Why won’t NADRA recognise the
Kalasha?
May 10, 2012
The
Kalasha women wear a traditional outfit and neck beads as a hallmark of their
Kalasha religion and they don’t cover their faces. PHOTO: SIKANDAR
Did
you know that there is a pre-historic animist religion called Kalasha – a
religion still practised and cherished by the Kalasha
people of the Hindu Kush valley?
Are
you also aware that the Kalasha people don’t even have an option to choose
their religion in the ‘religion box’ endorsed by the National Database and
Registration Authority (NADRA)?
Nadra
came under scrutiny when it refused to rectify typographical errors it had made of a Christian MPA Rana Mahmood that
identified him as a Muslim on his national identity card.
The
issue drew a considerable amount of attention from both the media and human
rights activists, who criticised Nadra for various violations of fundamental
rights. Following the criticism, Nadra issued an official statement apologising for the
error made. The statement reads:
[A]
High level inquiry was ordered by the authority to investigate the matter as to
why such inconvenience was caused to our honourable MPA… [I]t was revealed that
a Nadra data entry operator had mistakenly put his religion down as Islam because
of his Muslim-sounding name.
The
Kalasha community has been a victim of this human rights contravention by Nadra
since the day the ‘religion box’ was introduced by General Ziaul Haq in the
1980s and the ‘Kalasha religion’ was not included in the list of religions.
An
old Kalasha elder confides that,
We didn’t have
any option to have our religion on our identity cards like everyone else, even
though our religion is the oldest of all, so we brought the matter to the
attention of MP Bhandara (MNA elect for minorities), when he
visited the Kalasha Valleys. He made an effort to convince the authorities to
include the Kalasha religion in the list of religions but they didn’t register
Kalasha instead they included
‘others’ in the list of religion as an option.
When
the computerised national identity cards (CNIC) were introduced, the Kalasha
religion appeared in the list of religions for a short while before Nadra
removed it again. (One is led to ask who exactly instigated this removal and
why?)
The
Kalasha tribe has repeatedly protested, demanding recognition for their
religion – an acknowledgement which is their constitutional right to have but
the authorities have shown no interest, constantly ignoring their plea to the
point of even sidelining a recommendation from the Ministry of Minorities Affairs to
include the Kalasha religion in the list of religions.
The
outcome of this ignorance and negligence, due omission, is that it paves a way
for systematic discrimination.
For
example, in Chitral, Nadra officials have repeatedly insisted that the Kalasha
women cover their dresses with a scarf while taking photos for their national
ID cards. The Kalasha women wear a traditional outfit and neck beads as a
hallmark of their Kalasha religion and they don’t cover their faces.
On
the one hand, the Kalasha people are deprived of their rights to maintain their
identity, culture, religion and language as per the constitution, while on the
other hand the
tourism ministry exploits them, making every effort to feature the Kalasha
women in posters and commercial marketing, using them as advertising
assets as the ‘Mystery of the Kalash’ on their brochures and billboards.
And
yet they have no right to be acknowledged or accepted as a separate religion.
With
all this flamboyant advertising, where is the sense in asking them to cover
their traditional neck beads with a scarf in the ID card profile photo?
Can
Nadra’s motives be questioned in this case?
Does
it mean that Nadra is on a mission to assimilate every diverse cultural aspect
of the people of Pakistan?
Nadra
seems to have claimed the right to decide people’s faith, depriving Pakistani
citizens from acknowledging their respective faiths; tarnishing their rich
cultural and religious heritage. In fact, the whole idea of declaring
religion in official documents is absurd, since religion is regarded as a
personal matter.
Having
to declare religion for official use should be treated as a violation of our
basic primary rights. It may lead to discrimination in official as well as daily affairs.
If,
however, declaration of your religious belief is still a prerequisite, then it
is high time Nadra revises its discriminatory policy towards other religions
and either amends the list it has at the moment to does away with it
altogether.
They
have to accept the fact that Kalasha is a separate religion, and they have to
concede to the religious diversity in Pakistan so that every Pakistani, whether
Muslim or non-Muslim can be confident that they are equal before the law
regardless of their religious or spiritual beliefs.
The
mistreatment of the Kalasha people in Pakistan has been very well observed,
noticed and pointed out by Ms Nosheen Abbas, a BBC journalist, who
calls to attention a very important fact about the complex situation they face.
She says,
Pakistanis
would view Kalash culture with disapproval but nevertheless many, mostly men,
still flock to the valleys from around the country to experience the liberation
the festival offers.
The Kalash use the blanket term “Punjabi” for the Pakistani men who suddenly show up in the village staring at women, trying to “chat them up”, and making many feel uncomfortable. They do not consider themselves Pakistani. In fact, they call anybody from elsewhere in the country “Pakistani” – as if that term would not cover themselves as well.
The Kalash use the blanket term “Punjabi” for the Pakistani men who suddenly show up in the village staring at women, trying to “chat them up”, and making many feel uncomfortable. They do not consider themselves Pakistani. In fact, they call anybody from elsewhere in the country “Pakistani” – as if that term would not cover themselves as well.
The
Kalasha tribe, like every other minority group, deserves what the constitution
provides for them; the basic right of recognition and acknowledgement.
