Institute of Business and Administration Karachi hosted a virtual seminar in which Atif Mian; a Princeton University economist was supposed to deliver a lecture but he couldn’t make it and not because of any plausible reasons one might think, instead IBA had to cancel his lecture because they got threats from extremist groups. Just a side note; Atif Mian is an Ahmedi in Pakistan which is definitely not an acceptable religious identity even if its 21st century, identity is subjective, economic system is failing and yes, the world is burning. But come on we can’t le t an individual from a minority community participate in a seminar based on an area of studies in which he’s not just highly qualified but achieved numerous awards too.
The level of bigotry, hatred and xenophobia we are carrying today as a nation is burdening us. Our nation is polarized on it’s peak today. Right to life has become a privilege now. All of this seems like a plot of a scary dystopian novel. But we’re afraid to break it to you that it is our reality today whether you see it or not. This hatred is here right in the core of our social orientation and subconsciousness.
Funnily we all know what will happen next, there will be a twitter storm full of fierce tweets in solidarity, some of us would even change our profile picture to black. Then some organization will hold a protest outside any public place. Afterwards some aggressive loathing in the form of memes and comments will occupy your timeline and you will prefer to deactivate your social media because your privilege can’t stand the hatred which by the way is day to day reality of the minority community in Pakistan.
This article is not an analysis or research piece about the persecution of minorities in Pakistan because we don’t want this article to become a part of those numerous research papers and reports by national and international scholars which never made it to the parliament, senate, courts and your Pakistan studies’ book.
But if you’re into figures and number and believe into objective evidence, here something for you
- 70 Ahmadi are killed every year in Pakistan:
- 4,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Shia-Sunni sectarian attacks in Pakistan between 1987–2007.
- 1,000 women in Pakistan are forcibly converted to Islam every year (700 Christian and 300 Hindu).
- 62 Trans women have been murdered in Pakistan Since 2015
So, If you belongs to Shia, Ahmadi, Christian, Hindu, Sikh or any other minority community of Pakistan then sorry, we failed you. Despite our honorable constitution promised you equality for being a citizens under the article 25A and 19A for freedom of speech and expression. We purposely chose prejudice and hatred over the rule of law. But still as they legends say #NotAllPakistani
Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Ahmadis#:~:text=Hundreds%20of%20Ahmadis%20were%20killed,84%20Ahmadis%20by%20suicide%20attack . https://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/database/Shias_killed_Pakistan.htm https://www.them.us/story/trans-women-violence-pakistan https://www.dawn.com ews/1098452 :