Muslim cleric claims minorities provoke persecution!

We have posted this video.  Although it is about the persecution of Ahmahdi's, it gives a vivid description of what it is like to be persecuted as a religious minority in Pakistan, and the tactics used by extremists.  It also shows clearly the pervasiveness of religious intolerance and bigotry across Pakistani society that we have just posted about here.  Reports come from many areas of Pakistan.  Many of the victims interviews concern the realm of education, an area where anti-minority persecution and slander is rife both among students and staff, as well as in text books and teaching, as major reports have demonstrated.  In addition, because of Pakistan's notorious Section 298 laws against Ahmadhi religious freedom, several of the interviews have had to be censored.

Some horrific highlights (or rather low-lights) include the arrest of a 5 year old on charges of blasphemy, the murder of a teacher convert to the Ahmahdi faith in front of his primary school students, after Islamic clerics came to the village with gunman and publicly announced that it was OK in Islam to rape Ahmahdi women and steal Ahmahdi property (around the 14 minutes mark), and Ahmahdi students receiving death threats for not converting, a case where , on finding out that a girl is Ahmahdi, a 'friend' tells other students that they can be killed as an infidel (around the 22 minute mark)

It shows the systematic way Islamic extremists target minorities -  sending out leaflets with the names of Ahmahdi business and shops so that they can be boycotted and attacked.  In addition, Ahmahdi's in prison on false blasphemy charges are discriminated against by staff not taking away their dishes to wash them on the grounds that the dishes are impure and defiled because they have been touched by 'infidels', a motif also featured in persecution of Christians, including, of course, the persecution of Asia Bibi.  Towards the end of the video (around the 20 minute mark) we see the sensitivites - where the editor of an Ahmadhi newspaper explains why they never sell to people outside the Ahmahdi community, to avoid being accused of 'proselytising Muslims'.  Even without doing this, they are the target of extremists.

At the very end, the fear and helplessness of minorities is clearly shown, and the pervasiveness of intolerance, when an Ahmahdi female victim says she works to help her students protect themselves because no matter how good or close their apparent friends may be, they will do nothing to help if a blasphemy charge is brought.

Perhaps most outrageous in a way is the comments of a Mullah at around the 12 minute mark, where he claims - despite so many victims of blasphemy laws being Muslim, women, the elderly, that Christian and Ahmahdi young men deliberately commit blasphemous acts to gain access to the West - he claims it is a tactic so that when the Mullah's and authorities file an FIR against them, the victims then go to Western embassies with the FIR and claim persecution to gain asylum.  TYPICAL!.  We have seen this pattern over and over from extremist clerics and rabble rousers - provoke attacks and then blame the victim.

Pakistan's public pattern of persecution

The US Department of State recently released a report, saying that the Pakistani ' government demonstrated a trend towards deterioration in respect for and protection of the right to religious freedom,' and that 'some government practices limited freedom of religion, particularly for religious minorities'.  It also noted that the government rarely prosecuted those who perpetrated acts of violence against opponents of the blasphemy laws or victims of extremist religious aggression and was inadequate in safeguarding the rights of minorities and freedom of religion.  This has lead to a climate of impunity, something the BPCA has commented on several times before.  Some minority members are also abused and tortured by law enforcement officials in jail.  In short, societal intolerance and violence and against minorities and Muslims promoting tolerance is increasing, leading to human rights and activists and minority members increasingly fearful to speak out.

For more, read here

Societal intolerance as the root of horrific persecution in Pakistan is the subject of another article by a Pakistani in the West, primarily focusing on the Ahmadhi community.  The author says that the real blame, contrary to usual assumption, is not a weak state, but that 'much of Pakistani society refuses to extend religious freedom for others even as they themselves seek its benefits abroad' and goes on to contrast the treatment of Muslim minorities in the West with the situation in Pakistan.  It notes that surveys have shown that the vast majority - three quarters - of Pakistani's wish to see the death penalty enforced for those who leave Islam.  He cites the hypocrisy over the protests againts burqa bans, or decisions against building mosques at certain sites in the West, with the reaction to religious freedom issues 'back home'.

The article asks some very good questions - ones the BPCA would wholeheartedly agree with :

If one is so confident that his or her creed or sect is the only authentic one, then why fear competition from other sects or religions. Why impose artificial barriers to the free exercise of religion such as the blasphemy law in the hope of monopolising the market for religion.

It ends by stating something that should be obvious :

'... the focal point of change should not be the Pakistani state. Tweaking laws and pressuring the government will only take you so far until mass appeal, whether through religion, law, morality or reason, can be made to arrest these prevalent social norms that power such hypocritical behavior.'

The BPCA would only note that for that to happen, the most powerful tool Christians have to bring that about is not lobbying or raising awareness, but persistent, faith-filled prayer.

To read more, the article is http://dawn.com/2012/08/07/the-two-faces-of-religious-persecution-in-pakistan/

For a couple of examples of the persecution against Ahmadi's to illustrate what goes on, read here (Police demolish Ahmahdi minarets) and here (Ahmahdi assistant director of Pakistan's state bank gunned down).