Minorities in Sindh of Pakistan under Constant Fear of Security and Survival: Report
A Web Monitoring Report published in Chattan, Srinagar
30 March
2022
Translated
from Urdu by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam
Sindh
[Pakistan], March 29 (MNN): As a result of the psychological and social effects
of hate speech, minorities in Pakistan's Sindh province live under constant
fear for their security and survival.
The study,
titled “Hate Speech: A Subtle Discrimination!” was carried out by the National
Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP), a statutory body of the Catholic
Bishops' Conference. Trends of Religious Hate Speech in Sindh reported that
Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Shia, and Ahmadi minorities are constantly threatened,
according to The News International.
The study
proposed that the government establish monitoring, regulating, and
standardisation methods for religious sermons, speeches, and seminary
curriculum, as well as create comprehensive equality and non-discrimination
legislation.
The
methodology portion of the report stated that “This evidence-based paper serves
as a tool to recognise the overlooked hate speech and also analyses the
detrimental impacts of hate speech on society”.
Hate speech
is recognised as a standard in Pakistan, according to the study's findings, and
one of its direct repercussions is that people have to bear a loss of
self-esteem, according to The News.
“As
victims’ feelings of inferiority grow, they seek to isolate themselves, which
only serves to exacerbate their mental health problems,” according to the NCJP
research.
According
to the study, women are more exposed to hate speech in public places because
they are already vulnerable due to their gender in a male-dominated culture.
“Women from
religious minorities are clearly identifiable in public because of their
traditional clothes; for example, Hindu women in Sindh typically wear the
Ghagra Choli, which is their traditional outfit.”
Calling
people names is usually observed in Markets, particularly indecent names based
on religious affiliation, according to The News.
According
to The News, the study also calls for the criminalization of forced conversion
in Sindh and invites political parties to enact a bill that was proposed in
November 2016 in the provincial parliament but failed owing to religious
pressure.
The study
also calls for the legal age of marriage in Pakistan to be set at 18 years old
for both boys and girls, and for senior civil judges to determine the presence
of a free will, consent, age accuracy, and the marital status of the people
involved.
According
to the report, discrimination is also practised in medical institutions, where
members of religious minorities are denied medical help purely because of their
faith or belief, and no one is held accountable for such human rights breaches.
When
tracking hate speech trends, one of the most striking findings is that
religious minority communities are lagging behind in economic growth due to
ongoing mental health issues, deliberate efforts to prevent their advancement,
the high dropout rate of minority students from educational institutions, a
lack of security, and government neglect.
According
to the study, religious minorities are channelled into an economic disadvantage
by a variety of systematic means, such as state-run departments placing
advertisements in national media stating that they only require someone from
minority communities to fill janitorial staff vacancies.
"In
addition, authorities have been known to ignore municipal issues in places with
a minority population; for example, road building is denied and drainage
difficulties are not addressed."
Tharparkar,
a remote and rural district of Sindh, is one prominent example of a barrier to
collective growth. According to The News, it has a large Hindu population, and
similar places with a predominantly Hindu population are neglected by the
government in terms of development.
Source:
A Web Monitoring Report published in Chattan, Srinagar
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/minorities-sindh-pakistan-survival/d/126687
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