The Cost of Purification

On Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016, a suicide bomber killed dozens of women and children and wounded as many as 300 others at a park in Lahore, Pakistan. Jamaat ul-Ahrar, an off-shoot of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. Here is a statement the terrorist organization released:

“It was our people who attacked the Christians in Lahore, celebrating Easter. It’s our message to the government that we will carry out such attacks again until sharia (law) is imposed in the country.”

Though the attacker targeted Christians, only 14 of the 72 who died were identified as Christians, while the rest were Muslims. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the horrendous attack and convened security meetings. But the country must do more to protect its minorities, as religious intolerance increases and the effects spread beyond those who are targeted.

Pakistan’s government does not facilitate nor encourage a system of governance that protects those who practice a different faith than the state-condoned version of Islam. According to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, 95 percent of Pakistan’s 190 million people identify themselves as Muslim: about 75 percent Sunni, 25 percent Shia, and less than one percent Ahmadi. The remaining 10 million people, or five percent of the population, identify as Christian, Hindu, Parsis/Zoroastrians, Baha’is, Sikhs, Buddhists, and others. While some mandates exist to protect religious minorities, the country’s blasphemy laws promote religious animosity. Often used arbitrarily, USCIRF reports:

“Blasphemy laws in Pakistan are particularly pernicious. The punishments are severe: death or life imprisonment. There is no clear definition of blasphemy, which empowers the accuser to decide if a blasphemous act has occurred. No proof of intent is required, nor must evidence be presented after allegations are made.”

While the Easter Sunday suicide attack was directed at Pakistan’s Christian minority, non-Sunni Muslims all face persecution. In her new book, “Purifying the Land of the Pure,” Farahnaz Ispahani details the erosion of Pakistan’s religious diversity since its birth in 1947. According to Ispahani, the last remaining Jew in Pakistan passed away in 2006, very few Christian churches exist today, vandals have destroyed Hindu temples, Shia Muslim families often employ personal security guards, and the Ahmadi Muslims are constitutionally forbidden from acting in any way contrary to the greater Muslim majority.

It is important to acknowledge that there are many positive interpersonal relationships in Pakistan, as were witnessed after the Easter attack when so many volunteered to give blood and taxis transported victims for free when there were no more ambulances. But such solidarity by individuals is not enough to combat the overarching, systemic discrimination many face throughout the country. Until Pakistan’s leadership and government are able to create an atmosphere that respects and defends the rights and dignity of individuals to practice their various faiths, they will be unable to combat the growing, violent religious extremism that threatens to destroy Pakistan. In the conclusion of her book, Ispahani reflects:

“Islamist groups have sought to purify Pakistan, which they deem to be the land of the pure. But history shows that these efforts at purification have only made Pakistan vulnerable to conflict, terrorism and lawlessness … Pakistanis must start working towards dismantling the constitutional, legal and institutional mechanisms that have gradually excluded minorities from the mainstream of Pakistani life.”

Abigail Berg, Director, Government Relations

Action Items:

1. Read Farahnaz Ispahani’s new book “Purifying the Land of the Pure” to learn more about the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan.

2. Write to Secretary Kerry, imploring the State Department to designate Pakistan as a “Country of Particular Concern.” USCIRF has recommended it be added to the CPC list since 2002, but politics have so far prevented the U.S. government from adding it to the list.

3. See our previous A!ert about Asia Bibi, a Pakistani woman convicted of blasphemy.