Double Standards
By: Syed Amaar Ahmad

I am writing in reference to Yasser Latif Hamdani’s article ‘Double standards of our Kharijites’ (Daily Times, December 20, 2010). Mr Hamdani has correctly pointed out that there are double standards in Pakistan when it comes to the marginalised religious communities. While the blasphemy laws ostensibly protect the honour of all religious figures, the state continues to insult the founder of the Ahmedi community by encouraging citizens to call him an imposter. Pakistan’s slide towards obscurantism, intolerance and sectarianism began when our society disregarded Mr Jinnah’s appeal for a state that ensured equal rights for all its citizens and which did not pander to religious or ethnic prejudices. The same forces of regression that once opposed Jinnah insist on the lopsided implementation of the blasphemy laws and pose as Pakistan’s saviours today.