I Thought My Ivy League Degrees Would Protect Me From Bigotry. I Was Wrong.

[phoenixdesi]

Re: I Thought My Ivy League Degrees Would Protect Me From Bigotry. I Was Wrong.

@Muzna

I hear you… and I accept that this is the norm in Pakistan.
I was raised with a different value system and so were all the relatives and social circle that we kept in Karachi (of course they were because people normally associate within the same mindset anyway). But I still witnessed the discriminatory attitudes that prevailed. And I still remember my parents not only being vocal about how wrong it was but also leading by example and working to eradicate those prejudices. May Allah reward them for their efforts…they were well ahead of their time and their example gave me the ability to understand that race, religion and financial status are not relevant factors; that everyone on the face of this earth has been put here by the Almighty and deserves the same rights and level of respect.

There are no grey areas in my mind about the discrimination that is faced by minorities in Pakistan. It is wrong and will always be wrong no matter what guise the attitude is wrapped up in.

Other than add my voice to agree with view points like yours’ or show my disdain in other ways for such practices, is there anything else that I can do to better the situation in Pakistan? Until such time as I am able to vote in Pakistan while I am a citizen of Canada, not really. There isn’t much that I can do to bring about real change.

Should that limitation preclude me from the right to protest against injustice where I live? No.

i would say that your parents were definitely well ahead of the time and like you said, May Allah reward them for their efforts. I am saying this because i know how hard it to stand up for minorities in our society since our society unfortunately punishes and ridicules you instead of rewarding you should you decide to stand for minorities. you are labeled among your relatives and friends as a “moral dramaybaz” or a “weird guy”.

And like i said in my earlier post, I am absolutely not providing excuses to accept any form of discrimination towards us. we shd resist it at any cost but when we are discriminated, we should also promise ourselves not to practice this back-home either.

and you asked what can we do? i would say how about doing those small small things that all of us can do in Pakistan. Like i said in my other post how about we stop our mother, aunt or mother in law from mistreating christian workers or any kam karnay walie at home next time. Stop your father or brother or friends saying bad things about qadyanis/jews/hindus from social perspective. Do not discrminate any resume for racial or ethinic basis no matter what. Hire a qadyani/christian if he is the best guy for the job. These are very simple things that we can do and will collectively make some difference.