Passport woes: Does the world need to know we are Muslim?

[Dance]

Whenever I travel overseas I feel uncomfortable when the immigration officer opens my passport and looks through my personal details.

It’s not because the colour of my passport is green; what annoys me is the fact that he knows my religion. Why should I tell the official that I am a Muslim? Is my nationality i.e. Pakistani, not enough?

Does it matter if we are Muslims or non-Muslims? We are Pakistanis. Is that not enough for an identity?

I, for one, do not understand the reason for having a religion category on one’s passport, especially seeing all the problems our country has faced because of religious divisions. In the last 50 years or so, the nation has been divided into several religious sections. We have divided the society into Muslims and non-Muslims.

Some might not consider this to be an important issue. But, to tackle the major challenges being faced by our country, we first need to look at the internal problems which we have created ourselves.

Former President Pervez Musharraf tried to abolish this section from the passport when he was in power, however, he back tracked when religious extremists protested. No wonder all leaders are the same (at least in Pakistan’s case). They are strong against civilians but weak when it comes to extremists and external enemies. Musharraf did what one can expect from a Pakistani dictator. He bowed in front of religious zealots.

Being religious is not a problem as long as you do not force your beliefs on others. In our case however, we have taken a very extreme position and scores of people have been killed due to it. People have been killed merely because they belong to a minority community of the society, or because they have expressed their opinions on different religious matters including the blasphemy law.

We need to ask questions which can bring improvements in our society. Questions like why do we want to discriminate against our non-Muslim Pakistani brother and sisters? They are Pakistanis and they love Pakistan as much as we do.

We do not need to tell everyone what faith we believe in. We are Pakistanis and that should be enough for the world and for ourselves.


Passport woes: Does the world need to know we are Muslim? – The Express Tribune Blog

 

[JonAsad]

its not such a big issue- i feel the writer is pissed of because of the strip search he has gone through because of the mention of his religion on the passport-
P.S i find the mention of passport carrier sex useless- Can't people know that by just looking at him her?-

The category i would like to see- is the passport holders sexual orientation- Gay- Straight- Lesbian- Homo- Mono or w/e. These things cannot be known by just looking at a person-

On a serious note- these type of informations are necessary in case of an accident-

 

[Leader]

why even does it bother to this guy to tell anyone that he is a Muslim?

bytheway this can be solved by using a chip datastoring.... mmmuahahah.... so the whole attempt to link it with what he actually meant to link it with, is busted.

 

[PakiPatriot]

definitely identity is most important.

 

[Clutch]

What really matters is....

Muslim indifference to Muslim woes!

Who cares what they think. You expect something form them? Ha, ha... Fools.

 

[Sheikh Rauf]

What a nonsense lets say if your passport carries only bar code which has all the info and it only allows certain people to see whats in side they still know your orientation regardless they will strip you off..
in Pakistan marzai also call themselves muslims and we have form that Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) is last prophet of Allah and no prophet will come after him once you sign you declare ghulam ahmed qadiyani was mardood then you have islam on your passport and i am proud of it.

 

[Old School]

There will be a time when people will regret why they can not show documentation that they are muslim. That day will arrive. If one feels so much shame for openly being a Muslim, that person should use other passports instead of a Pakistani one.

 

[fitpOsitive]

Whenever I travel overseas I feel uncomfortable when the immigration officer opens my passport and looks through my personal details.

It’s not because the colour of my passport is green; what annoys me is the fact that he knows my religion. Why should I tell the official that I am a Muslim? Is my nationality i.e. Pakistani, not enough?

Does it matter if we are Muslims or non-Muslims? We are Pakistanis. Is that not enough for an identity?

I, for one, do not understand the reason for having a religion category on one’s passport, especially seeing all the problems our country has faced because of religious divisions. In the last 50 years or so, the nation has been divided into several religious sections. We have divided the society into Muslims and non-Muslims.

Some might not consider this to be an important issue. But, to tackle the major challenges being faced by our country, we first need to look at the internal problems which we have created ourselves.

Former President Pervez Musharraf tried to abolish this section from the passport when he was in power, however, he back tracked when religious extremists protested. No wonder all leaders are the same (at least in Pakistan’s case). They are strong against civilians but weak when it comes to extremists and external enemies. Musharraf did what one can expect from a Pakistani dictator. He bowed in front of religious zealots.

Being religious is not a problem as long as you do not force your beliefs on others. In our case however, we have taken a very extreme position and scores of people have been killed due to it. People have been killed merely because they belong to a minority community of the society, or because they have expressed their opinions on different religious matters including the blasphemy law.

We need to ask questions which can bring improvements in our society. Questions like why do we want to discriminate against our non-Muslim Pakistani brother and sisters? They are Pakistanis and they love Pakistan as much as we do.

We do not need to tell everyone what faith we believe in. We are Pakistanis and that should be enough for the world and for ourselves.


Passport woes: Does the world need to know we are Muslim? – The Express Tribune Blog

Thanks Allah I saw date of OP.

 

[niaz]

There is nothing wrong in saying proudly you are a believer. I would gladly accept it

Agreed. One cannot run away from what they are and where they are from. I may be a bad Muslim but would never hide my religion from anyone. When dining in foreign countries where the dishes are unknown to me, I always inquire if pork was a part of the ingredient before ordering the same.

Good or bad I am Muslim and like it or lump it.

 

[niaz]

Singapore may be fine but what about food in countries like Romania & Bulgaria which I visited many times on business?

No Halal & even difficult to find vegetarian food. Especially when taken to business diners by the locals, one has to compromise and simply stick to dishes with no pork and non-alcoholic drinks.