Sheryar Ahmad

251789281

WRCM 102: J

Ma”am Ayesha Fareed

26 October 2022

Forman Christian College (A Chartered University)

Topic Proposal

Discrimination and prejudice faced by the religious minorities in pakistan

Pakistan has a lot of flaws even in this modern day and age. The human rights situation in

Pakistan is one of those serious issues. Religious minorities such as the Hindus, Ahmadis, Shias

and Christians, just to name a few, face a lot of discrimination and often times they are subjected

to violence and brutality. Historically, Religious intolerance through the country has led to the
deaths of hundreds of minorities, liberals who have tried to make a change and decided to go

beyond the customs of society suffered too. Abduction and forceful conversions of women to

islam who originally belonged to a different religion is something that happens every day in this

country but the people in power don’t care because they are not affected by it. Minority groups

such as the ahmadis and the qadiyanis fear for their life while going out and doing the most basic

task because there is totally no acceptance out there for them, if one reveals to his muslim friends

that he belongs to the qadiyani or Ahmadi sector, chances are that people will quickly cut ties off

with that individual. The blasphemy law is infamously known for being used as a way to sort out

grudges with the minorities, over the years hundreds of killings have been carried out through it

and they are always disguised as a way to maintain the sanctity of Islam. With little to no

evidence, the person being questioned over the blasphemy accusation is always deemed guilty

which results in major harm to their personal and social life. Attacks on churches and mosques of

these religious minorities have been very common throughout the years and has resulted in the

worshippers being severely injured and in the worst case scenarios, dying. Religion is not seen as

a private matter in this country and no matter what your social status is as a minority, you are

never truly safe. The image of the judiciary system and the government has also been tainted due

to this. On various occasions, the government decided to speak against these incidents but they

only spoke white lies and took no real action that would make a change.

This issue is extremely sensitive and it needs to be brought to the light and discussed. If we

don’t do something about such matters they tend to become the norm. Tomorrow something

brutal might happen to our family members and there will be no one to question the oppressors.

The minorities need to be protected by the government and the state law, specific laws should be

made and passed so no one gets harassed on a religious difference or basis. The power to change
this world belongs to the people and every educated person should start spreading the message of

equality between every citizen. Because if we don’t, who else will put a stop this? For how long

will this madness go on for?

Thesis statement

Discrimination and prejudice faced by the religious minorities in pakistan leading to

inequality and a false sense of security that threatens their future.

Research Plan

For this research, I will go through every law that has been passed to protect the rights of

minorities since the creation of this country, how the general population and the leaders reacted

to it. I will also look through the laws that were not passed by the national assembly of pakistan,

studying about the basis that stopped them from being passed. I will look for the cases that went

unheard, while also checking the statistical reports for attack on religious minorities through the

past few decades. I will also look for the opinions of the scholars and journalists on this issue to

see where they stand. I will look for authentic articles, case studies and policies from where I can

take help to elevate my research so that the readers can benefit and no doubts remain in their

mind. Carrying out surveys to get the mind of the average person in our society will benefit this

research greatly too. I will also be a taking help from FCCU”s library, google scholar and many

online resources to add important information.

Keywords:
 Inequality, killing, law, discrimination, policies, attacks, government, prejudice, harassment,

judiciary system.

Timeline:

 2 Oct-9 Oct: Approval of my thesis and discussions regarding the proposal

 10 Oct-23 Oct: Readings policies and articles regarding the protection of minorities to

gain more insight

 26 Oct: Proposal and annotated bibliography submission

 29 Oct-9 Nov: understanding the sources gathered and working on the controversy

analysis

 10 Nov-23 Nov: interviews and surveys

 24 Nov-7 Dec: working on the drafts of the final research paper and taking feedback from

the instructor

 8 Dec-21 Dec: formatting, proof reading and editing

 22 Dec-4 Jan: final feedback from the instructor and compiling the final research paper

 8 Jan: Final Research paper submission

Annotated bibliography

1. Suleman, N. (2022, August 23). From exclusion to violence: The case of religious

minorities in Pakistan.

Retrieved from: https://minorityrights.org/2022/08/23/pakistan-forb-2022/

 Origin:

The following blog was published in minority rights by Naumana Suleman in

Pakistan on 23 August 2022.

Purpose:

The author sheds light on the horrible experiences one has to go through while

being a minority in this country as she is a Christian herself. She explains how violence

based religious attacks are a norm in this country. And how people don’t even like eating

in the same space as a minority due to religious differences.

Value:

Making the trauma induced on her and her family public to the general population

allows us to get a glimpse of how bad and cruel this country is to the minorities, even

though they make up around 3% of the total population.

Limitations:

The problem at hand was discussed and solutions were presented so no

limitations were found.

2. Bose, A. (2020, October 4). Grave violation of human rights of religious minorities in

Pakistan.
 Retrieved by: https://blog.ipleaders.in/grave-violation-human-rights-religious-

minorities-pakistan/?amp=1

Origin:

This article was published on ipleaders and was written by Abanti Rose on

October 4, 2020 in Kolkata, India.

Purpose:

This article discusses about the discrimination and violence the minorities in

Pakistan face. The abduction of woman is discussed, along with the forced conversions.

Value:

The judiciary system is discussed along with the articles which have been passed

to support the minorities, while the rejection of the bill which aimed to stop forced

conversions is also discussed.

Limitations:

The problem at hand was discussed in great detail yet no solution was

presented.

3. Ali, S. ( 2021 ). A brief history of discrimination against religious minorities.

Retrieved from; https://dailytimes.com.pk/750020/a-brief-history-of-discrimination-

against-religious-minorities/amp/

Origin:

This article was published on the daily times and it was written by salman ali in

Pakistan.

Purpose:

The purpose of the article is to point out towards the fact that life is very

dangerous and insecure for the religious minorities in todays Pakistan despite the judicial

changes.

Value:

This article points out towards the fact that when Pakistan was made efforts and

laws were made to protect the right of minorities and towards giving them equal

opportunities despite the fact that all of this was for naught.

Limitations:

The problem at hand is being discussed but no solution is being given for the

betterment.
4. Mirza, A, J. (2022, April 28). COVID-19 Fans Religious Discrimination in Pakistan

Retrieved from: https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/covid-19-fans-

religious-discrimination-in-pakistan

Origin:

This article was published on the diplomat and was written by jaffer abbas mirza

on April 28, 2022.

Purpose:

This article shows how various minority sectors in our communities are blamed

for situations they did not even cause, they are blamed with no actual proof. And how

they are denied basic aid and health air even in the most critical hour of need.

Value:

The value of this article lies in the fact that how in an islam dominated state, as a

minority, you may have to go to the extreme length of changing your religion in the hour

of need. The discrimination and inequality is life threatening.

Limitations:

The problem at hand is being discussed in great detail but no policies or laws

are being discussed to tackle this issue.

 5. Aman, M. (2020, July 9). “Go in disguise to receive medical treatment”- religious

discrimination in Pakistan.

Retrieved from: https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/go-in-disguise-to-ensure-

you-receive-medical-treatment-religious-discrimination-in-pakistan

Origin:

This article was published on institute of development studies and was written by

muhammad aman on 9 july, 2022.

Purpose:

This article focuses on how hazaras face discrimination and they are even denied

basic human rights such as healthcare, they can’t even go to the hospital without fearing for thier

life.

Value:

This article gives us an insight on how it feels to be restricted from getting basic

human rights while living in a modern society. even in today’s day and age, we are yet to go past

these age old conflicts.

 Limitations:

This article discusses the problem but no solution is discussed on how to actually

tackle the problem.