{"id":1854,"date":"2016-06-01T19:41:28","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T09:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/?p=1854"},"modified":"2016-06-01T19:41:28","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T09:41:28","slug":"the-day-i-declared-my-best-friend-kafir-just-so-i-could-get-a-passport-dawn-01-jun-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khanfactor.com\/blog\/?p=1854","title":{"rendered":"The day I declared my best friend kafir just so I could get a passport – Dawn – 01.Jun 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are a conscientious Pakistani, or if you don?t live under a rock, it is hard to ever forget or ignore the kind of infuriating discrimination and shameful persecution that members of the Ahmadiyya community suffer in our country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You console yourself by thinking, ?at least I personally don?t discriminate or persecute?.<\/p>\n

And, if you?re outspoken, you think, ?I won?t and don?t ever let it happen in front of me?.<\/p>\n

But then, there is a point in time when you are forced by the lottery of birth, and the Constitution of Pakistan, to become party to the state-sponsored discrimination of Ahmadis.<\/p>\n

This is the time when you go to perform a simple act of citizenship: get or renew a passport.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also read: A guide to growing up Ahmadi in Pakistan<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The last time I got a passport back home, I was able to duck the question: you know the one right at the end where you have to sign to attest to the accuracy of all information on your application form ? and that Ahmadis are infidels.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Passport<\/div>
\n
Passport application form. ?Photo by Manan Ahmed Asif<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Somehow, through the miracle of bureaucracy where nobody has enough time to go through your application in minute detail, my little act of defiance went by unnoticed and I was handed my passport.<\/p>\n

Even as I write this, I weigh the pros and cons of putting this out there. At the risk of sounding self-important, I don?t want a bigot in the government or with any connections to the government to become aware of this loophole.<\/p>\n

This time, I had to apply for a new passport at an embassy of Pakistan. With a far fewer number of applications, the officials did have the time to catch my ?mistake?.<\/p>\n

Here?s how the conversation went:<\/p>\n

Official: ?You didn?t sign this attestation.?
\nMe: ?Oh, right. I actually didn?t want to.?
\nOfficial: ?Then you will have to declare yourself non-Muslim.?
\nMe: ?OK.?
\nOfficial: ?You will have to have that changed in Nadra records.?
\nMe: ?OK.?<\/p>\n

We share an awkward moment of silence as I hope in futility that my one-word answer will halt the conversation and I will walk out of there without having to do this.<\/p>\n

Official: ?So, please sign it.?
\nMe: ?But I didn?t sign it in Karachi.?
\nOfficial: ?Madam, please don?t create more issues for us. We are just an embassy.?<\/p>\n

I am ashamed to admit, I picked up the pen and I signed it.<\/p>\n

My hands shook as I forced myself to go through a motion that would go against every belief I dearly hold, every fibre of my being.<\/p>\n

An action that would mean I was declaring myself party to causing the anger and the pain I have heard in my friends? voices, as I sat across hearing horrific stories of growing up in a country that sounded so alien yet, so real.<\/p>\n

Also read: Ahmadis, seared to the wall<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

I did grow up as a member of an endangered minority too, but at least the state considers us full citizens. For now.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, I had argued with one of my close friends ? an Ahmadi ? who said that every person who signs that declaration to get a Pakistani passport is giving his\/her consent to the state-sponsored discrimination enabled by the Second Constitutional Amendment.<\/p>\n

I disagreed vehemently; I felt offended.<\/p>\n

It is not fair, I shot back, to assume that, because there can be no consent where there is force ? the state forces me to sign this declaration<\/mark> because it can, it doesn?t make it optional for me.<\/p>\n

This is not to deny that most Pakistanis do believe that Ahmadis are infidels, but signing that declaration isn?t the evidence for it, opinion polls are.<\/p>\n

Also read: Keep Hajj out of politics ? Notes on the ?Are you Shia?? form debacle<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

That conversation went through my head in the seconds that I prepared myself to sign my name on a declaration that I find perverse, discriminatory, and wholly unjust.<\/p>\n

I still believe that because I was forced to sign it, I did not give my consent to it.<\/p>\n

But that realisation does little to shake away the feeling of disgust and helplessness I felt in the process of establishing my relationship with my country but giving up my conscience.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are a conscientious Pakistani, or if you don?t live under a rock, it is hard to ever forget or ignore the kind of infuriating discrimination and shameful persecution that members of the Ahmadiyya community suffer in our country. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[440,549,59],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t