Pakistan suffers from an image crisis in Bangladesh and the rest of the world. However, Imran Khan emerging as prime minister has generated considerable interest in the country by South Asia and other places of the world. Everyone is eager to see the outcome of his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI)’s vision of ‘Naya Pakistan’ or ‘New Pakistan.’
A good way to assess the depth of democracy in any country is to observe the state of minorities there. It is not yet the time to evaluate PTI’s performance and rule, but it is indeed surprising that Imran Khan’s government has not kept any member of the minority communities in the cabinet.
Pakistan has a population of 22 crore (220 million), with about 1 crore (10 million) non-Muslims. But Khan’s 21-member cabinet (15 ministers and 6 advisors) does not have a single representative from the minorities. It is not just at the centre, but even in an important province as Punjab, PTI’s cabinet has no Christian, Hindu or Sikh member. Nor is there anyone from the Ahmediya community. Yet there are almost 70 thousand Ahmediya’s in Punjab’s Chenab province.
It looks as if there is no inclusion of the minorities in the New Pakistan that Imran Khan envisages to build. Yet in the National Assembly, PTI has three Hindus and two Christian members. Imran Khan has not deemed it fit to select any of them as minister or advisor.
Such indifference towards the minority communities is noticeable among mainstream politicians in all South Asian countries. When Narendra Modi formed his cabinet in May 2014, room was made for only one single Muslim (Najma Hepatulla). Later, to save face, he increased this number to three. It was worse that when BJP won the 2014 election, they did not have a single elected Muslim member of the Lok Sabha. Among all the parties, there were a total of 23 Muslim Lok Sabha members, just four per cent of the entire Lok Sabha. Yet Muslims constitute 14 to 15 per cent of the country’s population, warranting at least 80 Muslim members in the Lok Sabha.
It is no different in Bangladesh. When the incumbent government came to power in 2014, the 49-member cabinet had three members of the minority. The cabinet size was expanded, but not the number of minority members. For long, no member from the minorities was made a full minister. In parliament, there are only 19 minority persons among the 350 members, that is, just 5.42 per cent. Of the 50 reserved seats for women in parliament, only one seat has gone to a member of a minority community.
In December 2016, the Hindu Buddha Christian Oikya Parishad took up the issue and demanded that the number of minorities in parliament be increased. This group has renewed this demand now, ahead of the next parliamentary polls. They want 60 seats in parliament to be reserved for members of the ethnic and religious minorities. They feel that the political parties too should accommodate minorities in 20 per cent of their parties’ organisational structure. Their justification is ‘political representation proportionate to the population.”
The Hindu Buddha Christian Oikya Parishad claims that it represents the 17.5 million members of the minority. They have been rallying for political inclusion of the minorities for over the past two and a half years, but no political party seems to be the least bit interested. In any democratic system, the mainstream political parties have the responsibility to pay attention to the demands of the minority communities. This is most important.
The ‘minorities’ in Bangladesh are mainly concentrated in certain particular areas. Yet there are hardly any instances of them being elected as people’s representatives from these areas. The major political parties are more interested in fielding candidates from among the majority. There are certain constituencies in Greater Sylhet where non-Muslim, non-Bengali minor ethic groups are large enough in number to impact on the votes. The parliamentary seats of Kamalganj-Srimangal, Kulaura and Juri-Barlekha can be mentioned in this context. Let alone any member of parliament, these constituencies do not even have a single upazila chairman from the minority community. In the northern region too, though there is a large number of voters from among the Santal and other ethnic communities. Joint secretary general of the Tribal Welfare Association Aranya E Chiran gave an account of the religious and ethnic minorities in the Mymensingh-Netrakona region.
Another young organiser of the religious and ethnic minorities, Utpal Biswas, claimed to this writer that there are at least 35 constituencies in the country where minorities make up over 30 per cent of the voters. In one or two constituencies, these are almost 50 per cent. In at least 10 seats, the number of non-Muslim voters is 40 per cent. They strongly demand nomination (‘reserved seats’) for these 35 constituencies where the religious and ethnic minorities constitute 30 to 50 per cent of the population.
Obviously such demands are debatable. Many will not agree to such demands. But, surely these issues can be discussed. Experts say that the minorities can be given due representation without doing injustice to the majority. This can be done through proportionate voting. The demand for proportionate representation is being discussed at a national level.
Like the minorities, the fate of the smaller political parties lies in this deliberation. Even if these parties got one per cent of the votes each, proportionately they could get three seats in parliament. The 17.5 million Hindus, Buddhists and Christians can similarly demand increased representation in this process. The minorities have nothing to those through this. There can be an alternative like the reserved seats for women. But the precondition to selecting any alternative means is a dialogue.
It is important for all South Asian countries to engage in dialogue with the minorities. There is need in Bangladesh too to exchange views with the minorities before the elections. Without such exchanges and reforms, the situation may not be conducive for free, fair and credible elections or for representation of the minorities. This happened in India and Pakistan. In both countries the governments were elected through relatively free elections. And yet the deep sighs of the millions of minority people have simply been lost in the frenzy of the free elections. Can we not change this situation in Bangladesh?
*This piece has been rewritten in English, Published: 20 Sep 2018
