HVK Archives: Major minority problem
Major minority problem - The Indian Express
Kamal Siddiqi
()
11 March 1997
Title : Major minority problem
Author : Kamal Siddiqi
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : March 11, 1997
"There are no Buddhists in Pakistan," says 'Minoo' (Minocher) E
Bhandara, categorically. Bhandara, a brewer by profession, should
know. He has been elected as member of Parliament on the seat set
aside for the Buddhist/Parsi/Sikh communities on several occasions,
besides having served as late President Zia-ul-Haq's adviser on
minority affairs.
But Bhandara is still smarting over being unseated in this year's
election, despite the fact that he was declared elected as the
results came in. He accuses a Lahore-based power broker of
capturing the minority seats and using them in Pakistan's endless
seat-buying tradition. "They have unseated me on flimsy grounds. I
am challenging the decision but I don't know when justice will be
done," says Bhandara.
He adds that the minorities are manipulated and favourites end up
winning seats. In his case, he says that Hindus, posing as
Buddhists, were employed by the Lahore broker to tip the scales.
Then other unfair means were adopted to ensure that Bhandara was
declared a loser after initially being declared elected. "The
Buddhists appeared out of nowhere and were registered. This is
disgraceful," says the bespectacled Parsi.
Election to minority seats in Pakistan's National Assembly has
always been marked by controversy. With the whole of Pakistan as
their constituency, candidates have to resort to unorthodox ways to
be heard. The one person who seems to have perfected this art is
Junius Salik, a minister in Benazir Bhutto's recently-dismissed
government.
In this year's election, he kicked off his campaign by donning the
red uniform of a railway coolie and waiting for trains at the
Lahore station. As one train drew in, he rushed and grabbed the
luggage of one of the passengers. By doing so, Salik says, he
launched his campaign for the February elections "by serving the
people in what ever way possible".
Salik's unorthodox ways have made him one of the most-talked-about
politicians in Pakistan. His antics include: holding a press
conference in a graveyard, crucifying himself in front of the
National Assembly, burning all his suits to protest against the VIP
culture prevailing in Pakistan and leading a camel caravan out of
Islamabad after the Bhutto government was dismissed in November.
Bhandara says that minority candidates "are being reduced to
regular Uncle Tom's".
While this system may work better for some communities which are
restricted to one part of Pakistan, like the over one million
Hindus who are predominantly located in the southern Sindh
province, Christians in Pakistan are spread over the whole country.
But the journey to Parliament for minority candidates has never
been an easy one. Observers say that publicity gimmicks are an
effective way to ensure mileage, "because they simply cannot afford
any other way to get across to all their constituents".
In post-Partition Pakistan, the minorities are not at all happy
with his arrangement. "This means that the main parties don't care
about us at all," laments Edmund Shakir, a Punjabi Christian from
Karachi. To get themselves heard, the minority communities have to
vote for people that they may personally disapprove of but know
will give them some sort of representation in Islamabad.
Rama Chandar Singh, a feudal lord from Thar in Sindh, is an
example. Singh a grand old man with a handle-bar moustache,
doesn't let his constituents sit on the same level as he does. In
his palace near Umerkot, in the Thar desert, his voters sit on the
floor and cannot dream of looking him in the eye as they address
him.
But Singh gets more votes than his more educated and progressive
opponents, among them a doctor. "We vote for Singh because he has
a presence in Parliament. The others won't even get noticed," says
Romesh Melwani, a businessman. Ironically, Nawaz Sharif made Singh
his minister of narcotics, despite the fact that most of the
narcotics destined for India and beyond pass through the Thar
desert.
For the Ahmadiyya community, which has been declared a minority in
Pakistan although they insist they are Muslims, the problem is even
more serious.
By taking part in the separate electorate seats, they may end up
conceding that they are indeed non-Muslims. "We are Muslims, and we
will never fight on the minority seats," says an official spokesman
for the Ahmadiyya community. The Ahmadiyyas have been severely
persecuted in Pakistan by the State and the people for their
beliefs.
If anybody has benefited from the state of affairs, it is the
power-brokers like the one based in Lahore to whom Bhandara
alludes. Keeping in mind Pakistan's shameful record in the
treatment of its minorities, as described by the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan, most minority members are advocating an end
to the separate electorate system. "We are Pakistanis. We want to
be in the middle of the action," says John Das, who teaches at a
convent school.
And yet, since this was the basis of the creation of Pakistan,
there seems very little chance that the system will be brought to
an end, no matter how ridiculous it is.
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