At a time when historical revisionists want to portray Mohammed Ali Jinnah as a ‘tolerant, secular individual’ who envisioned a Pakistan-for-all, the signs of religious bigotry were visible from the very start. One of the immediate aftermaths of the Partition of India was the sidelining of non-Muslims who contributed to the Pakistani cause. They were misled by Jinnah into believing that a society, based on the principles of ‘Islamic equality’, was waiting for them.

However, contrary to the assurances made, non-Muslims soon became the subject of unspeakable atrocities. Community leaders, who once held high positions were removed, for the virtue of not being a Muslim. Such a treatment was meted out to a Christian leader by the name of Dewan Bahadur SP Singha (1893-1948) who had sealed the fate of Punjab in Pakistan’s favour.

Born in Sialkot to a Christian family, Singha had a Punjabi mother, a Bengali grandmother, and a Bihari grandfather. He championed the cause of Christians since the start of his political career. A report in Pakistan Today read, “He believed that Muslim society was more secular in its nature and would be better off towards untouchability factor and looking down upon them as low caste over the caste-ridden Hindu society and shall safeguard the right of other religions communities.”

In 1942, Singha held a reception in Jinnah’s honour and pledged his full support to the idea of Pakistan. In an infamous speech on a later occasion, he said, “At the time of partition of the sub-continent of India, in the entire country, the Christians should be counted with Muslims.” In the run-up to the 1945-1946 elections, the All Indian Christian League and All India Christian Association hailed the slogan, ‘Live Long Pakistan.’ In November 1946, Singha said, “from today Jinnah is our leader…”

On June 23, 1947 (2 months before India’s Independence), a meeting was held at the Punjab Legislative Assembly. to determine whether the British controlled province should be a part of Pakistan or not. A state of violence broke out in the Assembly after Sikh leader Tara Singh warned of dire consequences if anyone voted in favour of Pakistan. With the help of his Christian colleagues, namely, Cecil Gibbon and Fazal Elahi, Singha (who had two votes, one additional vote as Assembly Speaker) was able to turn the vote in favour of Pakistan with 91 vs 88 votes.

It was decided that Punjab would be divided into two. When the Radcliffe Line was to be drawn by the Boundary Commission, Singha and other Christian leaders announced that the Christian population would be counted as the Muslim population. Singha’s aide Gibbon argued that Lahore should be made the part of Western Punjab and that all Anglo-Indian Christians must make their way to Pakistan. Despite all his efforts, Singha had to quit his position as the Speaker of the Pakistani Punjab assembly due to his religion.

“It became a big question mark soon after the demise of Quaid e Azam when in Pakistani Punjab Assembly a vote of no confidence was moved against its Speaker S.P. Singha on the basis of religion, asserting that only a Muslim could be the Speaker of the Assembly,” read the report by Pakistan Today. Singha died a month after the demise of Jinnah and his family moved to India permanently in 1958.

Pro-Jinnah Hindu Professor was hacked to death by an Islamist mob

One of the strongest proponents of Jinnah’s ill-conceived “Two Nation Theory” was a Hindu man named Prof Brij Narain, who wrote several lengthy articles, making a case for the secession of Pakistan from undivided India, and arguing the merits of its economic viability.

However, when the riots consumed the city of Lahore, in the wake of the bloody partition, Prof Brij Narain was among the first few Hindus massacred by a rabid Islamist mob. Prof Brij Narain, a staunch Hindu admirer of Jinnah and a leading Lahore economist, was brutally hacked to death by a Muslim mob that raided his house on Nicholson Road.

Narain pleaded in vain that he was a supporter of Pakistan and Jinnah but the mob turned a deaf ear to him, killing him and ransacking his house. Some accounts narrate that Brij Narain had tried to plead with the Islamist mob, trying to make them understand that his house and property belonged to Pakistan and they should not destroy it.

Still, he was called a ‘kafir’ and was killed. In fact, Brij Narain was not even the only prominent Hindu intellectual who was killed during the post-partition violence in Pakistan. Madan Gopal Singh, the Registrar of the Punjab University in Lahore, had travelled from Shimla to Lahore. He was killed by his own assistant at the University.

Minorities under threat in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

The Islamic country of Pakistan has become a hotbed of violence against women, especially those belonging to minority Hindu, Christian, and Sikh communities. Ashiknaz Khokhar, a human rights activist has noted that the kidnapping of minor girls from religious minorities is a common occurrence in Pakistan. She has said that over 1,000 girls belonging to Hindu and Christian communities are forcefully converted to Islam every year in Pakistan.

Human Rights activist Ashiknaz Khokhar has also said that the government of Pakistan is not taking the menace seriously. According to media reports, Khokhar said, “The (Pakistan) government is not taking this issue seriously and parliament recently refused to pass the bill on forced conversion”. Saying that over 1,000 minority girls are abducted every year, she said that there was a dire need for a specific law to protect minority girls in Pakistan.

The statements by Khokhar came as another 12-year-old Christian girl was abducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Reportedly, 12-year-old Meerab Abbas was taken by Muhammad Daud, a native of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. 

The latest report has stated that around 6,754 women were kidnapped in the country’s Punjab province in the first half of 2021. Out of those, 1,890 women were raped, 3,721 were tortured and 752 children were raped. The fresh report came on 30 August after the board of Trustees of Transparency International Pakistan (TIP) flagged its concerns over the increasing attacks on women in the country.

A 2019 field investigation report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has reaffirmed an unpleasant reality that is already known for far too long—minorities in Pakistan live under constant fear of persecution as their perpetrators enjoy court sanctions, support from the influential and affluent section of the society and patronage from political leaders.

References:

opindia.com - Dibakar Dutta