Re: Where are the Pakistani Dalits
Islam places emphasis on "Taqwa", which determines partially a person's place in society and wholly in the eyes of Allah. Islam also lends support to the concept of rights/privileges by virtue of noble birth.
Probably, in "spiritual realm" (in the world hereafter or in pure religious sense ), Islam sets "taqwa as a criterian" to define a person's status (e.g. Allah likes those who have taqwa) but in "temporal realm" (in this world or in the sense of politics and civic rights), it retains the old class-based structure of society, where some are elite and some inferior (i.e. you may be having 'taqwa" but may be still be poor and underprivileged). To the poor are the promises of "jannah" (heaven) and for a person of noble birth are the lavishes of this world.
Sectarianism also influences all this e.g. in a Shia state a Shia may be more privileged than a Sunni. In the Wahabi state of Saudia, a person subscribing to Wahabi doctrine has a higher status.
Islam, like other religions, fails to propound a system where all people have equal opportunity and status, in terms of civic rights, irrespective of religious/sectarian affiliation, caste, or color. Western democratic secularism far outweights Islam in this regard.
Also, practically, social and political dynamics are driven by concrete interests rather than "taqwa" and martial and religious classes manage to grab almost all the privilges taking advantage of the abiguity or justification, for elitism, in religious teachings.