December 5, 2004

Promoting religious pluralism is no mean task. It needs concerted efforts on the part of the government to make sure that the evil of unjust laws is taken care ofas soon as possible

DESPITE bending backwards to the US in its fight against terrorism, Pakistan has failed to be beatified for its efforts. In a recently published report titled, the International Religious Freedom Report 2004, released by the bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour at the State Department of the United States, Pakistan’s record on human rights and civil liberties is far from falling within a satisfactory limit. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (IRF Act) mandates that the Department of State issue an annual report on the status of religious freedom around the world. This year 191 individual reports have been released by the bureau of the State Department, recording the state of human rights in those countries.

This sixth annual report, covering a period from July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004 includes barriers to religious freedom and US efforts to promote religious pluralism in the affected countries. Divided into four sections, the report on Pakistan deals mostly with specific incidents of sectarianism, blasphemy cases and a general reference to the Hudood Ordinances.

The report indicts the government on various charges, one of which is discrimination against religious minorities by using the Hudood Ordinances, which apply different standards of evidence to the Muslims and non-Muslims, and to women and men for alleged violations of Islamic law. As far as the Blasphemy Laws are concerned, they have been incorporated into the Constitution and have been used to target reformist Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus. Both these laws have been used to gain political leverage and settle personal scores. At the end of the report’s compilation, nearly 1,600 to 2,100 persons were imprisoned under the Hudood Ordinances and more than 100 persons were detained for blasphemy offences.

The 19-page document criticizes the slow legal process these cases go through in Pakistan. Between filing the case to its first court appearance, the legal process at the lower courts takes an inordinately long time in resolution. In most cases the lower courts are intimated to delay decisions and refuse bail for fear of reprisal from extremist elements. Clearly, the report has challenged not only the partiality of our courts, but their efficiency as well.

Citing the statistics quoted by the Centre for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), a Pakistani non-governmental organization, 14 new blasphemy cased have been registered during the period covered by the report. The courts repeatedly kept on postponing several cases of high profile nature and the government, on its part, did little to expedite the cause of justice. In Lahore, only a few lower court convictions were overturned by the Lahore High Court, which acquitted blasphemy defendants.

In the second section on the status of religious freedom in Pakistan, the report refers to the government’s June 2002 Madressah Registration Ordinance, linking it closely to combating religious extremism. Under the ordinance, all madressahs or seminaries are required to register with the government and the madressah boards. The US State Department’s active interest in the Madressah Registration Ordinance shows how the US is closely monitoring local religious developments in Pakistan.

Referring specifically to the NWFP Sharia Act 2003, approved unanimously by the MMA-dominated assembly, the report enlists grave concerns about the rise in conservative elements in the province. In June 2003, the Provincial Assembly of the NWFP ruled that all future legislation should be in accordance with the Sharia law. A month prior to the passing of the Act, a directive issued by the NWFP government ordered civil servants to pray five times a day. Even though the directive was not enforced, it followed curbs on the sale of what constituted ‘vulgar’ music, videos, imposition of a complete ban on alcohol and destroying posters featuring women in advertising campaigns.

A major part of the report accounts for the government’s anti-Ahmadi policy. Under a sub-heading of Restrictions on Religious Freedom, the State Department censures the Musharraf government for imposing restrictions on the rights of the Ahmadis. Citing the constitutional right which provides for the freedom to manage religious institutions, the report states that in principle the government does not restrict organized religions from establishing places of worship and training members of the clergy. Nonetheless, it falls short on practice because in effect, the Ahmadis suffer from restrictions on this right. ‘Several Ahmadi mosques have reportedly been closed, others reportedly have been desecrated or had their construction stopped ... The government has not given the Ahmadis permission to rebuild ... and are also prohibited from being buried in Muslim cemeteries.

According to press reports, the authorities continued to conduct surveillance on the Ahmadis and their institutions.’

In July 2003, the Federal Ministry of Religious Affairs issued registration documents to pilgrims for their pilgrimage to Makkah and added a new section to the documents in which the applicant had to certify that the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, was a cunning person and an impostor.

Religious freedom is allowed within the government’s prescribed norms. Pinpointing the socio-economic constraints of minorities in Pakistan, the report states that few non-Muslims are active in the country’s mainstream political parties and seldom run for elected office. With the reinstatement of a joint electorate system, the minorities should have a fair chance in running for office at the various levels of governance. But statistics show the struggle is not over yet for them. There are over 100 district nazims and approximately 350 tehsil nazims in the country. All are Muslim.

Using official budget figures for expenditure in 1998, the Bishops’ Conference of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCPJ) calculated that the government actually spent $17 (Rs850) on each Muslim and only $3.20 (Rs160) on each religious minority citizen per month.

The State Department’s report also mentions police torture and mistreatment of persons in custody. It has given the example of the murder of Samuel Masih and Rehmat Masih, while in judicial custody, reportedly by police torture.

The last section of the report deals with the US government’s efforts to promote human rights conditions in Pakistan and the rest of the countries whose profiles form the 191 individual annual reports. The State Department claims that local US representatives play an active part in monitoring human rights violations and liaising on a regular basis with the local NGOs, major Muslim and minority religious groups. As part of its programme on religious freedom and pluralism, the United States has begun to implement a $100 million (approximately Rs five billion) educational reform package designed to affect both public and private institutions, including madressahs, positively.

In spite of being served with a less than favourable indictment on its human rights and religious freedom record, Pakistan has not been included in the list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) by the US government. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 requires that those countries that engage in ‘particularly severe violations’ of religious freedom should be designated as the Countries of Particular Concern.

This year Eritrea, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam are designated as the Countries of Particular Concern. Pakistan is not included in that list.

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