Politics of religion

The reports that the Sindh government could revise or take back in its entirety the Protection of Minorities Act 2015 passed recently are not comforting. The bill had been a major minority demand and had come in the wake of too many reports and allegations of abductions and forced conversions of Hindu girls. Many of these girls were minors, some no more than 12 or 13 years old. The bill sought to prevent such transgressions against minorities and, it was hoped, would create space for legally prosecuting those involved in such actions. The law mandated a 21-day period for adults to consider their decision to change religion, and forbade anyone under 18 years of age to convert. Since the passage of the bill, there has been sustained pressure from religious parties including the Jamaat-e-Islami to rescind clauses of the bill, notably the one that states that persons under 18 will not be permitted to alter their religion since. So the main complaint of the religious groups that have lobbied vociferously against the bill is the bar the bill places on minors from converting. It is curious that the provision for minors should have created so much controversy. The constitution of Pakistan, as the supreme law of the land, recognises that certain decisions are open only to adults – in other words those aged over 18. These include the right to cast a vote, the right to drive a vehicle, or to make other legal choices. What choice can be more significant than changing one’s religion? Or has it come to this that religion, having been turned into a political commodity by our ‘religious’ parties, does not, in their eyes, deserve even that much moral consideration?

In this age of social, political and even familial imbalances of power and position, are we to believe that a child is capable of taking a mature decision on such a matter on his/her own? The provision on minors is there for certain obvious reasons and is aimed at protecting both children and society as a whole. In the face of a problem that has unfortunately become peculiar to us in a world where, for many reasons, our image is not exactly shining, it is these understandings and standards that need to be upheld. There is nothing in the provision that runs counter either to the spirit of our constitution or to the true spirit of our religion. Mature adults deciding, on the basis of moral conviction, to embrace Islam can only prove its moral truth. It is beyond understanding how any such law poses a problem to our religion – the religion of 96 percent of the people of this country. The amoral nature of politics and the requirements of power games between communities, sects and even beyond them are another story, and they should be seen for what they truly are, even if they are guised with religious rhetoric. And can we even be surprised now if we see that it has to be the PPP – that champion of the rights of minorities – once again caving in to the politics of religion?