In the holy month, even minorities in Pakistan exert self-control

By Ayesha Nasir

LAHORE // For Naila Ishtiaq, 48, the month of Ramadan is a reminder of the paradoxes she lives with every day. A Catholic by birth, Mrs Ishtiaq bears a Muslim name, covers her head with a dupatta and gets more gifts on Eid than Christmas.“Everyone I work for gives me clothes and gifts for my children on Eid, but hardly anyone remembers to do so on Christmas,” she said. “It’s as if people forget that Christians have different celebrations and traditions from Muslims.”

For Mrs Ishtiaq, Ramadan is a month when she fasts by compulsion and not by choice, as all Pakistanis, regardless of their religion, are forbidden from eating, drinking and smoking in public during the hours of fasting.Mrs Ishtiaq works a morning shift at a gymnasium and an evening shift in an upper middle class household where she serves as assistant chef and waitress. “In the mornings, the cafeteria at the gymnasium is closed and the water dispensers are nowhere to be seen, which means that someone who isn’t fasting can’t find even a sip of water or a morsel of food,” she said at the house where she works, wiping perspiration off her face with her muslin dupatta. “Everyone at the house I work at in the evening also fasts so food is not served to anyone till the evening prayer.”

Christians are the largest religious minority in Pakistan, comprising 1.5 per cent of the population of 145 million. According to Amnesty International, Pakistan ranks low in terms of minority rights.Mrs Ishtiaq’s husband, Ishtiaq Masih, had similar complaints. “We have breakfast before daybreak and then from then onward, we can’t even find a sip of water,” he said. “To ask for food would be to invite wrath upon us.”

The prohibition on eating and drinking during Ramadan in Pakistan was implemented in 1981 when the then president Zia-ul-Haq issued the Ehtaram-e-Ramadan (Respect for Ramadan) Ordinance, which made eating, drinking or smoking in public during fasting hours illegal and punishable with a fine of 500 Pakistani rupees (Dh22) and up to three months in prison.While the ordinance has proven popular with observant Muslims, who see it as preserving the sanctity of Ramadan and making life easier on those fasting by removing the sight of non-fasters eating and drinking, rights activists say it impinges on the rights of those not fasting, in particular minorities.

“Basically the ordinance implies that by not fasting you are a bad Muslim or a bad person, and if you’re not observing Islam, too bad; you will still not have access to food or drink,” said Scherezade Abbas, a human rights activist in Lahore. “The law has taken a private religious custom and converted it into a public imposition.”The religious scholar Mufti Ashiq Hussain, who works at the influential madrasa Jamia Ashrafia in Lahore, said the prohibitions on eating and drinking helped Muslims bear the difficulties of fasting and were correct according to Sharia.

“We strongly support such amendments because we believe that in an Islamic country, all laws should be in accordance with Islamic traditions and laws,” he said.Because of the popularity of such viewpoints, few believe the law will ever be repealed.Asadullah Ghalib, a columnist for the Urdu daily The Express, said: “There is no organised movement to amend this law because the minorities in Pakistan are so illiterate and terrified that they rarely ever raise their voices. Also, given the atmosphere of fundamentalism sweeping the country, any amendment perceived to be anti-Islamic will be met with rage.”

On MM Alam Road, a Lahore street known for its upmarket restaurants, almost all the restaurants are shuttered during fasting hours. A single restaurant was conducting business through a side entrance but had huge posters pasted all around stating that only takeaway was allowed and sit-ins would be fined.Mrs Ishtiaq said clamping down on eating and drinking during Ramadan seemed to defeat the purpose of the month. “I thought Ramadan was about exerting self-control and helping Muslims learn how to resist the temptations of life,” she said. “When [Christians] fast, no special arrangements such as these prohibitions are made and yet we manage to fast properly.”

The month is particularly hard for Yusuf Masih, 28, a Christian who works at a hotel from midday until after the breaking of the fast, spending much of his shift in the kitchen preparing food for iftar.“Often I help the chef prepare the evening buffet by chopping up vegetables, stirring the sauces and doing other such chores,” he said. “But even when I am surrounded by the smell of food, I don’t dare taste anything for fear of offending my colleagues. I prefer staying hungry and thirsty.”

(The National)