By Sargam RajpootDid someone just say ‘identity’? What is your identity? Almost all of us are asked about our belonging, who we are, and what exactly our identity is? Enquiring some Hindu community members in Chaklala Cantt., Rawalpindi, I found that most of them hide their identities by changing their names. Everyone has a right to own their identity without any hesitation, according to Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan. However, this is not often the case due to the fear of being questioned or persecution based on one’s religious identity or a ‘non-Muslim’ name.
Violent incidents like this left a scar of sadness and trepidation among the Hindus living in Rawalpindi and, arguably, led to the change of names and the hiding of their identities, mainly in educational institutes and workplaces.
Hiding identity to avoid discriminatory treatment at hospitals
Kamlesh Keshav*, 32 years old, a resident of Chaklala Gracy lines, said that “I was wearing maang [sindur] when I first visited Rawalpindi’s, a well-known government hospital for my maternity checkup. Seeing the maang, the doctor had immediately asked me to tell my name, and upon hearing that, she lined up with multiple questions. Even the nurses kept asking me whether I was from India or what my name meant. This kept on repeating until all my next checkups”.
She became frustrated and switched to a private clinic for her further checkups. “I changed my name from Kamlesh Keshav to Sonia when I went for my next maternity checkup. I even stopped wearing maang (sindur) so that I’m no longer questioned for being Hindu”, she further added. In a shaky and heavy voice, Keshav concluded that “I am scared of telling my original name to doctors, and I fear if they’d harass me, or will they give me a proper treatment?”
Lady hid her religion after being teased by students
Farzana Bibi, 70 years old, informed Ravadar that “when I first got a job as a sanitary worker in a Women University of Rawalpindi, people thought I was a Muslim due to my name that was similar to theirs’. Upon knowing my religion [Hindu], they would seem surprised and ask me a dozen questions that felt weird to me”.She further narrated, “some girls studying in the department where I used to work heard about me being Hindu reacted badly in a sarcastic way. Whenever I crossed paths with them, they joined their hands, saying ‘Namaste’ and calling out various Hindi expressions (like Jai Shree Ram, Jai Hanuman) and names of our holy personalities, which they’ve learned through Indian TV shows. For many days this left me in a complete, distressed trauma. I became depressed. I didn’t know how to react to those words and just smiled. I tried to hide my identity, and the next time when someone asked about my religion, I told them that I was a Christian to escape from those questions and taunts”.
Shouldn’t students be taught to respect everyone? The above case shows how university students disrespected an older woman by mocking Hindi expressions and teasing her. Didn’t they think even once that she’s the age of their mother or grandmother, and what would she have to go through after seeing young girls teasing her?
Eight other interviewees told Ravadar that they had to change their children’s original Hindu names so that no one could tease, taunt, harass, or threaten them. These parents want to prevent their children from what they had faced during their time in schools, such as discriminatory behaviors from teachers and other students, which hindered their studies. Most of them had to either switch schools or quit it half away.
Hindu boy changed his name for different jobs
Karan Bhatti, 33 years old, explained how he kept changing his name for every other job he applied for. He said, “when I started my job as a sales boy in a clothing store for the first time, I was invited to accept Islam on the second day of my job because I was the only Hindu there. This startled me, and I came back home agitated. After some days, I left my job out of depression and stress”. He further added that “this fearful event led me to change my name for any other jobs I applied for in the future. I even changed my children’s name, so they don’t have to face discrimination and bullying for being Hindu”.
Some claim, such as Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, that minorities enjoy ‘complete freedom’ in Pakistan. It has become a fact based on the plethora of evidence that there is a deep-rooted prejudice exists against religious minorities; otherwise, why do many Hindus still have to change their name or hide their identity when applying for a job, enrolling their children in school, during checkups, or at a job?
Victim(s) names used in this blog have been anonymized to protect their identity.
