Pakistan Must Quell the Rising Wave of Intolerance
By Riaz Haq
CA
A spate of incidents targeting various minorities including Christians and Hindus as well as members of the Muslim Shia community have raised serious concerns in Pakistan.
This situation brings back echoes of the events preceding the rise of Nazis in Germany that led to the killing of millions of innocent people including a large number of European Jews. A German pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) wrote a poem at the time lamenting the silence of many in the face of massive atrocities committed by Adolf Hitler.
Here’s how I express my fears about the current crisis of intolerance in Pakistan by paraphrasing what Niemöller said in 1930s:
First they came for Ahmedis, and I did not speak out
-- Because I was not an Ahmedi.
Then they came for the Christians, and I did not speak out
-- Because I was not a Christian.
Then they came for the Hindus, and I did not speak out
-- Because I was not a Hindu.
Then they came for the Shias, and I did not speak out
-- Because I was not a Shia.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
I urge all sane Pakistanis to speak out against all agents of intolerance and work diligently to defeat them before it’s too late.
Please watch a video of a recent TV discussion I participated in on the subject:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rLN6-ZdVLBs
