Amendment 18 hailed as the start of democracy in Pakistan - is it the final nail in the coffin for Minorities?!
On behalf of Pakistani Christians and other minorities who have been rocked by the Pakistani Government's move to relegate minority concerns to provincial government.
Constitutional Amendment 18 attained Presidential assent on the 19th April 2010 and has been reported as the first time a Pakistani President has willingly agreed to commit their-self to a loss of power. The Amendment removes sweeping powers formerly held by the President that included ability to dissolve Parliament unilaterally.
There were 95 amendments which would be too much to transpose into this short article, so I will concentrate on those that affect minorities in Pakistan. I am no legal expert and I unequivocally state these are my own subjective opinions.
The main concern for our community is the revelation that the Minority Ministry will no longer be of Federal importance and will now be incorporated into Provincial portfolios. They only reference alluding to this devalued status for Minority affairs elucidated through my research, was the amendment to article 12 Pakistan's Constitution:
12.
Amendment of Article 38 of the Constitution:
In the Constitution, in Article 38,-
(i)
in paragraph (e), the word "and" at the end shall be omitted;
(ii)
in paragraph (f), for the full stop at the end a semicolon and the word "; and" shall be added and after paragraph (f) amended as aforesaid, the following new paragraph shall be added, namely:-
"(g)
the shares of the Provinces in all federal services, including autonomous bodies and corporations established by, or under the control of, the Federal Government, shall be secured and any omission in the allocation of the shares of the Provinces in the past shall be rectified."
Devolution has some benefit in that it allows application of local provincial knowledge to Minority issues ensuring that a best fit solution is innovatively created for local concerns. However, most Provincial cabinets already have a local Minority Minister, such as Kamran Michael from the Punjab.
So what real gain is their local minorities? In my opinion none!
I will clarify my particular stance on the issue. Firstly with existing local Minority Ministers in place, I cannot imagine that these officers would be negated from Federal investigations into local Minority issues "on their patch".
Moreover, any local legislature ruling would be declared null and void if it contradicted Federal Law:
50.
Substitution of Article 143 of the Constitution:
In the Constitution, for Article 143, the following shall be substituted, namely:-
"143.
Inconsistency between Federal and Provincial Law:
If any provision of an Act of a Provincial Assembly is repugnant to any provision of an Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) which Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) is competent to enact, then the Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), whether passed before or after the Act of the Provincial Assembly, shall prevail and the Act of the Provincial Assembly shall, to the extent of the repugnancy, be void."
You may wonder how this limits or reduces the quality of life of Pakistani Minorities. Here is an example I thought up...
Just imagine the Punjab Government passed a ruling to introduce a broad based religious education in its schools, this could be overturned by the Federal Ministry on the grounds that it conflicted with the Ministry of Educations ruling that Islamiat (Islamic studies) is taught as a mandatory subject within the holistic curriculum. Although Islamiat would still be included in the more encompassing subject it would be rejected outright. You may say well this would be the overall position by the Government irrespective of a Federal Minister of Minorities. Such a premise may well be true, however we would still have a voice that could challenge for our position and a figure such as former Minority Minister Shahbaz Bhatti - strong enough to defend his position - may well have been able to eke out a concession such as Christian schools being able to teach the more universal subject matter. He got us the 5% quota for Minorities in Government positions after all...
Without that Federal voice I am afraid our forgotten Minorities are to become a lost Minority!
I like to leave things on a good note and with great joy I notice that the Presidential power to veto any sentence passed on a citizen of Pakistan has not been altered within this amendment. As such I call on Christians to continue to call on the President of Pakistan to enact this power and to release Asia Bibi:
45.President's power to grant pardon, etc.
The President shall have power to grant pardon, reprieve and respite, and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.
I felt urged to apologise after I reacted negatively to an email from someone belonging to our Pakistani Christian community. My response was a gut instinct after receiving an email that had been sent to a large group, which undermined the impact of our protest on the 2nd July.
In hindsight I recognise that I was wrong to respond with a similar circular and I have been praying about the matter. Manoj Rathaitha kindly called me twice about the incident and in his understandable rebuke he clearly expressed a need for humility and forbearance, as situations such as this one will arise again.
I will not reprint those emails into the text of this post suffice to say that one individual who attended the protest, felt that including a Baluchistan Freedom movement leader in our guest list was inappropriate. His argument was that our association with Baluchistan campaigners may create a false image that we are looking for secession of an area of Pakistan for Christians or that we support the Baluchistan Freedom movement. He was one speaker of many and I cannot believe that such an assumption could be made by any, considering the contents of our petitions and appeal letters.
Our Balochi Guest was a capable speaker who described his peoples' desire for freedom. However, his main message was a description of the terrible persecution that his people face and the discrimination that has made the province of Balochistan underdeveloped and poverty stricken. This is not dissimilar to the suffering of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan.
His call for international intervention on Humanitarian grounds mirrors our own regular calls for justice for the forgotten minorities of Pakistan. Petitions and letters provided to 10 Downing Street called for reform of the Blasphemy Law, freedom for Asia Bibi and for better use of British foreign aid to Pakistan to lever better performance in Human Rights there.
I am aware of a perceived lack of unity within Pakistani Christians and assure you that the BPCA did their utmost to highlight our protest details through, email distributions, recorded delivery letters to churches and a number of visits to churches in an attempt to galvanise our community. However, unfortunately due to poor linking up Naujavan ( a group that puts on events for young Asian Christians) and Oxford Convention (a large Asian Christian Event) set the same date as our own. By the time we found out it was too late to alter things and this highlights the need for better linking up. The BPCA has created an electronic calendar for this very purpose, however few churches have availed themselves of a tool that could reduce the event clashes we so often see. The calendar is free and I again encourage churches to sign up. Whether disunity or providence caused the lower then expected Pakistani Christian turnout, I can not say. However, I have been encouraged this year by the overt support from Pastors and congregations for the work of the BPCA. Moreover the very fact that we were able to hold a protest between 200 - 300 strong without a large Pakistani Christian presence, illustrates that wider support and concern about the situation in Pakistan exists. I believe this support will grow and I remind our community that we are demographically small in number and need these partnerships to mount pressure on the Government of Pakistan.
God simply must have been involved in this protest as a huge amount of obstacles were overcome. Despite an application to the Police in January and a request to hold this protest in July of last year, the Police were minded to terminate our event due to "Gay Pride" being held on the same day and potential conflict. They discovered the clash with just two weeks to go and this created a real proverbial spanner in the works. They eventually allowed us to hold a shorter protest and two static protests after I revised our risk assessment. However, due to good behaviour and professional conduct on the day the Police allowed us to hold the entire protest assisting in a limited fashion with one Police guide, who enabled us to avoid the Gay Pride event. This meant I had to hurriedly train unskilled young men from Nelson church in how to steward a street procession. By God's grace they did admirably and their humility and diligence provided safety to participants.
A bag piper led the way and a mix of chanting slogans, singing "Amazing Grace" and "Oh when the saints" puzzled local people, who came to enquire and obtain local flyers. I honestly believe, the diversity of our protest group made us a more approachable unit.
The protest was featured in the Jaang Newspaper, Premier Christian Radio, Sunrise Radio, BBC Asian Network and a whole host of Catholic, Protestant and secular blogsites and literature. I will try and upload as much data on the media coverage as possible, however the contributions are various so any list will not be comprehensive due to time constraints.
If anyone was offended by my outburst I again apologise. It can be demoralising when I receive so many grateful thanks from our community, but cannot galvanise a substantial attendance at our protests. However, despite the hurt I must curb my own actions as it will only create alienation and conflict - this would please the devil! A wise lady from Mauritius (our first admin volunteer - who has been proof reading my historic articles over the last month) commented:
"The devil is rejoicing. He is adopting the old British tactic of divide and rule."
These words resonate with truth and it made me realise that we have a spiritual war that is as hard as our carnal war against the injustices of mankind. We must contend in prayer over our campaign.
She further commented:
"Until Christ returns, within the Christian community there will be more hurting than among unbelievers who hurt or attack us. Christians hurt more because we are family. Let's always focus on Christ. The glory is His alone. The grace is His alone. The power to forgive our sins is His alone. If we are called righteous, it's His righteousness that covers us. Our reconciliation to Our Father is His alone.
When there is deep hurting in our midst, run to the Cross and sit there and contemplate the Cross and see where we all sent Him to be crucified. Did only the Romans and the religious Jews slaughter Him? I was there. Every time I deliberately sin and I forget for some minutes what He did for me on that Cross, I later realise I am an accomplice in His death. He is the head of the church and we cannot call our brothers fools because of Him.
When we have been deeply hurt, don't go to those who have hurt us at once, let's calm down, go and sit at the Cross and ask God where we hurt Him and did not glorify Him. He will calm us. He promised His peace that surpasses all intelligence. Then we will know how to response to those who have hurt us."
I was moved by her word and similar messages from brother Manoj. We must make it our daily promise not to fight with one another, nor to react to any perceived act of unkindness. If we do not, we will only undermine our own work and reduce our image before others a folly in itself.
Another comment that was made by our new administrator gave me a new perspective on things. She said;
"Wilson I have observed two things:
1. Group A wants you to work exclusively for the welfare of the Pakistani persecuted church.
2. Group B wants you to work for the welfare of all Pakistani people whose rights are violated.
Both groups are right in their own way.
Wilson, I fully support you. I would choose to be in Group B because I believe when people's rights are violated, they are God's rights that are violated. Did he not make man in His own image?"
Those of you who do not agree with the multi-faith approach to our protest are just as right as those who do. Christian Social Link run a regular protest that is made up entirely of Pakistani Christians and I attend every one of their events. Our events are more ecumenical but have a 1 hour worship service devoted to the Christian faith. Why not join us for a portion of the event i.e the worship service and leave before the wider faith contributions should you feel that their input is invalid or inappropriate. As you can see, the design of our event has been fashioned in response to our perceived needs for all sectors of our community and wider diversities.
I have already applied for a protest to on Saturday 3rd March 2012. This is the day after the annual anniversary of Shahbaz Bhatti's assassination. The date is fortuitous as it will avoid any Olympic period logistical problems. Please commend this event to your churches and leaders and pray that it will be a success, whether you can make it yourselves or not.
I would also like the church to pray for my family and I and the BPCA. Pray for finance for our group as our events and programmes have been stifled by a lack of money, pray for protection for Juliet's family who had had several visits from the ISI.
Significant BPCA workload has affected my business, and personal life. I do not see my wife and children as much as I or they would like, the work has become burdensome. Pray for volunteers Pray for guidance from God in my life and those that advise the BPCA and please pray for the suffering Christians of Pakistan.
I encourage groups and individuals that feel that the work of the BPCA has been valuable to set aside Wednesday 11th July as a day for prayer and fasting for all the above.
On closing I would like to share the following Bible passage taken from James 4 v 1 - 12;
1 Why do you fight and argue among yourselves? Isn't it because of your sinful longings? They fight inside you. 2 You want something, but you can't get it. You kill and want what others have. But you can't have what you want. You argue and fight. You don't have what you want, because you don't ask God. 3 When you do ask for something, you don't receive it. Why? Because you ask for the wrong reason. You want to spend your money on your sinful pleasures. 4 You are not faithful to God. Don't you know that to be a friend of the world is to hate God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Don't you know what Scripture says? The spirit that God caused to live in us wants us to belong only to God. Don't you think Scripture has a reason for saying that? 6 God continues to give us more grace. That's why Scripture says, "God opposes those who are proud. But he gives grace to those who are not." #1(Proverbs 3:34)#2 7 So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you. 8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Make your hearts pure, you who can't make up your minds. 9 Be full of sorrow. Cry and sob. Change your laughter to crying. Change your joy to sadness. 10 Bow down to the Lord. He will lift you up. 11 My brothers and sisters, don't speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against another believer speaks against the law. And anyone who judges another believer judges the law. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it. Instead, you are acting as if you were its judge. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge. He is the One who is able to save life or destroy it. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
Message of Greeting from David Alton (Rt. Hon Professor the Lord Alton of Liverpool KCSG)
To the friends of the persecuted minorities in Pakistan I would like to say a warm thank you for coming to support BPCA’s march. With parliamentary colleagues I have striven to raise the plight of Pakistan’s minorities in the House of Lords. It has been our hope that this would help to encourage the UK Government to put the human rights of all the citizens of Pakistan at the heart of its negotiations with Pakistan’s authorities, especially at this important juncture where the situation appears to be worsening and a large aid package recently announced.
It is essential that the UK Government see the rightful outrage we all feel at what some have labelled a “culture of impunity” in Pakistan towards its religious minorities. You are here today to stand resolutely with those who suffer for their faith – whatever their faith might be; to demand that the international community does everything possible to ensure that the human rights abuses we witness regularly at the hands of extremism in Pakistan are put a stop to; and to call upon the Government of Pakistan to honour the vision of Muhammad Ali Jinnah: that minorities “will be, in all respects, citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed”. The way in which a nation honours and respects its minorities determines its right to call itself truly civilised or just.
David Alton (Rt. Hon Professor the Lord Alton of Liverpool KCSG)
House of Lords,
A message from David Turner (director, Church in Chains, Ireland)
I am delighted to be associated with today’s march in protest against the Blasphemy Law in Pakistan. Our group which seeks to be an Irish Voice for Persecuted Christians has campaigned for many years on this issue. We have held meetings with successive Pakistani Ambassadors in Dublin – pointing out the many injustices that have been visited on Christians and other minorities as a result of the law.
This year, we have been campaigning in Ireland on behalf of Asia Bibi and are grateful to have had opportunities to raise her case in Irish national newspapers, radio and television. 3,000 postcards have gone out to our supporters to post to the Pakistani Ambassador in Dublin. We have recently contacted members of the Irish parliament and 25 parliamentarians have signed an appeal letter calling for Asia’s release which we plan to present to the Ambassador in Dublin later this month.
I look forward to working together with the British Pakistani Christian Association, Christian Solidarity Worldwide and other groups until Asia is released from prison.
I very much regret that I shall be unable to attend today's protest over the unjust and unfair blasphemy laws in Pakistan as I have other engagements in the constituency.
All too often these laws are misused to persecute Christians and other religions. As there is no penalty for false accusation, the law is often exploited to settle personal disputes. The individuals accused of such 'crimes' find themselves held in prison for months or even years without the opportunity to state their case.
We must all unite to make sure that religious freedoms in all countries are not restricted and Christians and others must not be persecuted. The international community must come together to demonstrate that such activity is utterly unacceptable.
On Saturday while Christians prayed during our multi-denominational worship service before the Pakistan Embassy and Multi-faith protest march to 10 Downing Street, a ground-breaking political meeting took place in Pakistan involving our minority Members of National Assembly (MNA's). Aasiya Nasir a Christian MP reported on the meeting (sic):
"Today Prime Minister called upon all the minority MNA's for consultation regarding the restructuring of new ministry for minorities as per his promise few weeks back & amp; to make reforms for the minorities.
All the MNA's including Minister Akram Gill and advisor to PM Dr.Paul Bhatti were present.We had an hour's meeting with the honourable Prime Minister. He was very gracious and heard us humbly,we discussed all the issues regarding minorities,a three member committee has been set up and started working to restructure a new ministry for minority affairs. Very soon it will be notified.
We all gave proposals for the improvement in the ministry, PM directed to increase the funds and equally distribute among all the MNA's beyond party affiliations.We all demanded that immediate steps be taken to ensure a 5% quota in employment be implemented and PM to inquire regarding its status which he directed to ask for a report from establishment division.
I asked him to notify 5% quota for all professional colleges & institutions also which he told to consider in the cabinet meeting. Prime Minister was very considerate and we all appreciate his concerns regarding minorities and calling them his constituency,we are hopeful that in coming few weeks some positive developments will take place to remove the trust deficit that prevails among the suppressed community of Pakistan.
We all unanimously consented to have a new ministry for minorities and to introduce reforms to make it work more efficiently.
Farrukh Mustaq the young professional in the middle of the Gujranwala controversy has been freed. On 11th April 2011 Farrukh and his father had been arrested under false blasphemy charges, based on an alleged Quran burning without substantiated evidence.
The actual perpetrator of the crime was a Qari Irfan who is still in Police custody. A local man informed us that local Sunni Muslim's are calling for his release on the grounds of mental health, whilst Wahabi Muslim's are seeking his death for the act of blasphemy. He commented;
"....that Qari irfan qadri has been declared mental, ,coz the matter had shifted from Christians to in between wahabis and sunnis. Wahabis were furiously demanding the capital puinishment of Qari but sunnis were trying to save him."
The father and son are in hiding in a town we are aware of and have been advised not to return to Gujranwala. They have not been compensated for their loss of revenue or their need for new accommodation. We have been advised they are in good health.
The murderer who killed poor Christian road sweeper Abbas Masih has been arrested and is in custody, we have been told by the prosecution solicitor:
Hello Wilson,
CDI is providing free legal assistance to the family of Abbas Masih (36) killed by Muhammad Imran. By no efforts we can stop such incidents as the world can never be free of crime. However, the important thing is that the state machinery should be sensitive enough and take up legal cases with full sincerity. The police are not very much helpful to the family. This is the point which needs to protested and brought to the notice of state.
Take care,
Asif Aqeel
Further details on this story can be found by clicking the link below:
Please keep the family of the victim in your prayers.
We are creating a fund for the family and seek your donations to help support them through a difficult financial situation, created by the loss of the main bread winner. Abbas Masih leaves behind a wife and 4 children. His life was lost so tragically in a deplorable act of hatred, based on a trivial matter. Pray that God brings peace where this anger pervades the very fabric of society.
If you would like to contribute please click the PayPal logo on the top right hand corner of this blog, or alternatively, you can find a link on our website at;
