It is anything but self loathing. It is instead the very basic concept of 'acknowledging a problem so that we can fix it'. Instead of, you know, keeping up false pretenses just to appease my itty bitty little fragile and insecure ego. Especially in a country where the go to MO is to burry one's head in the dirt, repeating the mantra that all is ok. It is not. I've seen it, you've seen it. I admit it, you do not. I do not care how the world sees us, I am not that insecure. I only care how we actually are because believe it or not, that is what matters more. Our house is on fire. It has progressively gotten worse over the past 74 years. Think it's time to wake up, grow up, and maybe be a little less dishonest and defensive.
Firstly, the state and all its institutes are a safety net. The first and most potent line of defense of any society is its societal values. The majority of people refrain from doing what is wrong not because the "state will get them" but because the society as a whole has built a perception/understanding that it is wrong. You do not kill because you know it is wrong, not because you won't be able to get away with it. Your friend in Pakistan does not spit on helpless people because it is wrong, not because he'll face jail time. A man in Britain does not cut in front of you not because the police will come take him but because it is wrong. The state's task is to take care of the outliers in extreme cases. The concepts of religion, culture, and tradition are built upon it. Any freshman student of Sociology, Anthropology, or Law could have told you that.
Secondly, most of the prejudice and oppression a non-Muslim faces in the country comes in matters that fall beyond the capacity and/or responsibility of the state. Can the state come and charge you for telling a non-Muslim to leave Pakistan, as a few on this very thread have done? Or charge Khansaheeb for implying that all minorities are dishonest snakes? I'm sure you've experienced racism against yourself or Islam at least once. How were the laws there able to stop it? Did you go to the police?
Thirdly, the state cannot do anything until there is mass support for it to happen. If the masses do not support the change it will never come about. A) Politicians and civil servants come from the exact same crop, they are 'the people' and a direct representation of the society's mentality. Where the bloody Dickens do you think they come from? How do you expect them to change anything? B) The scant number who can think beyond their societal indoctrination are still more fearful for their seats, if not their lives, than the rights of their minorities, a la Imran Khan and the Ahmadi economists saga. The people built a mazar at the grave of the man who shot the one politician who only suggested that we should review a certain religious law.
So, no. The people of Pakistan are directly to blame for the disproportionate oppression that their minorities face at their and their system's hands. If they weren't then the minorities would be facing exactly as much oppression and prejudice as the rest of us. It is idiotic to even suggest otherwise. The ills of any society are of and from its people. The government, politicians, and state does not import them from elsewhere. Neither can they the cure, the times of divine intervention are long gone. Change never comes from the top, it has to be cultured at the roots. Definitely not when the people sit on their useless behinds claiming that the problem does not even exist.
......Nonesense excuse. The factor here is the degree and the extent. People are killed in all countries, should we let the Indians kill as many Kashmiris as they want?
Another excuse born from insecurities and apathy, again. If there is injustice in your country, society, and/or surrounding then it is your responsibility as a human being, as a Muslim, and as a citizen of Pakistan to do as much as you can against it. If you do not then the one committing the act might be the cancer but you are the rot. Religion, law, common sense, and basic human decency all tell you that. Denying it all together is clearly aiding and abetting.
It never stops our countrymen from burning half of their own city down for something a Dane does thousands of miles away. But "what can I possibly do against bigotry in my own country", eh?
I've explained this bit above.
'Straw man', doesn't have anything to do with the argument. It is not about you and I, it is about our society. Do you also keep your head buried deep under the dirt when it comes to corruption in the country? I'm sure you haven't committed any yourself and don't have to face it as much since you live abroad.
Escapism. Explained above.
This
Anti-blasphemy campaigners bring country to standstill in protest over acquittal of Bibi
and this
Pakistan judge Pervez Ali Shah 'flees death threats'
or this
Punjab Governor Salman Taseer assassinated in Islamabad
maybe this?
American accused of blasphemy is killed in Pakistan Courtroom
Regardless, I've already thoroughly explained it all above.
No one is asking for any privileges for minorities. I am demanding they be oppressed exactly as much as the rest of us and exactly in the same manner and exactly for the same reasons.
Go talk to one of them some time. Ask them.
I have no idea who or what that is.
And to that I said that your statement not only is incorrect but is also idiotic since it has no place in the debate that is going on.
Said every ignorant nobody to every change that has ever come.
Was that directed towards me? If it was then I understand your sentiment. For example, I instead want all halfwits to stay away from passing opinions on Pakistan's affairs. Luckily for both you and I, neither of the two will ever come to pass.