While hearing a case in the Supreme Court on the petition of the Sunni Ittehad Council regarding the unfair distribution of reserved seats, a respe
Pakistani Christians: A Nation or a Crowd. By Dr. Emanuel Adil Ghouri
In Pakistan, Christians are officially and unofficially called the Christian community, although the definition of community and nation is different, such as Sheikh Malik Jatt, etc., are a community, while in general they are a nation of Muslims. If that is the case, then we are a community, why not a nation? The simple answer is that we Pakistani Christians do not meet the definition of a nation that political scientists and civil society experts have given us. Therefore, despite being in large numbers, we are an unorganized, chaotic, haphazard crowd, not a nation.
We do not understand the essentials required to form a nation, let alone the media and all other institutions that call us Christian communities, not Christian communities. Otherwise, in every neighborhood where there are four to five hundred Christian households, there would be four separate communities. We could not become a nation from a community before the establishment of Pakistan and even 76 years after its establishment. Our tragedy is that we are suffering from the disease of selfishness, egotism and a sense of superiority. If there is a religious leader, he thinks that there is no greater servant than him. Every political leader considers himself the Aristotle of his field. The thinking of social leaders is no different.
I remember that when I was still a boy, one day I happened to go with my father to a gathering of a muslim political leader Maulana Kausar Niazi. People from all the minorities were present in this gathering. Maulana decided to form a committee for the rights of minorities, in which it was desirable to represent all minorities. So he asked who was the leader of the Hindus here, and a man stood up and introduced himself. Then he asked the Sikhs who was their representative, and a Sardar stood up. Finally, he asked the Christians who their representative was, and 10 people stood up, which surprised Maulana and with a slight smile, he said, "Elect one person from among you. Only one representative will be taken from each community." Finally, a committee was formed, but a decision could not be made on our representation. Since our representatives could not agree among themselves, the committee remained without a Christian representative. Even though 40 years have passed since then, the situation does not seem any different today. If we take into account the definitions of a nation that scholars like Stiles and Ernest Rushdie have given in their own words, the following definition emerges .An organized group of individuals who share the same interests, culture, religion, and beliefs, who are struggling together for their goals, claims, objectives, and demands, who have their own collective identity, and who are active in their region for power, is a nation. From the above lines, it can be inferred that we are a crowd, not a nation. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians living in a united India did not realize that they were separate nations.
In 1817, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan presented the two-nation theory, making the Muslims realize that they were a separate nation. This idea arose due to the atrocities of the Hindu majority on the minority, as a result of which the Muslims united and were finally protected from the wrath of the Hindus.
Today, Pakistan is facing a similar situation: churches and settlements are burned down, innocent girls are raped, foreigners are thrown into jail under the pretext of discriminatory laws, girls are kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into marriage, political rights are taken away, and social inequality is perpetuated. Today we are facing these challenges. They require us to organize ourselves as a nation and start fighting for our rights. If we want a secure future for ourselves and our future generations, we must overcome the effects of personal ego and self-imposed leadership and recognize each other. In the region we live in, we need to become not only a nation but also nationalists. We will have to distinguish between nationalists and self-interested people. We will have to stop those who trade our rights. Otherwise, we cannot hope for the situation that has not changed in 76 years to change
We do not understand the essentials required to form a nation, let alone the media and all other institutions that call us Christian communities, not Christian communities. Otherwise, in every neighborhood where there are four to five hundred Christian households, there would be four separate communities. We could not become a nation from a community before the establishment of Pakistan and even 76 years after its establishment. Our tragedy is that we are suffering from the disease of selfishness, egotism and a sense of superiority. If there is a religious leader, he thinks that there is no greater servant than him. Every political leader considers himself the Aristotle of his field. The thinking of social leaders is no different.
I remember that when I was still a boy, one day I happened to go with my father to a gathering of a muslim political leader Maulana Kausar Niazi. People from all the minorities were present in this gathering. Maulana decided to form a committee for the rights of minorities, in which it was desirable to represent all minorities. So he asked who was the leader of the Hindus here, and a man stood up and introduced himself. Then he asked the Sikhs who was their representative, and a Sardar stood up. Finally, he asked the Christians who their representative was, and 10 people stood up, which surprised Maulana and with a slight smile, he said, "Elect one person from among you. Only one representative will be taken from each community." Finally, a committee was formed, but a decision could not be made on our representation. Since our representatives could not agree among themselves, the committee remained without a Christian representative. Even though 40 years have passed since then, the situation does not seem any different today. If we take into account the definitions of a nation that scholars like Stiles and Ernest Rushdie have given in their own words, the following definition emerges .An organized group of individuals who share the same interests, culture, religion, and beliefs, who are struggling together for their goals, claims, objectives, and demands, who have their own collective identity, and who are active in their region for power, is a nation. From the above lines, it can be inferred that we are a crowd, not a nation. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians living in a united India did not realize that they were separate nations.
In 1817, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan presented the two-nation theory, making the Muslims realize that they were a separate nation. This idea arose due to the atrocities of the Hindu majority on the minority, as a result of which the Muslims united and were finally protected from the wrath of the Hindus.
Today, Pakistan is facing a similar situation: churches and settlements are burned down, innocent girls are raped, foreigners are thrown into jail under the pretext of discriminatory laws, girls are kidnapped at gunpoint and forced into marriage, political rights are taken away, and social inequality is perpetuated. Today we are facing these challenges. They require us to organize ourselves as a nation and start fighting for our rights. If we want a secure future for ourselves and our future generations, we must overcome the effects of personal ego and self-imposed leadership and recognize each other. In the region we live in, we need to become not only a nation but also nationalists. We will have to distinguish between nationalists and self-interested people. We will have to stop those who trade our rights. Otherwise, we cannot hope for the situation that has not changed in 76 years to change
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"Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation" By Nazir S Bhatti
On demand of our readers, I have decided to release E-Book version of "Trial of Pakistani Christian Nation" on website of PCP which can also be viewed on website of Pakistan Christian Congress www.pakistanchristiancongress.org . You can read chapter wise by clicking tab on left handside of PDF format of E-Book.