The founding father of the nation once said that in Pakistan people would be free to go to their mosques, temples and churches without any fear. He said, “the state has nothing to do with your caste colour and creed”, rather all that mattered was one’s fidelity and allegiance to the state. These claims are indicative that Quaid-e-Azam wanted Pakistan to be an egalitarian and progressive state. However, successive rulers have transformed the country into a regressively rigid one. Recently, a reproachable incident occurred in Karachi. An employee of a famous bakery refused to write ‘Merry Christmas’ on cakes for some Christian customers. The incident was probably not an isolated occurrence, and indicates the lack of knowledge in people regarding the importance of fostering religious harmony and compatibility in society.
Over the past few years, extremist elements have been fuelling discrimination and hate against members of minority groups. Through such actions we are guilty of spreading the same hatred that we condemn Islamophobic elements in European countries for. How would we react if Muslims in the West were denied the right to celebrate Eid? Don't people realise that what goes around comes around. It must not be forgotten that the constitution promises equal rights to every citizen – without any discrimination of caste, colour, creed, sect or social strata. We must eliminate radicalisation and polarisation from our society.
Sajjad Khattak
Attock