The Dilemma of Christian-Muslim Relations in Pakistan (A Historical and Contemporary perspective)

Looking at the young Christian and Muslim students singing ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ (My heart is Pakistan) together just before the end of our first Christian-Muslim interfaith dialogue session in Lahore, one could never imagine the complexity of the relationship between both communities in Pakistan, predominantly in Punjab.

We, at Faith Matters, took the initiative to organise a country-wide interfaith dialogue programme in Pakistan last year following a series of killings that started after a debate on the controversial blasphemy law in the country. A sheer initiative to review the law, which was being abused by powerful segments of society against the vulnerable and poor masses, including Muslims, led to the brutal killing of Governor Punjab, Salman Taseer and Minorities Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti. The storm of extremism was not going to stop until the government announced that it would never touch the current status of this law.

Similarly, it is also not an ancient past when in August 2009, a violent mob had torched nearly 50 houses in Christian Colony, an almost exclusively Christian neighbourhood in the village of Gojra, not more than 100 miles away from Lahore. Eight Christians had been killed as a result of those attacks. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that the attack was “not a spontaneous reaction to the allegation of blasphemy but were planned in advance”. “Announcements through mosques in Gojra on July 31 urged the Muslims to gather and ‘make mincemeat of Christians’.” “The following day, Aug 1, around 1,000 people gathered in the town and marched towards Christian Colony”.

The conception and creation of Pakistan was essentially based on the fundamental rights for Indian Muslims, who were in the minority. Keeping this perspective into account, protecting the rights of vulnerable and minority communities in Pakistan become obligatory to the state of Pakistan. That was the reason why the founder of Pakistan, Quad-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah announced it publicly that religion was to be a private matter in the state of Pakistan.

‘...You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State...We are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens and equal citizens for one State. Now, I think we should keep that in front of us our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not so in the religious sense because that is the personal faith of each individual , but in the political sense as citizens of the state.’  (Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah)

Unfortunately the underlying philosophy of the creation of Pakistan and the vision of its founder were badly damaged right after the death of Quaid-e-Azam, with the passage of Objective Resolution in 1949. The Objective Resolution reflected the mind set of extremists who posed a number of challenges to the minority communities in Pakistan by drawing a distinction between religious majorities and minorities. Also according to the Objective Resolution, the sovereignty of the state of Pakistan belonged to God and not to the people, which was in clear contradiction to the vision of Quaid-e-Azam.

The Objective Resolution was the first step towards a long journey of institutionalised discrimination against minority communities in Pakistan, especially the Christian community. It is estimated that there are about 3 million Christians living in Pakistan, mostly in Punjab. A vast majority of the Christian population belong to the economically downtrodden class, working majorly as sweepers and domestic workers.  A Separate Electorate for Muslims and Non-Muslims and compulsory Islamic education in schools to all faith communities are the factors that take away the freedom of choice for people and in no way reflect Islam or the founding principles of Pakistan.

The acceptance of non-Muslims in a Muslim dominated country like Pakistan requires persistent and collective efforts by civil society, the international community and the government of Pakistan. Pakistan has established a ministry for interfaith harmony but to make a remarkable change to eliminate societal barriers between the members of Christian and Muslim communities still needs a strategic plan. Pakistan is a country of 180 million people  of whom 67.1% are young people bellow the age of 29. This segment of society is always proactive in bringing positive social change in Pakistan and on this basis, we at Faith Matters have initiated a dialogue process that is led and run by young Pakistanis belonging to Christian and Muslim communities.

The present environment of radicalization and extremism in Pakistan suggests a mutual struggle by all segments of society against the fundamentalist theological base that is not only damaging the peaceful teachings of Islam, but is weakening Pakistan on economic, social and moral fronts. The democratic fabric of Pakistan can only be strengthened by promoting a dialogue between faith communities, acknowledging the minority communities for their role in the development of Pakistan, providing them a free space to practice their religion, protecting their places of worship and most of all giving them a sense of belonging to Pakistan.

Listening to ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’ sung by Muslim and Christian young participants at the end of our interfaith session in Lahore was not only revitalizing for our commitment to promote interfaith harmony between Christian and Muslim communities in Pakistan, but it also provided a sense of optimism that the youth of Pakistan can really be a driving force to bring peace and stability to all Pakistanis irrespective of their religious thoughts and beliefs.


Rehman Anwer