Am I secular? Am I Muslim? If I am both, am I still Pakistani?

Star Plus is the most watched channel in Pakistan, and my home is no different.  Though I claim to be the odd one out in family, watching Hum Tv dramas online, Star Plus was my station every Sunday morning for the last three months. Satyamev Jayate was too familiar to be missed, only till the last episode was aired.

Based on the spirit of Indian Constitution, the last episode was much about celebrating the secular identity of India. From a Hindu couple providing education to orphans of Muslim families in Gujarat to a Muslim man voluntarily assisting in funeral rituals of unclaimed dead bodies in accordance with their religion, most stories had some element of religious tolerance to show the true spirit of Indian constitution.

This last episode left me thinking about my own country’s identity- the Islamic identity.  Secular and Islamic, are these two terms mutually exclusive? Can I be secular and a good Muslim at the same time?

The teacher, who made me excel in mathematics, is a Christian. My best friend in kindergarten was a Hindu. I have attended a mass in Church, and I have fed fishes from the temple stairs. I ate turkey on Thanksgiving with a Christian family, and was invited to lunch by a Sikh family.

I have also served food to the homeless in a mosque. I have condemned the disrespectful caricatures made in the name of freedom of speech. I have defended the concept of hijab and polygamy. I wait for the blessed month of Ramazan every year, and I yearn to visit the holiest place on earth- the Kaaba.

Who am I? Am I secular? Am I Muslim? If I am both, am I still Pakistani? 

My country’s flag tells me Pakistan was not made to discriminate on the basis of faith. Its green field represents my Muslim identity and vertical white stripe exhibits the right of my non-Muslim countrymen on this Land of Pure.

My religion tells me to respect the Gods of other religion. It tells me to be kind and just towards all creatures. It tells me to protect the rights of the oppressed, regardless of their creed, cast, colour.

My country’s constitution states:

Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities freely to profess and practise their religions and develop their cultures;

Therein shall be guaranteed fundamental rights, including equality of status, of opportunity and before law, social, economic and political justice, and freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship and association, subject to law and public morality;

Wherein adequate provision shall be made to safeguard the legitimate interests of minorities and backward and depressed classes;

Pakistan was conceived as an Islamic nation. But Islamic does not at all translate into intolerant. Pakistan was supposed to be as secular as any other country on this planet. My religion and my constitution allow me to be secular and a Muslim together, only if my leaders would allow me and many like me to build a Pakistan that our ancestors actually dreamt of.