Wijdan Saad Ud Din
As humans, we all carry within ourselves a collection of narratives, experiences, and perspectives that gradually shape who we become.
Every individual, regardless of their background, upbringing, or way of living, has a story to tell. However, not everyone has the privilege to have their voices heard. Some voices are amplified while others are continuously pushed to the margins.
Pakistan came into being as an objective reality of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of a land where muslims and ethnoreligious minorities could coexist peacefully, without facing the kind of neglect and abuse that the muslims of subcontinent faced at the time.
Many believe that this vision remains alive through the constitutional framework and policies established over the years. Simultaneously, another view is that although the dream itself was never flawed, its implementation became corrupted by our realism rooted traits of egocentrism and self interest, where the rights, needs, and existence of those considered “different” were gradually neglected for personal and political gain.
Rather than relying on sentimental or patriotic lens to view this, the constructed prevailing reality becomes clear through analysis of facts.
According to census data and findings, religious minorities constitute 4% of Pakistan’s population, with ethnic minorities making up approximately 9.8%. Despite constitutional guarantees under Article 36 promising protection and equal participation, such minorities in Pakistan continue facing socioeconomic and political exclusion due to weak implementation and institutional failures.
This is evident through the poor enforcement of the 5% minority job quota, where many positions remain vacant while others are confined to low paying and hazardous work, reflecting how structural barriers continue restricting upward mobility and inclusion. Such inequalities have become deeply integrated as norms within the society to such an extent that they are visible not only through human rights reports, but also through everyday observations.
As a student at one of Islamabad’s well established universities, throughout the past three years, I have only come across two students belonging to a religious minority group. This raises an important question: is higher education not a need or aspiration for such individuals? Or have minority communities gradually been confined to a lower sociopolitical subclass because of systemic structural inequalities?
Similarly, although reserved seats exist for minorities within assemblies, critics argue that the selection mechanism weakens genuine political agency, due to representatives being selected by mainstream parties rather than being directly elected by minority communities themselves. Despite the shift back to joint electorates, broader structural frameworks have continued pushing minority voices to the periphery of political discourse.
Moreover, institutional constraints have further normalised such barriers being accepted as customs that cannot be challenged, no matter how rotten their cores are, with bodies such as the National Commission for Minorities continually lacking the authority required to enforce substantial and consistent change.
Now moving onto the most crucial yet deliberately ignored aspect of the whole matter in name of being “too controversial” to even talk about, i.e., the repeated misuse of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. Over the years, we’ve all heard about multiple cases where the blasphemy laws (laid down in the Pakistan Penal Code) were misused and doing so resulted in deaths and injuries of the innocent.
We’ve all heard of instances varying from a mob attacking a woman in name of blasphemy for wearing a piece of clothing with Urdu poetry, to an innocent university student being killed because of such misinterpretations and emotions being prioritised over facts, to the dozens of cases of atrocities we hear about and ignore every year on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha.
The widespread ease with which acts are labelled as blasphemous, followed by immediate reactions without verification of facts, is the most prevailing issue in Pakistan, yet it is used as a tool by many to gain their interests. Repeated misuse of such laws has built upon mob violence, displacement, economic instability, and further marginalisation of minority communities, leaving many afraid to even speak up or defend themselves in fears that a single chant could wipeout their entire existence.
These behavioural patterns are not confined to underdeveloped suburbs alone, even in comparatively educated areas such as Islamabad, many religious minorities remain hesitant to openly discuss their experiences due to fears of recognition and being targeted, which is something that has been observed through firsthand field experiences.
Ultimately, political stability and development cannot truly be achieved while an entire demographic continues being sidelined and forced into silence.
A saying that almost all of us have heard over the years has been to “not question such things, because of it being a controversial topic, that could put you in danger”.
My question to you is, if even in the 21st century, while being part of a woke generation, and after realising how negatively all these structural and legal constraints have been manipulated to impact all those around us, are we not supposed to highlight and ensure such structures are ratified and amended?
If not us, then who will take action? And when?
Will these voices remain getting sidelined and being unheard?
Will they remain being marginalised across the sociopolitical and economic realms?
