Making A Difference

Blow By Blow

Krishan Bheel, an enraged Hindu MP, slaps Qari Rehman in the national assembly. Pakistan's woeful minority tale.

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Blow By Blow
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The Post
The Nation
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But the two-and-a-half slaps had already quickly become a symbol of the deplorable condition of Pakistan's minorities, of the humiliation they have to endure daily—and their seething rage. As Bheel waited for the MMA to retract from its stubborn position of no compromise, he told Outlook, "Whatever the decision, I leave it to the court of God. After hearing day in and day out abuses against my religion, that day I rose and controlled my tongue. But I could not control my hands. I had just no power over them."

He also underscored the MMA's attitude to the Hindus. "Not only me but there were Naheed Khan and Khawaja Asif who were among those shouting the slogan of durbari maulvi. But because I was the most vulnerable, Rehman bad-mouthed my religion. I could not take it anymore," Bheel said. In the past too, he claimed, Rehman had said on the floor of the house that since non-Muslims were killing Muslims, it was time to reverse the equation. Bheel bemoaned, "All the time we have to hear taunts from Muslims about our religion. This time it was a learned maulvi, a member of the house, who taunted our religion. Our women are picked up in Sindh, converted forcibly and then married off to Muslims. Jobs are a problem for us. Where is this enlightened moderation? The West is blindly helping the government. Our plight should also be highlighted. You must come to Sindh and see for yourself what Hindus and their women are undergoing. Our voices do not reach Islamabad."

Indeed, President Pervez Musharraf's 'enlightened moderation' has yet to leave its imprint on the Pakistani society. Just the other day a church in Lahore, as much a heritage building as a place of worship, was burnt; a mandir was ransacked and burnt in Nowshera (NWFP) recently; members of minority communities are routinely brought to courts for violation of the Blasphemy Law. Agrees Samina Ahmed, director, International Crisis Group, "The intolerance reflected in the NA clearly reflects the level of intolerance towards the minority in Pakistan."

However, Sabah Khattack, who heads the Sustainable Development Policy Institute, feels intolerance is an urban phenomenon; that the virus of hatred hasn't yet afflicted rural Pakistan. "While conducting research in the NWFP we came across a Hindu community which has lived in Kohistan for 400 years. When the Babri Masjid was demolished, villagers from the neighbouring areas came to destroy the religious site of the Hindus. But when they were told that attacking it means attacking the community, the angry villagers returned. Even during the Partition, non-Muslims in the NWFP were not touched."

As the MMA stalled the house, the leaders of both the PPP and PML(N) got into the act. PML(N) leader Chowdhury Nisar Ali had several meetings with MMA leaders in the speaker's chamber. Finally, the compromise deal saw Bheel tender a public apology from the floor of the house. Qari then got up and embraced Bheel.

But what Bheel still remembers of the moment when his arm defied his will, is the precise numbers of times he had slapped Rehman. "I didn't slap him two-and-a-half times. I slapped him thrice," he said to put the record straight.

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