gynecologist, the female LSA member said she was invited to participate in interfaith meetings in Lahore and never faced religious discrimination in her daily life. According to a male representative, a cemetery for Bahá’í people in Lahore was allotted to them by the District City Government Lahore and was situated here near University of Education Township campus.
As the Faith is open to conversion and welcomes people of all faiths to acquire knowledge through its impressive libraries, conversion to Bahá’í faith in Pakistan can be traced to the years and decades before the arrival of Iranian Bahá’í people in the country. Talking to The News, a female member narrated her conversion from Islam to Bahá’ísm. Her father, a Muslim in pre-partition Lahore, was fond of reading the scriptures of other religions and encouraged his children to follow in his path. The female LSA member, a Bahá’í convert accompanied her father on a trip to a Bahá’í centre in the city and soon became interested in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. Thereafter, she joined the community and now serves as an elected member of the Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA).
Though the Bahá’í faith has no institutional clergy, there are laws and social customs which regulate the lives of Bahá’í people.
As per the International Bahá’í Council and consensus within the community, followers of Bahá’u’lláh are restricted from entering politics and filling leadership positions. Speaking on this subject, a male LSA member said the purpose behind this was to prevent disunity within the faith on account of rival political alliances and desire of power. Despite voting in Pakistan’s numerous elections, Bahá’í people are not encouraged to disclose their choice of political parties. Worldwide voting for all Bahá’í assemblies takes place through secret ballots and campaigning for seats in the assemblies is strictly prohibited as per Bahá’í scripture, according to LSA members in Lahore.
The Bahá’í Gardens in Haifa, Israel bear special importance for Bahá’í people as they surround the Shrine of Bab where the remains of their prophet Bab was buried after his execution in modern-day Iran. Yet, members of the Bahá’í Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) in Lahore have accepted without reservations the travel ban placed on all Pakistanis by the Government of Pakistan to Israel.
A female LSA member present said it was in the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh to respect the laws of the countries where they reside and to be patriotic citizens. She regretted the discriminatory treatment of Bahá’í people in Iran but said violence should not be met with violence and prayers are regularly offered for the welfare of their Iranian brethren.
