Micah Leinbach
Pakistan
3. Elimination of All Forms of Religious Intolerance
Ittehad, Tanzim, Yaqeen-e-Muhkam. Unity. Discipline. And Faith. The nation of Pakistan
is a nation of faith. Our national anthem declares that we are a sacred land, a citadel of faith,
and the symbol of the Almighty’s protection. Pakistan was founded as a nation out of religious
turmoil and conflict, and religion is the very heart of our nation. We are deeply invested in the
future of religion, and religious tolerance. The nation of Pakistan, as a religious nation,
understands that religious tolerance is key not only for the sake of human rights, but for reasons
of politics, economy, and perhaps even world peace.
Legally binding documents on religious tolerance are perhaps powerful statements, but
they are still only words on paper, trying to rely on the enforcement of governments that may
not welcome them. It is better to strike at the root of the problem, solving it at the base rather
than legislating from above – a move that may create more resentment than it does solutions.
In that light, Pakistan would encourage the United Nations to strike at the base of the issue in
certain ways. The most dramatic and unacceptable of forms of religious intolerance is violence
perpetrated on the member of one religion or religious sect, upon the other, based on religious
reasons. Not only is the act, in itself, undesirable – the repercussions may be even greater. It is
this violence, seen on the news and broadcast as propaganda by radical religious groups which
heightens the tension between religions that otherwise should by their own teachings be friends
and peaceful neighbors. What Israeli Jew can give a friendly look to a Palestinian Muslim just
after hearing how that man’s people have bombed the first man’s nation? How can the catholic
and the protestant sit in the same pub in Ireland when just days before some radical group from
one or the other has bombed, and killed? What Pakistani practicing Islam, or Indian practicing
Hinduism, can truly trust and befriend each other after seeing images of a town in Kashmir
shredded by bombs? Surely some can, surely there are stories and exceptions where such
friends have made, and those stories and exceptions have been spread around leaving behind
them a trail of smiles. But in a global media that thrives off of tales of war and conflict, and
inherently within those two hate, such acceptance becomes rare and it becomes difficult. A legal
document by this body would only create punishments, punishments would only create
resentment, resentment would create more rebellion and more chaos – the opposite of our
desires. Rather, this delegate from Pakistan proposes that the United Nations accept religion as
a geopolitical issue as well, and moving from that stance attempts to fix the major conflicts from
a political standpoint of borders, military aggression, and insurgency.
Religious conflict has been land-based for generations, and numerous examples exist
today. Palestine and Israel, embattled over Gaza. Pakistan and India engaged over Kashmir.
Sunni and Shiite in the Middle East. Perhaps Tibet and China could be considered an outlying
sample of cultural conflict. Even the west is not free of this burden, as the United States –
largely Christian – has learned in its engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq. A conflict that is
certainly not religiously based, but has strong religious feeling and undercurrents within it.
Settling such borders, rather than letting the issues fester between the current combatants, by
allowing lands populated by a certain religion with a certain density at a certain population – all
specific numbers that would have to be determined – to determine by popular vote what nation
they shall be a part of, either that of a neighbors, their current one, or by forming their own.
Changing the lines on the map is certainly a large change, but if we are to take this problem,
responsible for so much death, seriously in order to protect the religious rights of all people it is
a change we will have to make. The benefits could be extraordinary, the first step to solving
many of the conflicts that have caused bitterness in the world for decades, if not centuries. It
could reduce world violence, the trade of weapons, and insurgency which in turn would have
economic effects from governments defense funding (and thus taxes) to trade in general, as a
general peace could open up new trade lines. Naturally we would have to start small, with the
clearest conflicts and heavy diplomacy, and tread carefully in order to avoid igniting religious
furor. However the final solution of such a move would very likely be beneficial to the vast
majority of religions and nations, making it a convincing gesture.
The United Nations must further encourage military actions that are designed at
removing non-government militias or military organizations, such as various terror groups, that
operate on a religious basis against international or national laws. A list of criteria should be
developed as to what makes a group an acceptable target, including such things as terror
activity for religious reasons, provoking religious tensions for the purpose of damaging property,
taking lives, or inciting violence, or justifying the violation of laws based on interpretation of
religious teaching. The United Nations should then encourage the elimination of these groups,
stripping them of military power and political power as used for military reasons. Naturally some
leeway must be given to religious groups serving in political office, even if that office has some
military influence, but such relations must be carefully watched according to the criteria on the
list. The criteria for becoming a part of the list should also be discussed and agreed upon by all
nations, so that only the groups undesirable to the common peace, prosperity, and religious
freedom of the common world population are selected by it. With the removal of these religious
hate groups, religious tensions will likely decrease leading to a broader acceptance for all.
Much more local methods can be enacted as well. Regional organizations, groupings of
the faithful, churches, temples, and mosques must be encouraged to preach the peace inherent
in the major religious faiths of today’s world. Larger religious organizations, an example of which
would be the Catholic Church with a central leader with influence all over the world, must be
engaged in the process with a new focus on decreasing religious violence and intolerance
through focus on the common threads of various religions more than the differences, and by
encouraging peaceful discussion through interfaith meetings of some of the most influential
representatives of various faiths. Governments should be encouraged to teach the basics of
many religions in their schools, in order to enhance a greater understanding of each religion
while avoiding talking down any one or preaching up any one. Pakistan feels that greater
religious understanding in a world of lessened religious violence is one of the better ways to
solve the issues of religious intolerance from the bottom up, rather than the top down. The
United Nations must serve as a diplomatic force prompting religious discussion between various
groups and nations, and serve to seek out and encourage the end of religious conflict through
discerning the will of the people in terms of political boundaries. As a wide spanning
international body, it is the perfect catalyst for a wide spanning international discussion of faith,
and an ideal figurehead in the drive to establish the political rights of various religious groups by
helping them belong to a nation or establish a nation predominantly composed of their religion
and religious peers.
Religious tolerance is not an issue that dominates headlines or captures the attention of
the planet when our world is as conflicted as it is. Yet, look anywhere and there are likely
undercurrents of religious faith, conflict, or intolerance masked by politics or other crisis. By
working for religious tolerance the United Nations could remove these undercurrents,
simplifying issues, and making the world a safer, more peaceful place with far greater respect
for a right of mankind that goes back for millennia. The faithful of the nation of Pakistan are
deeply invested in the future of religion and religious tolerance, and beg that the United Nations
take our proposals into consideration.