ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan heads into parliamentary elections this week, the country's minorities are looking for better representation and a voice that will speak up for them in what rights groups warn is in an increasingly intolerant atmosphere in this Muslim-majority nation. It's an uphill struggle for Pakistani Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, Ahmadis and others. Minority religions make up just 4 per cent of Pakistan's 200 million people; Shiites account for about 15 to 20 per cent of the Muslim population. The country's complicated electoral system allots minorities and women a small number of "reserved" seats, based on their parties' gains at the polls.
But for the rest of the seats - both in the 342-seat National Assembly, the law-making lower house of parliament, and the four provincial legislatures - member of minority groups are increasingly choosing to run as independent candidates, without affiliation to any political party. The minorities' major concern ahead of Wednesday's vote has been the plethora of radical religious and sectarian groups that have resurrected themselves under new names and fielded candidates for the polls - including Sunni extremists who promise to rid Pakistan of Shiite Muslims.
Other radical parties have campaigned on promises to enforce Pakistan's controversial law on blasphemy, which carries the death penalty and which has allowed for the prosecution of anyone deemed to offend Islam. Frenzied mobs have killed at the mere suggestion that an act of blasphemy was committed. Pakistan "is becoming more and more intolerant of minority rights," said rights activist I.A. Rehman, a founding member of the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
The Sikhs
Radesh Singh is one of about 200,000 Sikhs living in Pakistan, mostly in the conservative Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the border with Afghanistan. The Sikhs are easily identifiable because of their colourful turbans, and because they share the surname Singh. Singh said attacks by the Taliban and lately also by Islamic State group have forced thousands to leave the province, including his son. The radicals, Singh says, are killing both fellow Muslims and members of minority groups. He is campaigning as an independent candidate in Peshawar, the provincial capital, and refuses to leave. On a street lined with small shops in his neighborhood, he stops at each store, run by his Muslim neighbours, and is greeted with a smile. An elderly neighbour, Allah Mir, gave Singh a gentle hug, shook his hand and promised him his vote. "I don't care about his religion," Mir said. "I care only that he is a good man."
The Hindus
Hindus make up Pakistan's second-largest minority, with more than 2 million, living mainly in southern Sindh province where they are among the poorest. Many live as indentured slaves on the estates of some of Pakistan's largest landowners, working on the farms. The Hindus also suffer widespread discrimination because of the decades-old rivalry between Pakistan and India. Whenever relations between the two countries deteriorate, the treatment of Pakistani Hindus gets worse. Rights activist also routinely raise concerns about forced conversions of Hindu girls to Islam.
The Shiites and the Ahamadis have also suffered enormous losses with hundreds slaughtered at the hands of radical Sunni Muslims who considered Shiites heretics and believe it is their religious duty to kill them. Since Pakistan declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974, their numbers are difficult to gauge; they are believed to number several hundred thousand. Hundreds have been killed by zealots and their places of worship have been targeted; thousands more have fled Pakistan.
