Being Different In Pakistan
Deutschland! Cyprus! Turkey! America! Pakistan! Yes, Pakistan! Sitting alone on a bench in the famous flower market in the touristic part of Amsterdam, a middle-aged bag packer was trying to guess the nationality of all the people passing through his eyes. He barely had a few seconds to make his decision and more times than not, he surprised us with his improbable but correct guesses. As for me, it did not take him more than a short glance to guess that I was from Pakistan. ‘Pakistan, too much fighting there, but what a beautiful history.’ This was the first sentence he said to me after shouting out the color of my passport.
It’s funny how a conversation with a complete stranger can give some much-needed perspective. Even mere observation of the way different people react to different things tells us that the world is a very different place.
Several decades ago, there was a very popular ideology in Europe, which swept the German masses and led them to great heights before their ultimate defeat. The ideology was Nazism and their leader was Hitler. Hitler dreamt of a land in which the ‘superior Aryan’ race could live together in harmony while the ‘inferior’ minorities, Jews, Polish and other Europeans would be wiped out. It would be wrong to say that the German population was immediately ready to commit mass murder of their fellow countrymen. It was a long process of propaganda and nationalist politics combined with a unique sense of morality, which made perfectly reasonable men into genocidal maniacs who would brutally murder millions of innocent German minorities. The start of the Nazi propaganda was done by implying, whoever was different, was not equal.
Sadly, the lessons from World War 2 have not been properly taught to our populace. Lahore, the cultural hub of Pakistan has been home to a great variety of people, coming from different parts of the sub-continent, speaking different languages, adhering to different religions, Lahore was the place, which opened its arms for everyone. The past seems like a mysterious shadow, far, unreachable and possibly non-existent. The present, the reality is what we see, what we feel and what we see and feel is not very pleasant at all.
Hafeez Center, home to one of the largest software and hardware shops in the subcontinent is a phenomenon in Lahore. It is perhaps the most expensive commercial plaza in the city, valued at tens of billions of rupees. The shopkeepers are fairly well to do businessmen who seem educated enough to engage in this business. How would you feel if there are certain similarities between some of the shopkeepers from Hafeez Center and the followers of the Nazi Party?
‘Jew Not Allowed Inside’. 1940, A random sign in Nazi Germany.
‘Ahmadi Not Allowed Inside’. 2015, A Random sign in Today’s Pakistan.
This same experiment can be viewed through a different lens. A Muslim in Canada went out to the street and celebrated ‘Hug A Muslim Day’. Overwhelmingly, the non-muslim population hugged muslims all over Canada and then some places in the United States also celebrated this event. Now, think about ‘Hug an Ahmadi Day’ or ‘Hug A Christian Day’ or ‘Hug A Hindu Day’ in Pakistan. I am sure it will cease to be as innocent and peaceful as it was elsewhere.
I remember my Qari Saab, the man who taught me the Quran in Arabic used to tell me not to shake the hands of Christians as they were unclean. He told me that it was a sin to eat on the same plate as a Christian and even saying Salaam to them was not right. I was ten years old back then and did not know how to comprehend what this so-called religious man was telling me. One of my really good friends was a Christian and I found no difference between him and me at all. In fact, he was better at everything I did, from academics to sports to other extra curricular activities. My parents fired the Qari Saab later but I will never forget the confidence with which he said those words. My friend went on to become the Head Boy of our school and is now enrolled in a prestigious American University.
Terrorism. What a nasty word isn’t it? For all the regular folk out there, this is a word, which would perhaps make them uncomfortable. It would be hard to find someone who truly looks at this word in a positive light. But let’s be honest for a moment. The foundation of terrorism is the same as the basis of Nazism. Making a crime out of being different. All sorts of madness can be justified once only this part is implemented. The morality of ‘us’ and ‘them’, the worldview that some are more equal than others whether it is because of political, religious or economic factors is perhaps the most dangerous idea, which can be planted in non thinking, compliant minds.
On Sunday, two suicide bombers entered two churches and killed over a dozen people. Before this, the worship places of minorities whether they are Shia, Sufi, Ahmadi, Christian or Hindu have been targeted multiple times. If you only blame the Taliban and their likes for these atrocities, think about the fact that Pakistan had over a 15% non muslim population at the time of it’s inception. Now, the figure has dropped to 2-3%. The Taliban were formed in 2006-7, but the majority of the population of this beloved country, who in some obnoxious way, punished difference in thought/speech/culture/religion/language/sect/gender, already paved a playing field out for them.
Today, there is no multiculturalism in Pakistan. Foreigners are afraid to come here, maybe because they are different or maybe because we are all just the same.