Opinion

Persecution of Muslim Ahmadis in Pakistan intensifies

photo_camera Atalayar_ persecución de los áhmadis musulmanes en Pakistán

The Yama'at Ahmadia of Islam (Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) is established in 210 countries around the world. This Community was founded in Qadian, India, in 1889 by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who was a great Muslim theologian and reformer. The movement he started is an embodiment of the benevolent message of Islam: peace, universal brotherhood, universal justice and submission to the will of God. It rejects any form of terrorism and opposes the concept of aggressive violence to spread religion, i.e. the current concept of "Jihad". The extremist ulemas are vehemently opposed to this peaceful interpretation of Islam. They have used it as an excuse to excommunicate this Community from the fold of Islam. In Pakistan and in some other Muslim countries, the "mul'lahs" (the medieval orthodox clergy), politicians and the military in power have cooperated with each other to repress and persecute this reformist Community.

Three days ago, a terrible murder was committed in broad daylight of a young Muslim Ahmadi doctor in the Nankana district of Pakistan. 

Dr. Tahir and his family had come to celebrate Friday's service at the private residence of a member of the Community in Murh Balochan, Nankana district, Punjab, Pakistan.

As he was leaving the house after the service, accompanied by his father and two of his uncles, he was shot by a teenager. Dr Tahir died instantly, and the other three companions were seriously injured. Dr Tahir's father, Tariq Ahmad, is in critical condition at the hospital. The other two seriously injured are in hospital.

Atalayar_ Dr. TahirThis is the fifth Ahmadi to die from persecution for his faith this year, and the fourth in just four months. Anti-Ahmadi groups in Pakistan have intensified their perverse hate campaign against the Ahmadis because of their faith and beliefs. The Ahmadis, under the country's laws, are helpless and completely deprived of their civic rights, freedom of religion and practice. The public, particularly young people, is openly encouraged to kill Ahmadis to gain a place in paradise.

We call on the international community in the hope that it will take a firm stand against these horrible acts of barbarism, and confront the Government of Pakistan to ensure the safety of Ahmadi citizens, who are law-abiding and peace-loving, and who deserve the same rights and protection as any other citizen of Pakistan.

Review study 

In 1974, Mr. Z.A. Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, considered it a political advantage to impose "non-Muslim" status on Muslim Ahmadis through a constitutional amendment. The "mul'lahs" supported this vile amendment tooth and nail. This change opened the door to the persecution of the Community. Since then, the state and the Mul'lahs have acted side by side to severely persecute the Ahmadis.

Ten years after the Amendment, in 1984, the dictator President Zia-ul-Haq issued Ordinance XX which adversely affected the daily lives of the Ahmadis. This legislation made it an offence punishable by three years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine if the Ahmadis practised, propagated or even proclaimed their faith in Islam.
Yohanan Friedmann, an academic researcher, has written in his book "Prophecy Continuous": "The Decree issued by the President on 26 April 1984 goes a long way towards accepting the most extreme anti-Ahmadi demands and transforms much of the Community's daily life into a criminal offence". (University of California Press, 1989; p. 46)

This law violates the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion in Article 20. It blatantly violates Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, contravenes the spirit of the UN Charter and is a clear affront to the UN General Assembly's Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.

The UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities expressed its 'grave concern' over the enactment of this Ordinance and requested the UN Commission on Human Rights to request the government of Pakistan to repeal it (E / CN. 4 / Sub.2 / 1985 / L.42 of 27 August 1985). However, this Ordinance Law is continuously applied.

As a result, since 1984, hundreds of Ahmadis have been killed for their faith and the authorities have not prosecuted even 5% of the aggressors. In 2010, 86 faithful Muslim Ahmadis were killed in two mosques in Lahore in a terrorist attack. The authorities decided not to act during the massacre; there is very reliable evidence that they colluded with the terrorists. The PML (N) party was in power at the time. In October 2005, eight Ahmadis were killed and 20 injured when religious fanatics fired bullets at worshippers at an Ahmadi mosque in Mong, Mandi Bahauddin district.The killers were later arrested but released by a court. In March 2012, police tortured to death the Ahmadi president of a local community. In July 2014, an Ahmadi woman and her two granddaughters, including a seven-month-old baby, died of asphyxiation in an arson attack in the presence of police.

Both the state and the "mul'lahs" have attacked Ahmadi mosques. Twenty-eight mosques have been demolished, 39 were sealed by the authorities, 23 were burned or damaged and 17 have been forcibly occupied by opponents since 1984.

Atalayar_ comunidad ahmadia rezando

In June 2008, an Ahmadiyya mosque under construction in Kotli district was blown up. On 14 January 2010, the Punjab authorities handed over an Ahmadi Mosque in Ahmad Nagar to non-Ahmadis, although it was built by Ahmadis on Ahmadi owned land and was under Ahmadi administration for 20 years. Recently, a threatening mob attacked the Ahmadiyya Mosque in Dulmial on 12 December 2016. After the confrontation, the authorities closed the only mosque there; this is what the criminal gang demanded. The mosque was closed by the authorities and the faithful are not allowed to gather for worship. In May 2018, a mob destroyed a historic Ahmadiyya mosque in Sialkot in the presence of the police. Later, riot leaders thanked the district administration for its substantial support.

The anti-Ahmadiyah law has been misinterpreted and misapplied throughout Pakistan, often outside of all contexts. For example, in the mourning of the survivors of the dead, more than thirty Ahmadi bodies have been dug up from public cemeteries, despite the fact that there is no provision in the law for this heinous act. In December 2012, criminals in collusion with the police desecrated and damaged 120 graves in the Ahmadiyah Cemetery in Model Town, Lahore. The police itself did the same with 23 gravestones in Jaranwala.

Under the law, Ahmadis cannot vote unless they do so as "non-Muslims. Those who believe in Islam must sign an affidavit of faith about "the completion of the Prophethood" and deny being Ahmadi in order to vote. Ahmadis are placed on a separate list of voters as non-Muslims. The recent 2017 Elections Law was amended to include all discriminatory and prohibitive provisions to prevent Ahmadis from voting.

In the city of Rabwah, which serves as the centre for the Community in Pakistan, and where 95% of the residents are Ahmadis, the local councils do not have a single Ahmadi representative. The Ahmadis have virtually no voice in the affairs of the local union councils. As a result, essential civic services such as water, streets, sewage, etc. are in a deplorable state in this city of 60,000 people.

The right of the Ahmadis to assemble peacefully in religious assemblies has been severely restricted. The annual Community Convention in Rabwah has been banned since 1984, while non-Ahmadis, with the help of the government, can hold numerous open-air conferences slandering the Ahmadis every year in Rabwah, causing unrest and discomfort to its residents and blatantly injuring their feelings. The government changed the name from Rabwah to Chenab Nagar in 1999 against the wishes of its residents.

In the field of education, Ahmadi students are subject to blatant prejudice in public institutions of higher education and vocational education. The events that occurred in Punjab Medical College Faisalabad during June and July 2008 are well known. The director suspended all 23 Ahmadi students, male and female. In 2011, ten students were expelled from their schools in the Hafizabad district and seven in the Chakwal district, solely because of their faith. In 2016, a third year Ahmadi boy and a student from the pre-school class were expelled from a school in Attock.

This deplorable anti-Ahmadia law (Ordinance XX) continues to be applied extensively and negligently. Violations of Ahmadi religious freedom are systematic, continuous and egregious. To date, more than 3,500 criminal cases have been registered against Ahmadis throughout Pakistan under the provisions of the anti-Ahmadi laws and other religious laws such as the blasphemy laws. The entire population of Rabwah has been registered twice in criminal proceedings (FIR), and cases remain open. Since the issuance of Ordinance XX, hardly a day has passed without an Ahmadi being imprisoned for an offence or incident rooted in his faith. Last year, police opened criminal cases against 62 Ahmadis based on their religion.

For more than three decades, the Ahmadi community in Pakistan has experienced prolific and persistent hate propaganda in the local media. Social networks have joined this ugly race. Anti-Ahmadi news, opinion articles and comments are often grossly misleading, provocative and orchestrated. The law does not allow the Ahmadis to explain their position in public (proselytism!), while the authorities, in the name of freedom of the press and media, do not instruct those who traffic in hate to stop doing so. Referring to the Ahmadiyya situation in Pakistan, the International Humanist and Ethical Union conveyed to the UNHRC in 2010: "We need to remind the Council and the government of Pakistan that it was the support of the government and the media for hate speech that led to the Nazi Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda".

Atalayar_ Ahmadies

Unfortunately, the judiciary provided little relief to the persecuted community. Local courts in general, and higher courts often interpret anti-ahmadia laws very harshly. Even the Supreme Court made the nonsensical inference in 1993 that an Ahmadi who shows any commitment to the Islamic faith commits blasphemy against the Holy Prophet [lpbD]. With such a vague definition of "blasphemy" and the attitude of the Supreme Court, hundreds of Ahmadis have been exposed to the nonsense of the blasphemy law that now prescribes nothing but death for its victims. To date, over three hundred Ahmadis have faced fabricated charges under the blasphemy law. In October 2017, three Ahmadis were unjustly charged under PPC 295-C and sentenced to death. In 2018, Judge Siddiqui of IHC wrote a 172-page sentence against the Ahmadis, without giving an Ahmadi a minute's hearing. His trial is written as if it were written by a "mul'lah". 

Since the death of General Zia in 1988, no government, democratic or military, has provided any relief to the Ahmadis. Pakistan takes a medieval approach in its treatment of the Ahmadis. They also continue to suffer severe discrimination and persecution under the current democratic regime, in all areas of personal and public life. The severity of the state-supported persecution has forced thousands of Ahmadis to flee the country and seek refuge abroad. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan wrote frankly in its annual report: "The Ahmadis faced the worst discrimination and remained effectively deprived of their rights. The HRCP (Human Rights Commission of Pakistan) continued to demand the full restoration of the joint electorate". International human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and the US International Religious Freedom Commission have often reported on the plight of the Ahmadis in Pakistan. The situation has worsened since democratic governments took power in 2008. The new government led by Imran Khan has also failed to show any relief.

"Blood, Jihad and the Duty to Kill" has been discussed in the popular electronic media in the Ahmadiyya context, and there have been murders of Ahmadi leaders. In 2011, the "mul'lahs" declared the Ahmadis "deserving of death" and published in leaflets addresses of prominent Ahmadis and their businesses in Sargodha, Faisalabad and Khushab. The authorities did not take any action against the instigators. The persecution of the Ahmadis in Pakistan will only end if the specific draconian laws against the Ahmadis, which are an affront to human rights and freedom of religion, are repealed.