7 av 10 pakistanere sier at kristne bør få bygge kirker. Men situasjonen for landets religiøse minoriteter er langt fra tilfredsstillende.
Ifølge en Gallup-undersøkelse publisert i Pakistan Daily 9. januar mener 69 prosent av pakistanerne at kristne bør få bygge kirker i landet. Også i urolige North West Frontier Province støttet et stort flertall dette. Pakistan er blant de muslimske landene der det er lovlig å bygge kristne kirker.
Situasjonen for Pakistans snaue 3 millioner kristne er imidlertid langt fra rosenrød. Blasfemiloven brukes mot dem, og fra tid til annen angripes gudshus. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom har Pakistan blant de 13 landene de følger nøye: “One of the most significant human rights acts of the U.S. government is the designation of “countries of particular concern,” or CPCs, for ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.”
USCIRFs Pakistan-rapport for 2009 kan dere lese her. Denne nevner noen beskjedne positive utviklingstrekk etter at Zardari-regjeringen kom til makten i 2008, men det er mer enn nok å kritisere. Ikke minst er ahmadiyya-minoriteten, som selv mener de er muslimer, men som ikke regnes som det av den pakistanske staten, utsatt for overgrep fra sunni-flertallet. Mange av disse skjer utenfor statsapparatet – men staten er også medskyldig eller står selv for diskriminering.
Noen utdrag:
In addition, all of the serious religious freedom concerns on which the Commission has reported in the past persist. Sectarian and religiously-motivated violence continues, particularly against Shi‘a Muslims, Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus, and the government‘s response continues to be insufficient, and in some cases, is outright complicit. A number of the country‘s laws, including those restricting the rights of Ahmadis and criminalizing blasphemy, frequently result in imprisonment on account of religion or belief and/or vigilante violence against the accused. (…)
Among Pakistan’s religious minorities, Ahmadis are subject to the most severe legal restrictions and officially-sanctioned discrimination. Ahmadis, who number between 3 and 4 million in Pakistan, are prevented by law from engaging in the full practice of their faith and may face criminal charges for a range of religious practices, including the use of religious terminology. (…)
It is also illegal for Ahmadis to preach in public; to seek converts; or to produce, publish, or disseminate their religious materials. Over two days in late May 2008, the inhabitants of the majority-Ahmadi town of Rabwah, Punjab (called Chenab Nagar by Pakistani authorities) celebrated their faith through distinctive clothing, badges with religious slogans, lighting displays, and fireworks. Two weeks later, police lodged charges against the entire community under the anti-Ahmadi laws. In a separate incident in June 2008, 23 Ahmadis were expelled from medical school in Faisalabad, Punjab for allegedly preaching their faith to others. Moreover, because they are required to register to vote as non-Muslims, Ahmadis who refuse to disavow their claim to being Muslims are effectively disenfranchised. (…)
Prescribed criminal penalties for what is deemed to be blasphemy include life imprisonment and the death penalty. Blasphemy allegations, which are often false, result in the lengthy detention of, and sometimes violence against, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and members of other religious minorities, as well as Muslims. Because the laws require no evidence to be presented after allegations are made and no proof of intent, and contain no penalty for leveling false allegations, they are commonly used by extremists to intimidate members of religious minorities and others with whom they disagree. (…)
Under the Hudood Ordinances, rape victims run a high risk of being charged with adultery, for which death by stoning remains a possible sentence. In October 2003, the National Commission on the Status of Women in Pakistan issued a report on the Hudood Ordinances that stated that as many as 88 percent of women prisoners, many of them rape victims, are serving time in prison for allegedly violating these decrees, which criminalize extramarital sex. The Hudood laws apply to Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
