation from the Israeli-Hamas war. In addition to this, he weaponised violence against women to create fear in the mind of his target Hindu audience and raised calls for taking up arms against Muslims.

Extracts from the speech:

“How many people want a similar situation for us where, just like in Israel, these thieves chopped off the heads of small children and play football with it? How many people want these wild thieves want these to rape their daughters and their sisters, kill them and rape their dead bodies? How many people want these people to kill us and eat our hearts? None of us want this. This is why we have to be ready to fight and stand up against these people.”

“For the number of sons we have, we should have more number of weapons ready for them. We have to ensure that our sons are ready for the day these wild animals reach our home. We have to start preparing from now only as this is a long fight. It is your duty to ensure that the day these jihadis reach your house, no one should be left alive.”

“The threat that looms over Sanatam Dharam today is unprecedented.”

“Today, the whole world is ready to fight them. What are we Hindus doing? All of us are siting today hoping that a minister will do some magic trick and save us.”

“Today, India is on the verge being controlled by these jihadis. And, to reach this situation, it is not only the fault of these jihadis as they are just doing what they are taught in their books, we are also at fault. We have gone crazy licking the boots of the ministers. We do not have any ministers of any religious gurus who are willing to fight against these jihadis. We have to fight on our own to save our homes, our daughters, our temples and our religion.”

“If our population keeps on decreasing like this, then in 2029 itself, a Muslim will become the Prime Minister of India. They are also taking over our lands and our temples.”

The video can be accessed here:

Location: Patna, Bihar
Date: October 29

Hindu supremacist monk Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati delivers hate speech, demonizing and justifying the use of violence against Indian Muslims while using disinformation from the Israeli-Hamas war. pic.twitter.com/LLP0Af8p34

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) October 31, 2023

At a separate venue, in the state of Patna, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati delivered another hate speech. In line with the problematic claims made by Yati Narsinghanand in the previous speech, he peddled unsubstantiated conspiracies related to the Israel-Hamas-Palestine conflict to give fire to the anti-Muslim sentiments prevalent in India. He raised calls for violence against Muslims and also spread conspiracy theories using the bogey of ‘Love-Jihad’.

Extracts from the speech:

“Love-jihad is nothing but jihad itself. Jihad takes place every second of every day. Prophet Mohammad has said that even if Jihad is not taking place, it should be on the mind of a Muslim all the time.”

“These thieves do not have any strength of their own, they are only pretending to have power due to our helplessness.”

“If you want to continue living and wish to stay alive, you will have to start preparing for a fight.”

“When these people were killing and raping innocents in Israel, the demons related to them who have spread out through the world started bursting crackers and celebrating it. But the Jews did not let this slide by. All the Jews stood up against these wild animals and took up arms. They responded to their attack on such a massive scale that all these wild animals started crying.”

“We pick up our newspapers and read about our army dying on the borders on a daily basis but we do nothing about it because we are all cowards and impotent. We need to return to our Sanatana Dharama and take action again.”

The video can be accessed here:

Location: Patna, Bihar
Date: October 29

Islamophobic monk Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati delivers an extremely hateful speech against Muslims and Islam. pic.twitter.com/yuGjlZycVS

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) November 1, 2023

2. Location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

Date: October 29, 2023

Harishankar Jain, the President of the Hindu Front for Justice, delivered a hate speech targeting Muslim places of worship and made unsubstantiated claims of temples being captured by the Muslim community in India.

Extracts from the speech:

“We have taken a resolution that we need to free the birth place of Lord Krishna and destroy that symbol of slavery. The common people of India cannot bear with that symbol of slavery for much longer.”

“I went to Goshala recently. I was surprised at the Hindus living there as they were living at a place that removed a 1000 years old temple. It became a mosque after that and Muslims used to offer Namaz there every Friday. I filed a petition on the same at the High Court which had been admitted.”

“There is a Laxman fort here. People have been referring to it as the fort with the mosque. I had filed a case against the same in the year 2013. It is the duty of every individual in Lucknow to get the Laxman fort free from every mosque.”

“It is own our choice to verify who we are going to buy vegetables from and who is our barber. We need to read the names before going to the shops. We can’t rely on Modi ji and Yogi ji for everything, we have to do this ourselves.”

The video can be accessed here:

Location: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
October: 29

Harishankar Jain, the President of the Hindu Front for Justice, delivers hate speech targeting Muslim places of worship. pic.twitter.com/RN3JNNkdgg

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) October 31, 2023

3. Location: Khagaria, Bihar

Date- Video uploaded on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) on November 1, 2023

Pankaj Singh, leader of the extremist organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad, delivered a hate speech targeting the Muslim community and making misleading statements on Muslims entrapping Hindu women with the aim of promoting enmity towards Muslims.

Extracts from the speech:

“A very big syndicate is being operated in India through which Muslim men are entrapping Hindu women. They trap these women in Love and keep thinking that their ‘Abdul’ or ‘Salim’ will not be the same as they others. One day, knowing that their families will not allow them to marry a Muslim, the Hindu woman take their clothes and run away with the Muslim man. These women then convert to Islam and then marry them. These men then stay with the woman for 1 or 2 years and then move on to entrapping other Hindu women.”

“They have fixed rates for converting Hindu women based on their castes. The Masjid committee in their district will give them the promised money. After getting the money, they sell them at a red-light area or in some other country. In some cases, if they don’t sell the girl, they end up killing them and discarding them in suitcases. Since many years, our Hindu girls are becoming victims of Love-Jihad.”

The video can be accessed here:

Location: Khagaria, Bihar

Vishwa Hindu Parishad Pankaj Singh delivers hate speech promoting enmity towards Muslims. pic.twitter.com/FJhienN5nR

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) November 1, 2023

Related:

Hate speech surges across the country as right wing organisations hold events where speakers target India’s religious minorities

Hindutva’s “rice-bag” controversy

EC issues show-cause notice to Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma for “communal” speech

Attempts to give communal turn to blasts in Kerala unsuccessful, 3 cases filed by Kerala Police, CM Vijayan urges restraint & unity

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Tension mounted in the holy town of Kashi-Varanasi, also the electoral constituency of prime minister Narendra Modi as a reported attack on a Church in the centre of town at Godhaliya was mounted. Questionable and provocative facebook posts clearly identify the mobilisation and planning behind the attack. These photographs uploaded on Rakesh Chhetri’s Facebook post are self revelatory. (See FB Posts Below). Facebook became the playground for vicious sentiments. It is to be seen whether this vast social media platform acts against this hate mongering or whether the Adityanath administration acts to tell Facebook to act.

Pravin Dubey Hindu gloated, ” Priest of the Godaulia Church, today the Hindu Yuva Shakti made you Flee.”

गांधी 150वी जयंती के दिन माहौल खराब करने की कोशिश
                 
अमन पसंद लोग जहा एक तरफ बनारस मे महात्मा गांधी की 150वी जयंती माना रहे थे वही सांप्रदायिक शक्तिया अपना काम कर रही थी । बनारस मे गोदोलिया मे स्थित  एक पुराने चर्च के अंदर तोड़ फोड़ कर रहे थे । चर्च के फादर से बदसलूकी व हिंसा इसलिए हिंदुवादी संगठन के लोग कर रहे थे क्यूकि ये अफवाह थी की धर्मपरिवर्तन क काम चर्च मे हो रहा था ।  

Meanwhile aajexpress has carried this Video acompanied by this report:

वाराणसी। जहां एक और तमाम धर्म गुरु जाति-धर्म से ऊपर उठ कर आपसी भाईचारे के साथ रहने के लिए लोगों को प्रेरित कर रहे हैं, वहीं पीएम नरेंद्र मोदी के संसदीय क्षेत्र काशी में मंगलवार को युवक और युवती को फुसलाकर धर्म परिवर्तन करने के लिए करने के लिए डाइवर्ट किए जाने मामला सामने आया।

शहर केएक चर्च में पांडेयपुर निवासी युवक को बहला-फुसलाकर धर्म परिवर्तन कराने का प्रयास किया गया। जब युवक ने इस बात की जानकारी अपने घर वालों को दी मौके पर उसके परिजन और हिंदू संगठन से जुड़े कुछ लोग पहुंचे। सारा मामला जानने के बाद लोगों ने चर्च के बाहर जमकर हंगामा किया। मामले की सूचना पाकर मौके पर पहुंची पुलिस ने किसी प्रकार लोगों को समझा-बुझा कर शांत कराया।

इस बीच पता चला कि दो दिन पहले दो युवतियों को भी माइंड वास कर धर्म परिवर्तन कराया गया है। धर्म परिवर्तन कराने के एवज में युवाओं को पैसे की लालच भी दी जा रही है। हालांकि इस मामले पर पुलिस अधिकारी फिलहाल कुछ भी करने को तैयार नहीं है। पांडेयपुर निवासी युवक घर पर झगड़ा होने के बाद गिरजाघर चौराहे पर एक चाय की दुकान पर बैठा था। युवक ने बताया कि इस दौरान उसके पास एक व्यक्ति आया और उससे बातचीत करने के बाद धर्म परिवर्तन करने की बात कही। धर्म परिवर्तन के एवज में उसे 20 हजार नकद और अच्छी जिंदगी जीने की सलाह दी। युवक ने जब इस बात की जानकारी अपने परिजनों को दी तो उसके परिवार के साथ अन्य लोग वहां पहुंचे।
युवक को धर्म परिवर्तन करने के लिए प्रेरित करने वाला व्यक्ति वहां से चला गया। मामले की जानकारी लेने के बाद लोग वही हंगामा करने लगे। इस मामले में स्थानीय पुलिस का कहना है कि शाम 6:00 बजे तक थाने पर तहरीर नहीं दी गई थी। यदि कोई मुकदमा दर्ज कराता है तो करवाई की जाएगी।
AAJExpress claims that similar attacks have taken place at Azamgarh and Jaunpur too.

जौनपुर, आजमगढ़ में भी इस तरह का मामला आ चुका है सामने
प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी के संसदीय क्षेत्र काशी में इस तरह का मामला सामने आने से पहले सूबे के जौनपुर और आजमगढ़ जिले में इस तरह का मामला सामने आ चुका है। आजमगढ़ वाले प्रकरण में जांच अभी जारी है जबकि जौनपुर वाले मामले में एक थानेदार को थाना प्रभारी के पद से लापरवाही बरतने पर हटा दिया गया था।

Here is another:

The threatening language and violence behind these posts is brazen.

The post Communal Tension in Varanasi as Hindu Extremists allegedly attack Church appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The killings of Muslims are no news. Scores have been killed before. In most cases, these pogroms against Muslims happened under the watch of the Congress party. In some instances, these riots were not a result of Hindu Muslim clashes; rather Muslims were targeted and killed by the police. The state, acting on majoritarian impulse is nothing new for Muslims. We know that riots are mostly engineered but till today, we have not seen that either the police or the political players who orchestrated those riots have been brought to book. Impunity granted to murderous thugs has a deep genealogy. Forgetting this genealogy is just lazy analysis.

The anti-Muslim pogroms of yesterday have today transformed into anti-Muslim lynching. The result is the same yet the method is certainly novel and pernicious. Lynching is a public spectacle; it is orchestrated to be consumed. It is designed to show members of particular minorities their proper position in the social hierarchy. The lynching of Muslims follows a disturbingly similar pattern: the act is unfailingly recorded on video and then distributed. The act of lynching and the act of archiving and distribution must happen together for it to be effective. The purpose of lynching is therefore to tell the hard-line Hindu public that Muslims have been shown their place. Whether Muslims transgress any boundaries is incidental to this spectacle. The message is to show that a minority can live only at the mercy of the majority. Even those who are opposed to this act are forced to consume these images through the media and unwillingly become complicit in participating in a debate whose terms have already been set. Sanctimonious condemnation is an exercise in futility; the real purpose has been achieved. The majority comes to believe that Muslims have been shown their true place while Muslims, internalizing the humiliation, get the message that they have to tread very carefully. If the image of one lynched Muslim can have the desired effect, why waste huge logistics in organizing riots? If the spectacle can be enacted on a regular basis say every two months, you already have an audience predisposed towards its consumption. Much like the televised episodic beheadings committed by the ISIS, we are witness to a new mediated dawn where the ritual of murdering a Muslim has acquired a banality about it.
What is also new is our response to this murderous spectacle. The opposition to this act of pure evil has been lame. While we are celebrating the famous hug as an act of inclusiveness, let us not forget that hardly anything was said specifically on Muslims being lynched almost on a periodic basis. True, the exclusionary vision of the current ruling dispensation was referred to, but when in question is the very survival of Muslims, not dwelling on the problem specifically only tells us that the principal opposition of the country is shying away from the problem. After all, for a party which is trying its best to shed its pro-Muslim image, anything remotely connected with this group of people should not be spoken of. There is a reason why the new messiah of secularism very consciously did not campaign in Muslim areas of Gujarat. Even when he decided to meet groups of Muslims recently, he was generally very coy about the contents of the exchange. In a time when Muslims are being killed for being Muslims, general statements like the Congress party stands with all marginalised sections is an admission that the party is not serious about positing an alternative. 

The Congress might have its compulsions but what about the others. The left in particular have their own cadre and in some parts of the country it is still substantial despite electoral setbacks. Why is it that we do not see a counter mobilization against lynching of Muslims from the left parties? Or is it that they have also decided not to be seen as pro-Muslim? Sumanta Banerjee, one of the leading historians of left movement in India, in a recent interview recounted that during the Ram Mandir movement, he asked the general secretary of one of the communist parties as to why he doesn’t rally his cadres and give a counter call to save the mosque at Ayodhya? To his horror, the general secretary told him that he was unsure if his own cadres will listen to him and go against the call of their religion. So we have a general secretary of a communist party who is deciding his strategy based on sentiments of the people when it comes to Muslims. Is something similar happening in today’s times? After all, why is it that there is all round silence over lynching of Muslims within different communist parties? If they can successfully mobilise peasants why is it that they cannot organise a national rally against lynching? And if they don’t speak up now, when will they?

Even the intellectual intervention which has come from the left has been patronising. During the JNU crisis a couple of years ago, when students were accused of sedition, one leftist professor wrote a column in which he proclaimed one of accused, a Muslim student, as his son. That perhaps is the defining relationship between the left and Muslims: a patronising, patriarchal, unequal relationship characterised by absolute asymmetry of power. Like the accused student, Muslims as a community are to be infantilized. And of course, children do not speak, parents speak for them. Like the accused, the community cannot have a voice, cannot have an agenda of its own. They have to be told how to speak and what should be their agenda. Under the loving patriarchal gaze of this upper caste professor, Muslims can never be friends because friendship presupposes equality and that is very hard to concede indeed.

Muslims are in an unprecedented situation today. There is so much Muslim talk these days but then there is no Muslim voice. Muslims are either spoken about or spoken over. The only Muslims who get a chance to speak are the sponsored ones: made for TV mullahs. They speak on an agenda which is pre-configured to otherise and demonise Muslims. If this cacophony of silence needs to be broken, it must be done by Muslims themselves. There is no need to wait for others to speak up. True this loneliness is killing, but silence around the issue will only allow this loneliness to rip apart our very souls.  

Arshad Alam is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com

Courtesy: NewAgeIslam.com
 

The post The Unprecedented Loneliness of Indian Muslims appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Kashmir is a tinderbox now. Areas like Charar-e-Sharief and Khansahib assembly segments in Budgam used to witness 70% plus polling and during 2011 Panchayat elections, the turnout was 80 to 90% in Budgam district.

What is the reason for this huge shift? Why 99% people  in Budgam district which is part of Srinagar Lok Sabha seat have boycotted the recent elections? Why was there so much of violence? Different people have different reasons for this massive election boycott and subsequent violence, but I view all this development in a different  perspective.

The rise of BJP–RSS lead Hindutva forces across India and subsequent riots , murders & torture of Indian minorities especially  Muslims has added fuel to  anti India sentiments among Kashmiri youth. The 5 month long 2016 summer agitation is also linked to it. Dozens of provocative videos depicting atrocities on Indian Muslims have become viral on social media from last few years. Almost 90% of Kashmiri youth who own smart-phones  have these videos in their cell phones and this has made them believe that India is no more a secular country and BJP –RSS combine are posing a direct threat not only to Indian Muslims but they are a threat to Kashmir as well. The increased incidents of stone pelting from last few years in Kashmir can be related to growing activities of rightwing Hindu extremists across India.
 
Tagores’s My Heaven:

12-year-old Faizan Ahmed Dar, a Seventh Standard student was shot dead on April 8 by security forces on poll duty in Dalwan village of Badgaon district in Central Kashmir. Photo credit: Greater Kashmir.

Famous Bengali poet Ravindra Nath Tagore who was awarded Noble prize for his book Gitanjali has around 157 poems. One of the poem  is titled “My Heaven”.  More than 100 years back Tagore prays to God that the people of his country (India) should be fearless and society should not be divided in the name of caste, language and religion.

Faizan Ahmed Dar, the 12-year-old boy from Dalwan had been taught the same poem in his local school. In neat handwriting this little boy answers the question written with red pen: “What does Tagore wish for India and Indians”?  Faizan pens down the answer in blue pen: “He wished people of free India should be fearless, proud of their culture and loving”.

While writing this answer Faizan would have never ever thought that he would become a victim of violence which is someway related to  growing religious intolerance across India that has a direct effect not only in Alwar, Muzaffar Nagar or Dadri but in the remote Dalwan village of Kashmir as well. India has once again been divided in the name of religion.

The way 55-year-old Pehlu Khan from Rajathan was murdered by cow vigilantes is a blot on Indian democracy. Irony is that local BJP leader and MLA who was on a TV show, didn’t have words to say sorry to Pelhu’s son’s. Similarly, a communal BJP leader Adityanath Yogi who is known for his anti-Muslim stand was appointed Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

How can we expect peace and calm in this whole scenario?  Pertinently Pehlu Khan had not purchased two cows for slaughtering them but he wanted to have their milk, but nobody listened to him; reason was his religion.

Conclusion:  
How can we call it a democracy when people are asked to vote under the shadow of gun?  While I am writing this piece I see at least 300  military personnel outside my house to guard a small polling station with 2 rooms. This polling station is among 38 polling booths where re-election for Srinagar parliamentary seat is being held by Election Commission of India (ECI). It was so shocking to see CRPF personnel’s being kicked out in some village during recent elections. Why shall these poor people become victims of state’s  high headedness? 

Our youth are becoming more and more violent day by day and Indian state instead of listening to them will continue to use force on them. Why is BJP lead government  pushing our youth towards militancy?  People of Kashmir need peace and resolution of their political problem. It cannot be achieved by holding elections or use of force but through a meaningful dialogue which is unfortunately not happening. BJP and its offshoots should stop harassing Muslims, Dalits and other minorities across India.

Indian leadership has been portraying past Assembly and panchayat elections  as a referendum  in their favour. Now there has been only 7 % voting in recent  by-election in 3 districts of Srinagar, Budgam and Ganderbal, will  BJP, Congress and other Indian mainstream political parties have a courage to call this complete election boycott a referendum?  It is the time when New Delhi must stop acting like an ostrich.

Courtesy: Greater Kashmir.

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The nativity scene, organised and prepared by Christians in Peshawar just before Christmas. A.Khan, Author provided

I met Naz, in her 40s, and a nursing teacher with a Masters degree in Public Health, at the All Saints Church in the heart of Peshawar’s old city. She sounded optimistic despite the last days of 2016 bringing more turmoil in Pakistan for Christians.

Christmas messages were received with death threats and a Christian man was arrested on December 30 for allegedly desecrating the Koran. He currently faces the death penalty.

I could feel this tense atmosphere as I approached the All Saints Church on Christmas Day. The 19th-century building of Islamic Saracenic style reflecting in the brilliantly sunny day outside.

The dome of Indo-Saracenic style All Saints Church, Peshawar. A.Khan, Author provided

As I entered the the church’s hall, the faithful were taking seats in anticipation of the Christmas mass. I had to come in through heavy security. The street where the church stands was blocked at both ends by sand barriers and guarded by security personal. On 22 September 2013, a twin suicide bomb attack during a Sunday mass at the church killed 127 people.

I asked Naz how the Christmas of her childhood differed from now. She recounted memories of her childhood and her sister’s: the letter to Santa, her mother and father who used to make their life loving and rich, and the moral values of love and peace Christmas used to bring. Naz lost her mother in the 2013 bombing.

A little later, as I sat in the church, I met Shafi Maseeh, 75, who also lost his son in the same terror attack. He had little to say. Shafi is the real prototype of a Christian in Pakistan. A janitor by trade, he had no good memories to share of anything.

Most Christians I talked to felt a loss of identity, isolation and a deep sense of alienation. There was no nostalgia for the past, nor any enthusiasm for the present.

Pakistan is roughly 1.6% Christian. A.Khan, Author provided

In the All Saints Church, I was not alone at the Christmas ceremony. The local media had come too. Father Patrick Naeem was happy to see them and thanked the government, the media and the chief of the Pakistani army, while also asking journalists to respect the parishioners as they took photos of the ceremony.

One reporter asked me what I was doing there. When I told her I was going to do a story on Christmas and would like to interview her too she angrily replied, “I am not a Christian, do I look like one?” I was shocked for a moment. “There is nothing wrong with being a Christian,” I said.

Another reporter warned me as I was leaving the place: “Be careful, liberals are on the hitlist.” I just kept quiet.
 

Pakistan’s Christian minority

There is no definitive figure, but Christians make up roughly 1.6% of the population of Pakistan, as many as Hindus, according to the latest official statistics.

Christians mostly converted from Hinduism to escape the caste-dominated Indian society before the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. But changing religion didn’t help: the roots of discrimination based on caste run deep in both Indian and Pakistani society.

The Christmas ceremony is an event on its own as media gathered to film. A. Khan

The plight of Christians has persisted for decades, but there has also been a rise of hatred against Christians since the late 1980s, when the dictator Zia ul Haq introduced Pakistan’s blasphemy law, particularly used to persecute Christians.

A double oppression

Pakistani society is still marred by racism and questions of caste, even among Muslims, despite the Qur’an setting out radical equality for all.

Across South Asia, Muslims remain divided up by various hierarchical systems. This long trail of caste-related injustice goes back to the beginnings of subcontinental societies and seems impervious to the intrusion of other sources of identity such as the nation state or religion.

So the Christian community reels under a double oppression of racism, based on the low castes many Christians come from, and religious intolerance towards their belief system.

But even among minorities, Christians are particularly singled out, for a number of reasons. They are visible: they live mostly in urban areas and are often employed in low-wage jobs. They are also the poorest of the community.

In December 2015, the Capital Development Authority of Islamabad submitted a report suggesting that the Christian “ugly slums” of the capital be destroyed to keep the city clean. The CDA, in this unprecedentedly stupid move (“their Trump Moment” as the English daily Dawn put it), argued that the campaign of destruction would preserve Islamabad’s aesthetics and maintain its Muslim-majority demographic balance.

The proposal was rightly contested by political parties, activists, and NGOs and thwarted by the Supreme Court, but it was a worrying sign of just how poorly Christians are thought of by the Pakistani elite.

The street outside All Saints Church. Poor Christians live in this quarter of the city A.Khan, Author provided

Adding insult to injury, Christians in Pakistan are also seen as representatives of the US and other Western powers who are often held to be responsible for the plight of Muslims around the globe.
 

Christianity in politics

The plight of Christians is linked to the political foundation of Pakistan and the much criticised Two Nation Theory which became the basis of Partition in 1947. Partition aimed to create a state for Hindus (India) and one for Muslims (Pakistan).

Christians are historically considered to have positively contributed to Pakistani statehood, thus helping the development of the Pakistani society, but today they, along with other non-Muslims, are forbidden from holding high office.
The Christian vote in Pakistan is around 1.3 million, second to the Hindu vote, which is around 1.5 million. While the Hindu vote is mostly concentrated in the Sindh and Punjab regions, Christian voters are more scattered. Since the minority vote is restricted to a few electorates, political parties are not generally interested in serving them, though there is a lot of lip service to minority issues.

Minority representatives protest the problem of segregation from mainstream politics. There is no doubt that the electoral system adds to the problems of already frustrated minority communities in Pakistan. Minorities don’t have the right to place their own candidates in elections. They can vote for any Muslim candidate in their constituency from within the general seats, and they also have the right to vote for a minority candidate, but they don’t have the right to choose these. They are instead given minority seats for which tickets are allotted by mainstream political parties.
 

Fractured communities

While talking to various Christians, I observed very little sense of community. All identity revolves around the personal and in Pakistan, that is steeped into the psychology of status.

Christians in Pakistan are faced with both victim-blaming from without and the self-loathing it generates within the individual.

Continuous repression as a community within social and political life in Pakistan has led some to blame themselves for their problems. Self-incrimination, a shallow sense of belonging to the mainstream and the loss of the social self were often apparent in my conversations for this article.

“Our people are not serious about their studies; they don’t save money,” a priest who works as a waiter at my university’s student accommodation told me. “I do save, though I am usually in debt, while keeping my needs to the minimum.” When I asked if it is because of the loss of hope that some Christians struggle in school and work, he replied, “No, I have made it from a janitor to a waiter. My boys are going to school. Isn’t it an environment conducive to success?”

An old man prays at the All Saints Church, December 25. A.Khan, Author provided
 

Living with contradiction

Christians are often the recipient of local charities. “Yes, we like them, because they grew up with us,” a high-level political activist in Peshawar told me. “They clean our homes and we give them our used clothes, and also food. They are good people. We also offer them gifts on Christmas. We just did this year, too.” The activist was also a trader in the market in front of the All Saints Church.

Christians often feel the same way. “The political parties don’t care for us,” the priest at Peshawar University said. “Some politicians do, though. They offer us gifts on Christmas. I also got my package. They change the carpets of our church every now and then. This is good.”
In the present environment of hopelessness and fear, the only option left for Christians is to learn to live with Pakistan’s deep contradictions – discrimination from the state, but charity from politicians.

Centuries of continuous repression have left many without any sense of identity within their home country. Many Christians here just want to breathe – being able to truly live is a distant dream.

Altaf Khan is Professor, University of Peshawar

Courtesy: The Conversation

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Eminent economist and researcher Dr Abul Barkat says that there will be no Hindus left in the country three decades from now.

Dr Abul Barkat
 

“The rate of exodus over the past 49 years points to that direction,” the Dhaka University teacher says in his book Political economy of reforming agriculture-land-water bodies in Bangladesh published yesterday.

From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious persecution and discrimination, he said. It means on an average 632 Hindus left the country each day and 230,612 annually.

From his 30-year-long research, Barkat found that the exodus mostly took place during military governments after independence.

Before the Liberation War, the daily rate of migration was 705 while it was 512 during 1971-1981 and 438 during 1981-1991. The number increased to 767 persons each day during 1991-2001 while around 774 persons left the country during 2001-2012, the book says.

DU teacher Prof Ajoy Roy said the government grabbed the properties of the Hindus during the Pakistan regime describing them as enemy property and the same properties were taken by the government after independence as vested property.

According to the book, these two measures made 60% of the Hindus landless.

Retired Justice Kazi Ebadul Haque said the minorities and the poor were deprived of their land rights. For example, when a shoal rises in a river the local leaders register them in the name of poor people, but the same leaders file a case and take the land under the possessions showing the court’s stay order.

The deprived people remain deprived, he said, adding that the land management system should be reformed.

Dhaka University teacher Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed said that the government has to ensure that the indigenous people would not be affected or harmed. “The government must ensure that the people do not think about leaving the country for once.”

No accurate estimation of indigenous people

Discussing on a separate book of Prof Barkat Political Economy of Unpeopling of Indigenous People: The case of Bangladesh published yesterday, former NHRC chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman said that there was no accurate estimation of the indigenous peoples living in the country.

He mentioned that at least 22 indigenous groups had disappeared from the country.

Prof Mizanur also urged Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma alias Santu Larma to inform the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts about the 1997 Peace Accord.

In his speech, Bangladesh Adivasi Forum President Santu Larma agreed that the implementation of the Peace Accord was not the only solution to the crises in the CHT region.

He added that the current stance of the ruling party would not solve the disputes through different reform programmes, rather they want to hinder the process. “We need a people-oriented government. But the reality of state mechanism does not allow this to happen.”

Santu Larma, also chairman of the CHT Regional Council, claimed that over 50 indigenous groups were on the verge of extinction, but they want to live with dignity with the remaining indigenous groups.

Prof Ajoy Roy observed that in his book Prof Barkat had used the word adivasi even the government does not recognise them as indigenous peoples.

Prof Barkat dedicated the book to his childhood friends who belonged to “Buno” indigenous group, but now remain traceless, Prof Ajoy Roy said, adding that he too had met the group in a small forest in Faridpur.

“I have not heard about them since long … May be they were forced to leave the place by the land grabbers and have gone to India and took a different name.”

Prof Mizanur said although the prime minister had taken stance in favour of the indigenous peoples, the ruling party leaders were involved in heinous activities against them.

Addressing the programme as chief guest, Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon urged rights activists to stand by the side of the indigenous peoples.

Republished with permission from Dhaka Monitor.

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