SEMESTER I

A PAPER ON:

BOOK REVIEW ON “ The white Trail : A Journey into the heart

of Pakistan’s religious minorities”
(BY Hareen Khalid)

SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Violet Miranda
Assistant professor, NMIMS School Of Law

SUBMITTED BY:
Mihir Jhanwar
C051
FY BBA LLB (C)
81021019057
“A White Trail: A Journey in to the Heart of Pakistan's Religious Minorities” by Haroon Khalid is
a collection of affliction faced by the minorities in Pakistan before, at the eve, and post
partition. In fact the book also consists of incidents of religious intolerance as latest as those in
2010. The book has been written in form of celebrations of festivals of minorities in Pakistan at
time when puritanical religiosity was in power and such celebrations were not seen as devotion
but rebellion. Moreover, Haroon Khalid, in this book has penned the incidents when victims of
religious intolerance fought back to bring acceptance in private life if not secularism in Public
sphere. Divided in 5 sections with each section for one minority religion, the author has in detail
shared experiences of all the major festivals of all the communities.
Being the major bone of contention between India and Pakistan, the book begins with The
hurdles in the path of bringing tolerance for Hindu culture, describing how from not even
letting Hindus live in Pakistan, the country gradually saw navratri, shivratri being celebrated in
the streets. Followed by this the book focuses on a few other minorities like Christians,
Zoroastrians, Sikhs Et cetera.
The author has managed to weave the entire story as contrast between the past and present of
religious life in Pakistan and how secularism, though still not there in state policy, has found its
place in minds and ideology of people of Pakistan be it the sufferers who have learnt to fight or
the intolerant majority that has grown into accepting and co habiting force.
The book keeps a reader engaged in the events in such a way that by the end it feels relative to
an extent where reader feels first-hand experience. The Book has been relatable because of its
holistic drafting. The author has taken in account every major community affected by the
partition. The Author, through this book, aims to print a picture of how religion if turned
orthodox, can lead to loss of peace, humanity, life and humane existence. This book aims to
explain the reader the importance of educating the youth about the importance of
differentiating between individual and the community he/she belongs to. It has tried to put
forth the approach of Respectable separation of one from one’s religious, cultural or familial
community.
The book is a textual picture of religious life of five communities before, at the eve, and after
partition of India and Pakistan. The book narrates the journey of Pakistan from an orthodox,
tyrannical nation to a not so worse one!

Written by Haroon Khalid, this book has presented a real picture of India Pakistan, pre, at the
eve, and post Partition. The communities that had once knit together and had a harmonious
life, owing to one decision, became bloodthirsty. The lines drawn on borders became fissures
on heart and the people who once lived with brotherhood and love became arch enemies of
one another. The puritanical approach taken up by Muslims in Pakistan was evident in every
walk of life. The oppression was not mainly in form of physical attacks or forced exodus. The
minorities’ basic rights were also hampered. The non-muslim communities and their beliefs,
rituals and festivals were all considered Un-islamic and against the so called peace of Pakistan.
With the rise of military government in Pakistan, things became worse. The puritanical
religiosity grew to such an extent that Minority familes were thrown out of there house and
gradually persecution became an everyday affair. However,The effect of orthodoxy in Pakistan
was not same for all the communities. Hindus, being the majority community of India, was the
one with which Muslims had the worst relations. Partition was not seen as a division of Two
nations but a drift between two communites. India-Pakistan partition was simplistically taken as
hindu-musalman ki jung. The Hindus were killed in their own houses and all those who survived
either had to leave the country or convert to Islam in order to stay alive. Gradually when
Muslims and Hindus started living together the treatment was still not equal. The Hindus were
not allowed to celebrate their own festivals and if they tried to do so actions were taken.
Certain communities like Christians and Zoroastrians were not treated as bad as Hindus.
These two communities were considered neutral and also were seen as the followers of the
book. In act In Pakistan Muslim men were allowed to marry a Christian woman. But it took
place only after conversion. The discrimination in case of these communities was much passive.
As far as Sikh community is considered the things had been different primarily owing to the
following reasons: it was one of the pre dominant communities in Northern part Of Pakistan.
Secondly, it was one of the communities with huge population which strengthened it against
the bigoted approach of Puritanical Muslims.
The author has done a commendable job in the way the book has been penned. He has covered
every major festival of each community mentioned. Even though the Book is outwardly drafted
with a special focus on celebration of religious festivals, but it has covered every nuance of the
period of Partition. Haroon Khalid has successfully been able to draw a comparative picture of
how things used to be and how they have changed over time. The author managed to weave
the entire book so interestingly that reading the book seemed like a historical tour.