Following the violence by Israel against the Palestinian people, a wave of protests swept the world with thousands of people coming out in solidarity. Among the many countries that saw protests was Pakistan, whose successive governments have always expressed support for Palestinian independence.
When the most recent attacks on Gaza and Sheikh Jarrah led to an outpouring of social media support for Palestine, Pakistanis were quick to share an image of the Pakistani passport, which states: “This passport is valid for all countries of the world except Israel.” They take this as evidence of the support Pakistan extends to Palestine, as compared to mainstream media censorship and support for Israel coming from countries such as the US, UK, and India.
However, an increasing number of Pakistanis themselves have been quick to negate that argument, saying that the same passport that is being held in high esteem requires a signature on the statement that Ahmadis are non-Muslims, something which the Ahmadi community contests. This issue has recently sparked heated debate on why someone’s faith is relevant to being authorized to hold a passport.
The end of May saw a week’s worth of protests in major cities in Pakistan, organized by groups on both sides of the spectrum: from the Aurat March, a feminist collective across different cities that organizes and protests for social justice issues, to political right-wing, religiously inclined parties.
Prime Minister Imran Khan also declared May 21 to be Palestinian Solidarity day, and in celebration, hundreds of people in the country came out with Palestinian flags. Prominent activist Ammar Ali Jan joined the crowds and spoke at length on the importance of continuing to fight for Palestinian independence.
Historian and activist Dr Ammar Ali Jan talks to The Pakistan Daily at a protest at Liberty Market, Lahore, highlighting the importance of showing solidarity to the people of Palestine amid Israeli violence. But some minorities in Pakistan point out that such a large, public protest has never been held for their sake. (Video from The Pakistan Daily and Hamza Azhar Salam, @HamzaAzhrSalam).
Discrimination and disregard
In Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, one of the biggest streets was painted with the Israeli flag and people would change lanes in order to be able to drive over it – a symbol of insulting or rejecting Israel, and a testament to how far anti-Israel sentiments go in the country. But while the imagery is loud and the sentiment strong, the reasons behind this support vary and have created divides in a society that is itself still struggling to make room for minority voices.
In Islamabad, Jamaat-i-Islami leaders gave rousing speeches on supporting the Palestinian cause, citing Muslim brotherhood and unity in Islam. Usman Ahmad, freelance writer, photographer, and human rights activist says this particular sentiment stems from what he calls “Pakistani exceptionalism.”
Ahmad describes the term as being “defined solely in terms of the country’s commitment to Islam, and a lot of the support being currently shown for the Palestinian people emerges from this, and a lot of times this can be unhelpful and counter-productive, because this fails to take into account the fact that while the Palestinians are a majority Muslim people, there is also a significant amount of diversity among them, especially in terms of their religious composition.”
The accomplished writer is right in saying that turning the crisis into a religious issue often distracts from the much larger human rights conversation that needs to be addressed. But in Pakistan, it also opens a window into a wider problem: its abysmal treatment of its own minorities.
In the same week as the protests in support of Palestine, 66 people in Okara, a city near the eastern border of the country, saw a case registered against them for allegedly torturing four members of the Christian community.
Nuzhat Siddiqi, sociologist, writer, and conservationist, believes that a disregard for the rights of minority communities is what amplifies oppression. “Lack of action or active disregard for human rights of people belonging to minority communities is the reason why we haven’t been able to achieve something for people who need the support the most,” she says.
Human rights activists in the country have raised their voices to say that the kind of passion and dedication the Palestinian cause has seen sometimes feel hollow, especially in light of cases like the incident in Okara and the general experience of minority groups in Pakistan.
Hassan*, a young man from the Shia community, has grown up being very aware of the everyday discrimination and disregard against minority religious groups in Pakistan. He shares that he has lost many family members to sectarian violence and knows friends who have suffered the same, as well.
“Never have we had people riling [sic] the streets and protesting for our justice. That day [protests for Palestine were held], I saw people, kids, and women from houses who don’t usually let women go out in public all out on the streets,” he shares.
A matter of consistency
When it comes to looking inward at one’s own society, the debate suddenly becomes a lot more complicated.
Siddiqi believes that personal safety, saving face, and political implications all come into play, bringing in a lot more nuance. “Acknowledging human rights abuses at home also means admitting that we, as a society, are not inherently good, and that shatters the worldview or self-belief of many, so they turn a blind eye to issues at home and continue to project support for causes abroad and elsewhere. It fuels the belief that we are nice, we are good, we are supportive. That we are doing something.”
She adds: “There are also political reasons for such support. For example, movements within other countries are often supported by or co-opted by bigots at home, because they tend to question the authority of governments we don’t personally ‘like’. I saw a lot of people were reporting material about the Punjab Farmers Protests in India, but these same people are not interested in supporting farmers’ rights movements in Pakistan!”
Pakistan’s support for Palestinian was publicly appreciated by Palestinian authorities. Yet the same people who were so proud of such manifest support have now suddenly fallen quiet about what they call “internal matters,” refusing outside interference or even discourse of any kind.
Ahmad believes that while it is vital to continue to raise support for international atrocities, there is much work to be done in order to truly encompass the idea of justice that is being put forward.
“I am not saying that Pakistan should not raise its voice on these issues or actively do what it can to resolve them. Indeed there is a moral obligation for them to do so,” he says. “However, their advocacy would be so much more meaningful if they used these moments to try and bridge the gap between their rhetoric in support of human rights abroad and the reality of their own treatment of minorities at home.”
Being “on the right side of history on the Kashmiri or the Palestinian question when we are so decidedly on the wrong side of it when it comes to our own minorities,” is not enough, Ahmad says. For the country to have surer footing about its stance internationally, it needs to be far more mindful of the status of minorities back home, without which advocacy efforts come off as hollow and performative, he says.
It’s not just about seeming hollow, either. It’s about the very real impact these actions have on making minority groups and individuals feel invisible and silenced in the face of oppression. “Pakistanis need to realize that they must not become what they hate,” says Siddiqi.
“We are all quick to condemn Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, Israeli atrocities in occupied Palestine, and Islamophobia anywhere in the world, but we don’t realize (or conveniently ignore) similar oppression of minorities in our own country. We cannot pick and choose the causes we support,” she adds. “Both charity and the fight for human rights should begin from home. If we all come together as a nation and people to fight for human rights at home, we will be in a stronger position to do this elsewhere.” ●
Anmol Irfan is a Muslim Pakistani freelance journalist whose work focuses on exploring underreported stories. She writes about gender, minority rights, politics, and culture with a focus on South Asia in particular.
