Social Status and Political Participation of Christian Minority in Pakistan
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i Social Status and Political Participation of Christian Minority in Pakistan Ph.D. Thesis By: Akhlaq Hussain Shamsi CENTRE FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan. 2011 ii Social Status and Political Participation of Christian Minority in Pakistan A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy South Asian Studies with Specialization in Social Work. By: Akhlaq Hussain Shamsi CENTRE FOR SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan. 2011 iii iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my wife and sons without their support and encouragement it would not have been possible. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT All praise of Allah Almighty whose mercifulness and greatness could not change. All love and respect for Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) who gave us the knowledge to recognize our creator. I owe my deepest gratitude to Dr. Umbreen Javed, Director South Asian Studies Centre who always encouraged, supported and guided me with affection and respect. She was not just a Director in a traditional sense but a true mentor. She was very accessible, considerate about my problems and understood my limits. My greatest gratitude and debt to my guide and supervisor in this research work, Dr. Zahid Javaed, who encouraged me and gave me so much of his precious time and goodwill during the supervision of this thesis. His guidance, wisdom and best wishes really made this work possible. My sincere thanks to Mr. Abdul Hameed for providing required relevant material as well as support for the completion of this work. I am also grateful to Mr. Abdul Majid for his constructive suggestions in this thesis. I also express special thanks to my wife and my children for their untiring support. It is only because of their cooperation and help that it has been possible for me to take up the Doctoral Studies. I must also acknowledge my cordial gratitude to the members of the staff of South Asian Studies for their assistance in finding the material for my thesis. May Allah bless them all! Akhlaq Hussain Shamsi vi Abstract Pakistan is plural country where equal citizenship based on unfettered human rights could lead to many improvement. This can only happen if the country’s leaders and opinion-makers act more responsibility and avoid inciting hatred by preaching tolerance and co-existence. It is imperative for the Pakistani ruling elite to revisit Jinnah’s vision of tolerant, plural and democratic Pakistan, anchored on the principles of equal citizenship and other rights, irrespective of caste, creed or gender. Such an ideal was the original creed of the movement for Pakistan and forms a point of concensus for a vast majority of the population even today. The actions of non- representative regimes and the difficult inter-communal relations have only worsened inter-community relationship in Pakistan. Almost half of the period of Pakistan’s history as a modern nation has seen military rule. In Pakistan religious minorities, especially Christians had to face a number of challenges as citizens. The role of military, the political use of religion by governments and a weak civil society, all pose enormous threats to the Christian minority in Pakistan. The status of Christians in Pakistan has been the subject of much debate and controversy. The Christians remain vulnerable group in Pakistan with inadequate legal protection to the safeguard their rights. The need to ensure protection of minority rights in compelling. Pakistan is yet to ratify the international covenant on civil and political rights and the international covenant on social, economic and cultural rights, among other human rights instruments. Defending the principle of equal citizenship and non-discrimination and disallowing the use of religion to violate the rights of non-Muslim citizens, must be priorities to any government. This is vii perhaps the only way to protect Pakistan’s ethnic and religious diversity, and the security of future generation. For Christian minority in Pakistan to have the necessary influence or the opportunity to either change the events having direct relations to their active participation in development process, there is a need to put mechanism in place that enable them to engage in democratic process in polity and governance. Access to education is critical for benefitting from emerging opportunities. From lower levels of enrollment to a sharp decline in participation in higher levels of education, the situation in Pakistan. The Christian minority is indeed very depressing and the problem is more acute for girls and women. Minorities, especially the Christians are outside social and economic planning and development programs both as providers and receivers. This is a right for true diversity-natural to its population but not reflected in the public spheres because of discrimination and unequal opportunity. Given the precarious conditions of the self-employed persons in the informal sector, especially the home-based Christian women workers, a social security system for such workers may be introduced. Religious violence not only demoralize minorities but render them destitute, making them lose whatever little they have. Nobody among those whose job is to protect the lives and property of citizens have to made accountable or punished. viii Table of Contents S. No Page No Chapter I Research Methodology 01-04 Chapter II Introduction 05-26 Religious Minorities – Constitutional Discrimination – All Citizen are Equal – Right of Participation – Concept of Equality – Discrimination and Hatred: Constitutional and Social Abhorrence – Representation in the Media – Inter-faith Harmony Challenges and Prospects – Safeguard provided by the Constitution of Pakistan & UDHR to Religious Minorities – Islam and Question of minorities Chapter III Religious Minorities in Pakistan : A Historical View 27-66 Political participation – General Election 2008 – Christian political history after partition – Christian political participation Chapter IV Christians in Pakistan– Social Status and Participation 67-117 Community issues – Miseries of Christian in Pakistan – Christians social well known Christian Educationists – Prominent personalities who completed their studies in Christian institutions – High schools of the Catholic Archdiocese of Karachi – Educational institution of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lahore – The Catholic Diocese of Multan – The Catholic Diocese of Faisalabad – The Catholic Diocese of Rawalpindi – Educational institutions of the Church of Pakistan Lahore Diocese – Education institution of Church of Pakistan Raiwind Diocese – Church of Pakistan Faisalabad Dioceses – Church of Pakistan Peshawar Dioceses – Church of Pakistan Multan Dioceses -- Church of Pakistan Hyderabad Dioceses -- Church of Pakistan Karachi Dioceses – Prebyterian Church in Pakistan. ARP Church – Other institutions of protestant churches – Well know chrian educationalist Dr. Mira Phailbus – Dr. James Shafi – Distinguished Principles / ix Headmasters of Christian Schools – Naseer Khan – Safdar Massey – Yousif Mashif Gul – Miss Dulsie Fraser – Mariam Sarfaraz Stanley Primrose Mathew – Zenith Shagufata – Christians and Health care services Dr. Miran Bukhsh – St. Rapheal Hospital, Faisalabad – Seven Days Adventist Hospital Karachi (S.D.A) Lepers Hospital – Mobil Clinics – Free Medical Camps – CHAP – The total of Christian hospitals, dispensaries and clinics in Pakistan health care institutions working under the auspices of Catholic Church – Services of Christian Doctors and Nurses in the government institutions – Dr. Aziz Masih Gill – Dr. Masood Samul Nasir – The department of nursing – Social status of Christians – Literacy rate – Religion – Working hours – Profession-wise issue and demands of the Christian minority – Christian tenants and farmers – Brick Klin workers – Domestic workers – Prisoners Chapter V Participation of Pakistani Christians in National Politics 118-155 The Constitution of Pakistan and Christian minority – Constitution of 1956, Constitution of 1962 – Constitution of 1973 – Zia’s regime and minorities’ political struggle – Minority parties – Christian representative in (1946 – 1969) – Christian representation under Ayub Khan’s basic democracies system – Election 1970 and Christians under joint electoral system – Christian representation in the local bodies elections – General election 1985 – Christian representation – General election 1988 and Christian representation – General election 1990 and Christian representation – General Election 1993 and Christian – Christian’s representation in election 1997 – Representation of Christian under Pervez Musharraff’s the Legal Framework Order (L.F.O) 2002 important political personalities of the Christian in Pakistani politics – Organization of Christian journalists. Conclusion 156-167 Bibliography 168-178 Appendix 179-199 1 Chapter-I Research Methodology 1.1-Statement of the Problem “Social status and political participation of Christian minority in Pakistan” South Asia is a region where religious nationalism and majority governance have taken control of the business of the state and government. Pakistan has been wavering between the two extreme of a liberal Muslim and a theocratic state providing the majority Muslims a privileged status at the cost of disadvantaged religious minorities. Christians are an important minority group in Pakistan. An important role played in the economic and cultural life of the country. The Muslims of Pakistan are deeply