The controvercy surrounding Pakistan's religious minorities

 

Pakistani society is a mishmash of lobbies where it is frequently difficult to differentiate between secular and religious aspects of life.  It is so because vested interests in Pakistan disproportionately exploit religion to influence secular life. The vested interests equally include political and religious groups and bureaucracy. This study focuses on the Qadiani sect as a socio-political lobby that has remained at the centre of political and religious controversy since the birth of Pakistan, particularly after Pakistan’s parliament declared Qadianis a religious minority in 1974. 

Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908), was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement,  a breakaway sect of Islam. There are no two opinions about the religious intolerance in the Pakistani society. Persecution of religious minorities constitutes a long list of embarrassments for the tolerant Pakistani majority.  Social media keeps debating how a great injustice was done about half a century ago by declaring Qadianis as non-Muslims. Sane Pakistanis have always considered the declaration by the senior Bhutto an act of political victimization. Notwithstanding the way the Qadiani issue was dealt with, there are historical precedents when a person, considered a heretic by the mainstream religious followers, was excommunicated.

There are precedents when a rebel religious sect voluntarily broke away from the mainstream religion. Baha’u’llah (12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892), born Mirza Ḥusayn-Ali Nuri, was a Persian religious leader, and the founder of the Bahai faith, which advocates universal peace and unity among all races, nations, and religions. At 27 years of age, Bahaullah became a follower of the Bab, a Persian merchant who began preaching that God would soon send a new prophet similar to Jesus or Muhammad. Iranian authorities executed Bab and thousands of his followers for their beliefs. Bahaullah faced exile from his native Iran, and in Baghdad in 1863 claimed to be the expected prophet of whom the Báb foretold. Thus, Bahais regard Bahaullah as a manifestation of God, fulfilling the life-after-death expectations of Islam, Christianity, and other major religions.

Since 1947, Qadianis have acted more like a political pressure group and tried to capture the state institutions. Soon after the partition of the Sub-continent, the majority of Qadianis, led by their Khalifa - the supreme religious leader, migrated from Qadian and settled in Pakistan. They first tried establishing their headquarters at Quetta but had to beat a retreat at midnight due to local agitation. They finally settled down in Rabwah, a town in Punjab.

Religious minorities everywhere are better organized, more educated, and financially well-entrenched than the majority. Parsis in India and Jews in the U.S. and Europe exemplify this and the fact that they wield disproportionately a much stronger influence in their respective societies. However, there is a difference- The Parsis share a big segment of the Indian economy, particularly in the West Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Parsi Business House of Tata controls a financial empire whose size is bigger than Pakistan’s economy.  Sam Maneckshaw – a Parsi, led the Indian Army in the 1971 War against Pakistan and rose to the rank of Field Marshall.

Despite all these distinctions, Parsi influence in Indian politics is negligible. I continue from where I left off about the Qadianis. Like many minorities around the world, Qadianis wielded a disproportionately bigger representation in Pakistan’s armed forces and bureaucracy. Being better educated, they produced more scientists, engineers, and financial wizards than the majority. Unlike the Parsis in India, Qadianis were accused of acting as the movers and shakers in Pakistan’s politics. They were declared non-Muslims in 1974 by Pakistan’s parliament. After 1974, the Qadiani pontiff shifted from Rabwah to London, with branches in every major world city. In Pakistan’s immensely divided society, the Qadianis remain in the eye of the storm – at the centre of accusations and counter-accusations.

Kartarpur is a visa-free-free border crossing and religious corridor, connecting the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, near Lahore to Gurudwara Dera Baba Nanak in Indian Punjab. The crossing allows devotees from India to visit the gurudwara in Kartarpur, Pakistan, 4.7 kilometers (2.9 miles) from the India -Pakistan border on the Pakistani side without a visa. The corridor was proposed by Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former Indian cricketer, and politician, to General Qamar Javed Bajwa. On 26 November 2018, the foundation stone was laid on the Indian side by Prime Minister Narendra Modi; two days later, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan did the same for the Pakistani side. The corridor was completed for the 550th anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak, on 12 November 2019.

General Bajwa was the architect of the Kartarpur Diplomacy, which started with a harmless initiative to establish a religious corridor for the Indian Sikhs, but it had wider connotations. While the Kartarpur Corridor was operationalized, ostensibly to facilitate the Indian Sikhs, one should not ignore that Qadian, the birthplace of Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, the Punjabi prophet, is located just 45.5 km to the east of Kartarpur. There is a strong likelihood that sometime in the future the Qadianis, through their foreign interlocuters, will demand a corridor linking Qadian with Rabwah. They have not given up on their ambition to create a state – a sort of Qadiani Vatican, in the heartland of Pakistani Punjab. Bajwa's detractors allege he is a closet Qadiani.

What is the way forward? Instead of persisting to remain part of Islam, Bahaullah broke away and declared Bahaism as a religion separate from Islam. We also have the example of the Sikhs, who, despite so much commonality with the Hindu religion, consider themselves separate from the Hindus. Should the Qadianis remain a pale imitation of Islam, always at loggerheads with the majority Muslim community? Or have the moral courage to break away from Islam like Bahais, shed away their dormant bond, and declare theirs as a separate religion, with its dedicated pantheon, theology, and traditions? Qadianis already have a theology distinct from mainstream Islam. Mirza Ghulam Ahmed claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphorical second coming of Jesus, in fulfillment of Islam's latter-day prophecies, as well as the Mujadid (centennial reviver) of the 14th Islamic century. Qadianis believe that Jesus did not die at the cross but traveled to Srinagar, married a woman named Maryam, and had children with her. They also believe that Jesus lived to be 120 years old, died a natural death in Kashmir, and was buried in Srinagar's Roza Bal shrine.

 

Saleem Akhtar Malik

24 November 2024