Prime Minister Imran Khan is continuously raising his voice against Islamophobia at every forum of the world since he came to power. The premier’s determination is now bearing fruit as influential countries of the world seem ready to take steps to eradicate Islamophobia.
Recently, Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, in a tweet, wrote: “Islamophobia is unacceptable. Full stop. We need to put an end to this hate and make our communities safer for Muslim Canadians”. Trudeau also announced the appointment of a special representative to combat it.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke against Islamophobia and said disrespecting Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) did not count as the “expression of artistic freedom”. Blasphemy of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is a “violation of religious freedom and the violation of the sacred feelings of people who profess Islam,” Putn stated.
Blasphemy cannot be tolerated, which is a fact, and no one has the right to create hurdles in life of the followers of any religion. Wherever we hear the word phobia, the first thing comes to mind is: Islamophobia because this word is widely used in Pakistan. But if we look at the plight of the minorities in Pakistan, we realize that the disease of Christian phobia is on the rise.
A phobia is an intense fear or hatred of something. If we look at the Christian phobia in Pakistan, everyone will be shocked knowing the truth. Christians are considered as third class citizens in spite of providing Pakistan with education and valuable services in the field of health.
Somewhere in the country, Christians are being tortured every day by extremist elements on the basis of religion alone. Christians living in Pakistan have never been involved in religious extremism or anti-state activities, rather, they perform their duties faithfully. But even so, they are not given equal citizenship status.
On Sunday, unidentified motorcyclists shot one Pastor dead and injured one of his companions in Peshawar. There are numerous incidents like this. Forced conversions too are clear examples of Christian phobia in Pakistan. Christians are not safe in Pakistan at the hands of extremists, neither their honor and wealth, but should the world eradicate Islamophobia?
The question here is whether those people, who are raising their voices against Islamophobia, will ever take steps against the injustice in the country. Here, the homes of Christians are set on fire by making false accusations. It is a great honor of Russia, Canada and other countries that instead of ignoring one of your respondents, they have started preparing to stop it before it becomes a problem.
But despite hundreds of incidents in Pakistan, no one is ready to take this issue seriously. There may be a few instances in Europe where Muslims have been targeted, but it is also true that criminals are punished there. It is also a fact that in Western countries, Muslims are given high government positions without being asked about their caste or religion. But no Christian can hold a key position in Pakistan.
Those who are gladly embracing the statement of Canadian PM, if they look at the asylum applications of Pakistani Muslims in Europe and Canadian immigration, will probably not find a place to hide.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken an important step for Muslims by raising the issue of Islamophobia and now there is a need to take steps to curb the growing religious extremism in Pakistan so that Christian phobia can be eradicated in Pakistan.
