Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's White In The Flag highlights the stories of Pakistan's minorities
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has launched a multi-year project to educate people about minorities in Pakistan and uplift their stories.
Called White In The Flag, the project informs people about minorities in Pakistan, the issues they face, the legislation used against them and how to help.
"This is a SOC Films project, a multi year project that will keep growing. It stems from Quaid-e-Azam's vision of creating a Pakistan that is tolerant, free and acceptable for all. We hope it grows into a resource used by us and everyone to understand the state of minorities in our country," reads the About page on the website.
"It is in the context of this modern, post-truth world we live in, that we felt a need to create a website that could act as a repository and keep track of all the integral communities that make up the white of the flag, without whom Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan will always remain incomplete."
On her Instagram, Obaid Chinoy described the website as an interactive website that aims to serve as a platform for students, activists, and legislators to come together and be able to discuss possible solutions to the various problems religious minorities in Pakistan face while providing a detailed record of the past, present, and future.
The website has a section on minority stories in which it features films and podcasts on minorities. These include Representations of Minorities in the Media: Ahmadis, Representations of Minorities in the Media: The Mandir, the Defender, Minorities and Social Pariahism, Minorities and Section 295-C, The Story of Abdul Sattar Edhi and Kulsoom Hazara, the Karate Wonder.
The White In The Flag also has a section on human rights defenders, both living and dead. It features short write-ups on Asma Jehangir, Jogendra Nath Mandal, John Joseph, Rashid Rehman, Salman Taseer, Shahbaz Bhatti, Arafat Mazhar, Jibran Nasir, IA Rehman, Peter Jacob, Hina Jilani, Veerji Kohli, Paul Bhatti, Haroon Sarab Diyal, Saif ul Malook, Romana Bashir and Jalila Haider.
Issues such as forced conversions and marriages, land grabbing, target killings, neighbourhood arsonry and mob attacks, media representation and the blasphemy law are also highlighted, as are the punishments for the law.
White In The Flag is a comprehensive collection of information on minorities in Pakistan and will hopefully make people more aware of an important section of our population.
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