Screengrab of Javed Latif’s press conference
Federal minister Javed Latif of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) has touched a new low with his recent remarks on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan. It went like this: “When Imran founded Naya Pakistan, units of Qadianis became active in Karachi. Didn’t Imran give interviews to foreign media saying that the religious freedom of Qadianis would be preserved?” Thankfully, amidst mass criticism on social media, a columnist has taken him to task saying: “Mian Javed Latif’s vile anti-Ahmadi remarks, intended to malign former prime minister Imran Khan, are yet another reminder that our political leadership can go to any extent for political point-scoring. The use of religion is not new in our politics. Almost all political actors resort to it recklessly, without caring about the consequences for the smaller faith communities in the country and the overall impact on society.” Because of Latif’s remark, an already downtrodden community of Pakistanis may come under more pressure.
Supporters of the PTI have naturally condemned Latif’s statement and accused him of turning Imran Khan into a “bogeyman” for the masses by spewing “toxic” propaganda against him. However, nothing has damaged Pakistan’s reputation as a civilized country more than Sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. The first punishes desecration of the holy Quran with life imprisonment and the second punishes insult to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) with a minimum sentence of death. The movers of the law intended it for the persecution of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, which then-prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had already declared non-Muslim through the passage of the Second Amendment to the 1973 Constitution. Further restrictions were placed on the community through Martial Law Order 20 by General Ziaul Haq in 1984, allowing courts to punish Ahmadis if they called their places of worship as “masjids” or gave a call or azaan for their prayers or used any of the epithets used by Muslims.
One has to remind Mian Javed Latif that the laws intended for the persecution of the Ahmadi community at the hands of the state have since been used by the unscrupulous against Christians and Hindus, too, in order to dispossess them of their rights. According to one practice adopted by the infamous Sipah-e-Sahaba against Christians, an entire community of a given locality was ejected from their houses and their properties given over to the blasphemy-accusers. Many jihadi organizations have also indulged in this business of dispossession of property. Action against the Christian community highlighted the problem internationally, especially as the entire Christian church became a target of the law in sections of the Bible where some Quranic prophets were perceived to be insulted.
No matter what the law is we must remember that civilization forbids such incitement and persecution—regardless of faith—and Latif has not covered Pakistan or his party with glory. Unfortunately, what he has done has brought Pakistan down as a civilized nation.