Source: ET
Part of a disturbing trend in violence against minorities in the country, at least 27 places of worship of religious minorities have been vandalised in the last four years, according to data collected by the Church-run National Commission of Justice and Peace. The NCJP also records incidents of forcefully occupying land meant for worship places or occupying existing places, as well as murders of those involved in building worship places.
This year, three churches in Sindh, one in Mardan and one in Faisalabad were attacked; one Hindu temple was vandalised, one razed in Karachi and another attacked in Peshawar, while minarets of an Ahmadi place of worship were demolished in Kharian, Punjab. The perpetrators in all of these cases were “unidentified men,” except for the Ahmadi worship place, where the minarets were demolished by the Punjab police.
Senior office bearer of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Hussain Naqi blames this increase in violence against minorities on a “mix of absence of good governance, connivance and fear” on the state’s part.
“Only a particular brand of Muslim is considered a citizen with full rights,” says Raza Rumi, director of the Jinnah Institute, a public policy think tank that also focuses on minority rights and discrimination in society. Rumi adds that the problem lies in society’s attitudes toward minorities. “Law enforcement apparatus is also staffed with people of the same society, whose interface with Pakistan’s educational system and the “values”, indoctrinates them with identical prejudices.
Well said Mr Rumi. Now every one knows it is Saudi branded Muslims who enjoy full citizen rights.I would go bit further and shall term the current attitude as inflexible mind set of the Pakistani society. This mind set has infested the whole set up to an extent, any voice raised against minority atrocities aught to face deaf and dumb hearing at each echelon of the society. A complete overhauling of whole society is required if nation has to stay as an acceptable entity on this planet. Even Somalis have realised it and efforts are evolving for reformation in that country also.