Words Won’t Help Pakistan’s Repressed Minorities

14-03-2022

Kirsten O’Connell

Pakistan and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence

In Pakistan last week, a bill moved by Kesoo Mal Kheeal Das in the National Assembly seeking to replace the word ‘minority’ in Article 36 of the Constitution and it got a nod from the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. “The word ‘minority’ is used four times [in the constitution’ while the world ‘non-Muslim’ is used 15 times, which reflects the intent of the makers of the constitution,” said Das, a Hindu lawmaker that thinks renaming the word minority might be the solution to the increasing intolerance of religious minorities in Pakistan. The proposal has sparked a debate among human rights activists both in Pakistan and abroad. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) executive director Peter Jacob suggested placing the bill on hold because “The term ‘non-Muslim’ will increase the religious divide. It won’t solve any problem. It will be a very dangerous move” said Jacob who suggested they hold discussions to speak on the matter (Chaudhry, 2022). 

A south Asian deputy team leader for the Christian Solidarity Worldwide UK, Cecil Chaudhry said “Minority is a universally defined and declared term. Addressing [them] as non-Muslim in itself not only has religious connotation, which can be detrimental, but also ‘non’ has a negative angle to it”. “Just imagine being called non-Hindus, non-Christians, non-Sikhs, non-Jews, etc. in other countries of the world” said Chaman Lal, a Hindu chairman of the Samaj Sewa Foundation. In Pakistan minority faith groups have continually been targeted. The population of religious minorities has decreased by 0.18 per cent between 1998 and 2017. The fault appear to lie in the writing of the Constitution of Pakistan and the practice adopted later. The traces of prioritizing the majority population or religion can be found in at least 25 articles of the constitution. For instance, Article 41 and Article 91 of the Constitution of Pakistan bar non-Muslim minorities from being elected as president or prime minister (Chaudhry, 2022). 

Efforts should be diverted towards amending such articles to restore the confidence of minorities, than renaming existing terms, says Kamran Chaudhry. He says Kesso Mal Kheeal Das would have won hearts if he pleaded to place a ban on misusing words like kaafirs. The frenzied chants of “Kaafir, kaafir, Shia kaafir” meaning infidels, infidels, Shia’s are infidels have been followed by major terrorist attacks, such as the recent March 4 suicide bomb attack during Friday prayers at a Shia imambargah (congregation hall) in the northwestern city of Peshawar. In the word of Maria Thattil, a former Miss Universe Australia, political correctness is a good thing because it helps marginalized groups feel “seen and included”. Thattil further stated "We're talking about languages and practices that make people feel seen, feel included, and if you can make those changes to accommodate people, I think you should” (Chaudhry, 2022).

Sources and further reading: Chaudhry, K. L. (2022, March 7). Playing with words won’t help Pakistan’s repressed minorities. Ucanews.Com. Retrieved March 14, 2022, from https://www.ucanews.com/news/playing-with-words-wont-help-pakistans-repressed-minorities/96365