A
Point to Ponder About
By Col. Jafri (Retd)
Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Here is something which MUST
concern us all. Pardon its being a little lengthy
but please read through it all. You (we) owe it
to Pakistan to act now.
“A young Pakistani student belonging to
the Christian faith has posed an interesting question
through a petition in the Lahore High Court. The
question is: Am I, a Pakistani Christian equal
to a fellow citizen who is a Muslim? For those
of the readers who missed the news item reported
by an English daily, this young student belongs
to a low income group, is a practicing Christian
and extremely bright. She has been competing to
get into the King Edwards Medical College but
was beaten on the list by 20 marks by a Muslim
student who got the extra 20 marks for being Hafiz--e-Qur’an.
So, now this young Christian girl has filed a
plea in the Lahore Court declaring that she and
the Muslim student had equal marks but the latter
got the advantage of religion. The young Christian
student claims that “this is discrimination
against religious minority students and a violation
of fundamental rights granted by the Constitution
of Pakistan.”
The petition admitted by the Lahore High Court
demands that either the LHC should rule to abolish
the policy or should declare that a parallel policy
should be made to award twenty additional marks
to religious minority students on the basis of
their religious knowledge. Fifty-ight years after
the creation of the country to ask such a question
through the courts is both tragic and hopeful”.
And here is a great response from an outstanding
young couple (Omar & Fariel):
On December 1, 1955, a young black woman refused
to give up her seat on the bus to a white man.
She was tired and weary from a long day of work,
but no more than you or I after a long day’s
work. She was tired of the treatment she and other
Black people received every day of their lives
in the country they called home.
The rest of the story; Rosa Parks, her arrest
and trial, a 381-day Montgomery bus boycott and
finally, the Supreme Court’s ruling in November
1956 that segregation on transportation is unconstitutional,
is now American history. The ruling came around
180 years after the American Independence and
90 years after the end of the American Civil War;
two pivotal events in the History of Freedom and
Civil Rights.
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 58 years after
the creation of the country, stands at a similar
crossroads; we are posed with the question: “Am
I, a Pakistani Christian, equal to a fellow citizen
who is a Muslim?”
We all know the answer and we also know the answer
that we’d ideally like to give. We ALSO
know the reality that exists. We aren’t
totally ignorant - we read the newspapers, talk
about events - but we practice selective ignorance.
We choose to be silent and lower our eyes when
there is a pressing need to stand up and say something.
I am happy to hear of the filing of this petition.
It is time we took off this cloak of hypocrisy
that we choose to wear at times. We need to ask
many, many questions. Who are we? Where are we?
What does it mean to be a citizen of this country?
What the hell is the Islamic Republic of Pakistan?
Does it even make sense for a country to have
a religion? What happens to the minorities that
live here? Are all citizens of this country equal?
Who is responsible? Where is our Constitution?
Have we even read it?
I happened to take Business Law at LUMS. A very
able person, (one of my favourites) Syed Mansoor
Ali Shah (SMASH) taught us. We read each line
of the Constitution line and then discussed it.
What does the line mean? Why is it there? Could
we have said it in simpler terms? Why are some
of the words used? Try the same thing, and you’ll
wake up with an open mind.
Read the preamble at http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/preamble.html
and more importantly the Fundamental Rights http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part2.ch1.html
.
Of course, my favourite article is the Oath for
members of the Armed Services at http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/schedules/schedule3.html#ArmedForces
Long story short, Rosa Parks died a month ago.
Read her book “Quiet Strength” (Zondervan
Publishing House, 1994). She writes, “Our
mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired
of it. I kept thinking about my mother and my
grandparents, and how strong they were.
“Four decades later I am still uncomfortable
with the credit given to me for starting the bus
boycott. I would like [people] to know I was not
the only person involved. I was just one of many
who fought for freedom.”
The people who left behind their homes, money
and families to walk for days to reach Pakistan
in 1947 (the largest land exodus in history) made
extreme sacrifices. As did those who stood up
to defend the borders (or invade) when their country
asked them to do so. So have hundreds and thousands
of others.
What have we done? Have we made a difference?
Can we justify the way we live our lives? Have
the sacrifices made by our grandparents and parents
been justified?
Stop being scared. Speak up for what you believe
in. Make a difference. Sign a petition. Write
letters. There is a Rosa Parks right here in Pakistan.
Let us stand beside her. - Omar & Fariel
Indeed a great response and an apt advice as well.
Now that the petition is with the HC it is the
right time, in fact, the most appropriate time,
to muster the voice of all likeminded people in
its favour, first in the form of a signature campaign,
writing to the print and electronic media, requesting
for talk shows on various TV channels etc. and
then by staging disciplined and peaceful gathering(s)
in front of the HC on its days of hearing. Let
us do it. We will not be doing any favour to the
minorities or any one else but to our own selves
as ONE nation. We owe it to ourselves and to our
posterity to ensure EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL Citizens
of Pakistan.
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