Kainat
The religious dogma that has engulfed Pakistan since General Zia’s era is still a problem for Pakistan. Though the true essence of Islam lies in humanity and tolerance towards other religions, Pakistan’s religious parties are hell-bent towards defying those teachings. Instead of finding consensus on the real problems faced by Muslim Ummah, i.e, Islamophobia, Gender inequality, Gender based violence, terrorism, extremism, etc, they are fighting minorities on petty issues like the current issue of building Mandir in Islamabad. I will quote Quaid-i-Azam’s first speech after independence: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed—that has nothing to do with the business of the state.” If the father of the nation has clearly gave the guidelines of how this state is gonna work, who the religious parties think they are to decide about the fate of the Hindus. History clearly mention these socalled carriers of Islam as the people who were against the very idea of Pakistan. Hindus living in Pakistan are 100% Pakistanis and they have every right to get funds for building the temple in Islamabad or in any city of their choice. Moreover, there is no historical evidence or logical answer of absence of temples in a Islamic state.
(-The writer is freelance columnist, based in Larkana. )
