Relief denied to the four Ahmadi children incarcerated for months on false accusation of blasphemy

---Ahmadiyya Foreign Missions Office, Rabwah, Pakistan

Human Rights - Fax

June 15, 2009

Relief denied to the four Ahmadi children incarcerated for months on false accusation of blasphemy

Layyah: Four Ahmadi school children and an adult were arrested in January 2009 in District Layyah in a fabricated case of blasphemy. There is no evidence, and no witness to the involvement of the accused in the incident.

Extremist mullas made it an issue and threatened agitation. Self-seeking politicians decided to support them. The police found it convenient to arrest the accused despite absence of evidence against them. Well-known human rights NGOs acted fast, made on-the-spot inquiries and found no substance in accusation against the five Ahmadis. They said that in their published reports.

The children remained behind bars for months. On every court appearance, the police requested extension in Judicial Remand which the court granted. The accused thought that this was perhaps to let the extremists’ temperature cool down.

It is now learnt that Mr. Sadaqat Ullah Niazi, the Additional Session Judge Layyah, on June 12, 2009, finally decided to refuse the accused’s plea for release on bail.

The children will now continue to suffer in prison for a crime they did not commit. In their tender age they have to endure severe hardship of Pakistani prison in extreme hot summer, even when they have not been tried and found guilty. Obviously the state continues to sustain and nourish extremism, despite its own suffering and agony at the hand of extremists.

The children need help in this environment of suicidal dissolution.

Four Ahmadi school children and an adult remain incarcerated twelve weeks after arrest on a faux charge of blasphemy

--- Ahmadiyya Foreign Missions Office, Vikalat Tabshir

Urgent

Human Rights update

Fax

April 22, 2009

Four Ahmadi school children and an adult remain incarcerated twelve weeks after arrest on a faux charge of blasphemy
The applied penal clause carries death penalty.
Authorities decide to persecute the innocent rather than confront the bullying mulla
This case symbolizes the current non-governance by the provincial and federal governments

The police registered an FIR against four school-going Ahmadi children and an adult on a false accusation of blasphemy and arrested them in the last week of January this year in District Layyah, the Punjab. They were accused of writing the name ‘Muhammad’ on the toilet walls of the local mosque. Despite the fact that no incriminating evidence is available the accused are still behind bars more than 12 weeks after their arrest. They are being detained on ‘judicial remand’. On every court appearance the remand is extended by the judge on request of the police. It is not known when these innocent will be set free. In the meantime, those who seriously threatened law and order and disturbed communal peace remain free and content gloating at their easy victory over the authorities in forcing them to incarcerate Ahmadi children sans evidence. This case was earlier reported in our dispatch dated February 2, 2009. Update in essential detail of this important case is presented for necessary action.

This ‘blasphemy’ case is a serious one in that it carries death as penalty, and also because boys of tender age have been implicated this time. These accused were arrested in district Layyah and later transported to a prison in the distant city of DG Khan. That has made it very difficult for the parents to see the children for the much needed parental support. The school administration, rather callously, discharged one boy, Muhammad Irfan from the school. The others were due to appear in their important Matriculation examination on which depends the educational and professional career of the youth. They had to prepare for it and take the test (in) the prison. Last month it was learnt that the four children were kept in one cell and the adult Mr. Mobashir Ahmad who could have been a source of support to them was incarcerated in another cell. Apart from the fortnightly meeting, they were not allowed to meet and none of them was allowed to come out of the cell for daily respite as a routine facility. There are no fans. Living conditions are very unhygienic. Mr. Mobashir Ahmad’s health is fragile; he is asthmatic. None of the accused has any previous experience of being involved in a police case. The children are at risk of long-term damage to their mental and physical health. The state is keeping them in prison simply because it finds that more convenient.

It is noteworthy that the two men who were the prime-movers of the false accusation belong to the extremist religious body, Jamaat ud Da’wa (JD) banned by the UN for promoting terrorism. The Aalami Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat, the cover organization of mullas who promote their national and international political agenda these days in the garb of End of Prophethood, strove hard to raise communal tensions in the weeks following the incident. Saqlain Shah, the local MNA (PML-N) provided the political support to the agitation. Sarwat Nadeem, a provincial minister of Baluchistan, came all the way from Quetta to share the political spoils of a tense communal situation. It is material to the case that the local leadership who were aware of the reality did not support the charge. These included the Imam of the concerned mosque, the village head (Numberdar) and the Naib Nazim. As such rabble-rousers, self-styled Ghulaman-e-Rasul Punjab issued a leaflet with the following demand: “… The arrested Qadianis should be given death sentence forthwith. The Imam of the local mosque of Chak No. 172 should be immediately arrested and those who are in favor of disregarding the incident and dropping the case should be interrogated. If the local administration, the DPO and senior officials do not take action against the Imam, the people, motivated by religious zeal, will have to take action by themselves against the Imam”. One may ask: Who is ruling – the authorities or the mob?

Various human rights organizations, national as well as international took due notice of this important case and demanded that the accused should be set free. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), as early as January 30, 2009 issued a statement and titled it: Pakistan: Four children and one man have been arbitrarily arrested and charged with blasphemy at the request of Muslim radicals. It ended: The AHRC urges the government of President Asif Zardari to immediately release the illegally detained prisoners. Instead they should turn their attention to the dependence of Punjab Police on fundamentalist Islamic groups and the implementation of the rule of law in the province, including the amendment in the blasphemy law made by the parliament.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan sent its own fact-finding mission to District Layyah and rendered its report. Excerpts;

The local Ahmadiyya community is facing a social boycott since the incident, especially some members of the defund Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), recently banned Jamaat ud Da’wa (JD), and Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat. ... The police remain mum on these protests because those waging them enjoy the support of Iqbal Hussain Shah, uncle of Pir Saqlain Shah, MNA of the constituency. …The Imam of the local mosque Maulvi Saeed told TNS that writing graffiti on toilet walls is a norm here. … Maulvi Saeed believes there is no eye witness of the incident. … Maulvi Saeed alleges he was forced by Shahbaz and his aids to remain absent from the scene when police was visiting the mosque where the incident took place. … According to him (the police SHO), Maulvi Kalachi (of JD) was the first person on whose complaint the FIR was registered. To the question why police was unable to handle the protestors, he expressed his helplessness. … District President PPP and Naib Nazim of the concerned Union Council Abdul Majeed Bhutta affirmed that the complainants are making a hill out of molehill. “In my personal view, it is overplayed.” … In 2004, an amendment was made in Criminal Procedural Code (Cr PC) Section 295-C of the constitution according to which the police is bound to thoroughly investigate blasphemy accusations before leveling criminal charges. The aim of the amendment was to reduce the scope of the blasphemy laws which are still widely and frequently abused and often result in death penalties. But this did not happen in this case. … He (Dr Khalid Ranjha, former federal law minister) said people settle personal scores and give false testimony on these sensitive matters. He said if the state and police submit itself before propaganda, and allows mob to provoke the matter then there is no writ of the state and protection of citizens.

In a press release on February 12, 2009, Ms Asma Jahangir, Chairperson of the HRCP demanded of the government: “The Commission demands a transparent and fair inquiry in this incident so that innocent persons do not become targets of injustice. The Commission further demands that the government must ensure the members of the Ahmadiyya faith do not feel insecure in that area and they are not harassed. The Commission appeals to the government to take appropriate steps to stop misuse of the blasphemy law.”

This incident sent a wave of concern in many capitals of the world. For instance, a number of members of the US Congress wrote to the US State Department on the subject. In Europe, a question regarding this incident was tabled in European Union Council and Commission by a Swedish MEP. The Canadian High Commission carried out its own inquiry of the case and the High Commissioner wrote a letter to the Governor of Punjab conveying his concern. The Hong Kong-based AHRC put the question bluntly: “At this juncture the AHRC would like to question who Pakistan police are meant to serve: a few civilian religious groups with little regard for the law, and an agenda of violent persecution? Or do they serve the rule of law and the people of Pakistan? Their actions and admissions in this case point to the former.” The accused are considering making an appeal to the relevant office of the United Nations.

On April 8, 2009 Mr. Masood Ahmad, Advocate sent a Fax message to the President of Pakistan (Mr. Asif Zardari) with a copy to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chief Minister Punjab (Mian Shahbaz Sharif) and other concerned federal and provincial authorities requesting the release of the accused. Nothing has happened – as yet.

The prestigious daily Dawn got it right when it editorialized on March 4, 2009:

“The obscurantists must be tackled head on if we are to entertain any hope of redemption. If the state resorts to negotiating with militants from a position of weakness, what we will get is a disaster, across the board. The politicians need to wakeup, burry the hatchet in the national good and rout the real enemy.”

In Layyah, the government of the Punjab is unwittingly breading and nourishing its mullas Fazalullah. Will the consequences be any different than in Swat? No; there is indeed urgent need to wake-up.

Ref: The police registered the case with FIR No 46/09 at Police Station Kot Sultan District Layyah, on 28 Jan 09 under PPC 295C.

'MNA promoting violent protest against Ahmadis'

--- Daily Times, Pakistan

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

‘MNA promoting violent protest against Ahmadis’

LAHORE: A Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member of National Assembly from Layyah has instigated the local people to observe a protest today (Tuesday) against four teenagers and a man belonging to the Ahmadiyya community arrested on the charges of blasphemy, a rights body said on Monday. The accused will be brought before a court today. A press release issued on Monday by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) stated that some radical groups had announced a show of strength against Ahmadis to pressurise the court not to grant bail to the five Ahmadis. The accused were arrested on January 28 on charges of writing blasphemous comments in a mosque toilet. They were shifted to Dera Ghazi Khan Central Jail, where the fundamentalist groups had asked other inmates to ‘fix up’ the Ahmadis, according to the statement. The commission urged the Punjab government to stop the violent campaign. staff report

Source: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?...ry_17-2-2009_pg13_4

PAKISTAN: Provincial government of Punjab is instigating violence against Ahmedis

--- AHRC, Hong Kong

PAKISTAN: Provincial government of Punjab is instigating violence against Ahmedis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-031-2009
February 16, 2009

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Provincial government of Punjab is instigating violence against Ahmedis

In a follow up development of the arrest of four teenagers and a man on blasphemy charge the representative of the Punjab provincial government, Mr. Syed Saqlain Shah, a member of the National Assembly, has instigated the people of the Layyah district, Punjab-Pakistan, to observe a protest day on February 17, the day on which the arrestees will be produced before court at Layyah district. Some Muslim fundamentalists groups have joined the call and announced a show of strength against the Ahmedis to put pressure on the court not to grant bail to the five persons. The teenagers and the man were arrested on the 28th January 2009 from their houses on the charges of writing the name of the last prophet of Islam in the toilet of a mosque, please also see the [earlier statement titled “Four children and one man have been arbitrarily arrested and charged with blasphemy at the request of Muslim radicals”].

Please also see the investigative report of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The arrested students and the man were shifted to Dera Ghazi Khan Central Prison, some 160 kilometers from their homes and, despite of not yet being convicted, are being held with hardened criminals. The chances of the teenagers being mistreated are high as it is known that the Muslim groups are asking the jail mates to “fix up” the Ahmedis.

In the area, Chak no. 172, TDA in Layyah district, from where teenagers were arrested, the Muslim fundamentalist groups and members of the National Assembly of the area, belonging to the ruling party of PML-N, have mobilized the people to socially boycott the Ahemadi community. After this announcement the Ahmedis have stayed in the houses and their shops have been locked from outside by some miscreants. Their children have also stopped going to school. The people from the community residing in the 172 TDA village are not allowed to use the roads and have to go to their homes through the fields. Advertisements are published in the local newspapers to have a complete strike on February 26 against the Ahmedis and in support of death penalties to Ahmedis.

The provincial government of PML-N is doing nothing to stop the campaign against Ahmedis which, at any time can be converted in to violence against religious minorities. The province of Punjab is notorious for its religious intolerance which often descends into violence, particularly against the Ahmedis.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Punjab government to stop the violent campaign against Ahmedis and allow the courts of law to function freely and without interferrence. The government should not allow the fundamentalists groups to interfere in the legal process. The government must also guarantee religious freedom to the minorities according to the constitution of Pakistan.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Source: www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2009statements/1884/

5 Ahmadis detained without proof of blasphemy: HRCP

--- Daily Times, Pakistan

Friday, February 13, 2009

5 Ahmadis detained without proof of blasphemy: HRCP

* Report says relative of local MNA, elements belonging to banned organisations pushed police to register case
* Commission demands prompt, transparent investigation into matter

Staff Report

LAHORE: The five Ahmadis detained on the charges of blasphemy in Layyah district have been held without any proof or witness, the Human Rights Commission (HRCP) said on Thursday.

The commission, which had sent a fact-finding team to Layyah district last week, said its findings concluded that an investigation, mandated by law prior to the registration of a blasphemy case, had not been held.

The HRCP team learned that a prayer leader in the village had allowed Ahmadi students from a nearby tuition centre to offer prayers in the mosque. The students were later threatened by a government schoolteacher, and they never went to the mosque again, the commission said. About a week later, some villagers claimed finding blasphemous writings in the mosque’s toilet.

The complainant said in the first information report (FIR), “Since these Ahmadis are the only non-Muslims coming to the mosque, therefore they must have committed the offence.” The argument was heard time and again during the HRCP team’s interviews with the mosque administration, some villagers and the local police. The police and villagers conceded that there were no witnesses or evidence of the Ahmadis’ involvement.

Involvement: The HRCP team found that elements belonging to banned extremist organisations, and that a relative of a member of National Assembly (MNA) from the area had pressured the police to register a case. “It is clear that a local politician has also used his influence” to book the Ahmadis, the commission’s report said.

HRCP said the complainant and his ‘extremist’ supporters were adamant that the Ahmadis should be punished on the basis of presumption.

Investigation: The HRCP demanded a prompt and transparent investigation into the matter to ensure that innocent people were not victimised. It also demanded the government ensure that the Ahmadiyya community in the village was not harassed or ostracised. The commission asked the government to take prompt measures to rule out misuse of the blasphemy law. The detailed fact-finding report can be accessed at the HRCP website: www.hrcp-web.org

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\....3-2-2009_pg7_17

Ahmadi children arrested on false charges in Pakistan, alleges Indian Ahmadiyya community

--- Punjab Newsline, India

Ahmadi children arrested on false charges in Pakistan, alleges Indian Ahmadiyya community

Maqbool Ahmad
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

QUADIAN: Ahmadiyya Muslim community in India spokesman Mohammad Nasim Khan said in a press release that five members of its community residing in Chak 172/TDA, District Layyah, Pakistan have been arrested and charged under Section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code. In a grave blow to any standards of decency, four of the accused are children studying at the English language ‘Superior Academy’ private school. Under the terms of Section 295-C any person found guilty is subject to either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The arrests have been formally condemned by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) , whilst Asma Jahangir the chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has also condemned the arrests of the children as ‘heinous’.

The four accused children are Muhammad Irfan, Tahir Imran, Tahir Mahmood and Naseeb Ahmad. There are conflicting reports regarding the exact age of the children however according to both the ‘AHRC’ and ‘The Daily Times’ their ages range between 14 and 16. Mr Mubashar Ahmad, aged 50, has also been arrested under section 295-C. All five were taken into custody on 28 January 2009 by virtue of a police raid on each of their homes. After four hours in custody each of the accused was charged under the terms of section 295-C on the completely false grounds that they had written the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the walls of a toilet at the Jamia Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque.

Mr Salim-ud-Din, Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Pakistan said:

“These allegations are completely false and baseless. The police have no evidence whatsoever and have merely succumbed to the pressure of those who spread religious hatred in the region.”

It is of note that none of the persons arrested have any connection to the Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque and they do not live anywhere near it.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has stated:

“Family members were told (by the District Police Officer) that the police were under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the children. If he did not arrest them, the group had threatened to close down the whole city and attack the houses of Ahmadi sect members... The AHRC urges the government of President Asif Zardari to immediately release the illegally detained prisoners.”

The charge laid against the five Ahmadis is completely baseless and false without foundation. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat reveres the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the final law bearing prophet, who brought with him a universal teaching. No disrespect towards him could ever be tolerated by any Ahmadi; man, woman or child. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote:

“The man who in his being and his attributes and his actions and through his spiritual and holy faculties set an example of perfection and was called the perfect man was Muhammad (peace be upon him).”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat urges the immediate release of the five persons imprisoned and for all charges to be dropped. In a country which seeks to promote an image of tolerance to the Western world, it speaks volumes that peace loving children have been charged with an offence that sanctions the death penalty as a sentence.

The International Community, Media and Human Rights organisations are all urged to take action to secure the release of all of the accused in this matter. In an era where freedom of religion and belief is accepted as a basic human right throughout the world it is of disbelief that anti-Ahmadiyya legislation is still active and indeed still being so cruelly enforced in Pakistan.

SITUATION IN DISTRICT LAYYAH WORSENS

Qadian 10th Feb (Maqbool Ahmad): Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat spokesman Mohammad Nasim Khan said in a press release today that the Human Rights situation of its members in District Layyah, Pakistan is worsening. The five Ahmadis, who include four children, arrested on 28 January 2009 remain in police custody. They are not being allowed to meet with any persons, in direct contravention to the provisions laid forth in Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Pakistan is party.

Further, to the arrests of the five Ahmadis, in the village of Chak 172/TDA the situation is becoming increasingly tense due to the acts of religious extremists in the area. A social boycott against the Ahmadis has started whereby it is not safe for them to travel home via normal routes and they are unable to purchase even food from the local shops.

Inflammatory posters in opposition to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat are being displayed throughout the village.

Once again the International Community is urged to take immediate action to bring an end to the increasingly dangerous and threatening situation that is developing in District Layyah.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that the situation in District Layyah, Pakistan continues to deteriorate. Although there are elements within the local community who are supportive of the Jamaat, the pressure of the local Mullahs is such that the situation is becoming increasingly tense.

The four children arrested by the authorities on fabricated charges under section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code were moved to Dera Ghazi District Jail on 4th February. Even though they have been in custody for over a week they continue to be denied access to Jamaat officials and to their families. An official at the Jail has said that some limited access to family will be granted in the near future, however until such meetings actually occur, doubt remains.

A natural consequence of the continued detention of the children is that they are falling behind in their studies. They are all due to sit exams in one month and therefore are all concerned at their lack of preparation and schooling.

In a further worrying move the local Mullahs have announced that a large scale rally will be held at Chak TDA/172 in opposition to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. It is more than likely that this event will be used to incite hatred against the Jamaat and to urge people to act against Ahmadis. The organisers of this event are inviting people from nearby cities such as Dera Isamael Khan and Muzafergarh to take part in this rally. The local authorities and police are seriously concerned about the event which they fear they will be unable to control.

Ahmadi Muslims throughout the world are urged to write to their local media and officials in protest of what is happening in District Layyah.

The International Community is once again urged to take immediate action.

URL: www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/15239/38/

Ahmadi children sent to DG Khan Jail

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Ahmadi children sent to DG Khan Jail

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE: Four Ahmadi children charged with blasphemy have been sent to Dera Ghazi Khan Central Jail, while the local chapters of banned militant organisations besieged the houses of the Ahmadiyya community at 172/TDA Kot Sultan village in Layyah, Daily Times learnt from local community leaders.

Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Pervez Tareen told Daily Times he had not completed investigations. He said he had sent the children on judicial remand and would continue with the investigation. However, he said he could not give a timeframe for the conclusion of the investigation. The police remand submitted in the civil court states that the investigation has not been completed but the accused should be sent to jail. Local Ahmadiyya community head Masood Ahmed alleged the police had deliberately delayed the investigation. He claimed the police had admitted lack of evidence against the accused. Ahmed said the children’s books had been sent to them in prison, so they could prepare for their examinations. He said local chapters of banned militant organisations had on February 5 again accused the Ahmadiyya community of blasphemy. Kot Sultan Station House Officer (SHO) Khalid Rauf confirmed that a new complaint of blasphemy had been made. To a question, he said he had not received any applications seeking permission for religious gatherings in 172/TDA.

The judicial remand stated the accused must be presented before the civil court in Layyah after every 14 days. The local Ahmadiyya community head told Daily Times the police had not taken any action against the local chapters of the banned organisations. The district police officer was not available for comment. DG Khan Central Jail Deputy Superintendent Farrukh Sultan said the accused were kept in separate cells.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pag...7\story_7-2-2009_pg7_21

The sectarian-ethnic scourge

--- Daily Times, Pakistan

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Editorial: The sectarian-ethnic scourge

The killing fields of Dera Ismail Khan in the NWFP claimed more victims on Tuesday as a grenade attack killed one man and wounded 18 others inside a Sunni mosque. The attacker hurled the hand grenade at the worshippers during evening prayers, causing a stampede and leading to more injuries. This is not a good sign because heretofore it was the Shia community in DI Khan that bore the brunt of attacks from banned Sunni sectarian organisations aligned with the Taliban in the neighbouring territory of South Waziristan.

As if this was not enough worry, the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) owned Tuesday the cold-blooded murder of five Punjabis in Noshki and Mastung districts of Balochistan, saying it was “retaliation for the firing by security forces on a wedding ceremony in Dera Bugti”. The target in Noshki was the shop owned by a Punjabi settler for generations which had been attacked earlier too. In Mastung, the victim was an innocent man standing at a bus stop. In the past few days, Punjabis have become victims of terrorism, including one in Quetta, for violence allegedly committed by the law enforcement agencies against the Baloch. A BRA spokesman told the press, “We will carry out attacks on all Punjabis wherever they live in Balochistan. We do not tolerate Punjabis on our land. It is the Punjabi forces attacking our people”.

There is more bad news. Layyah in Punjab is seeing a repeat of what an educational institution did to its Ahmedi students in Faisalabad last year: a movement led by the uncle of the local MNA wants 10 Ahmedi students expelled from a private tuition centre because of allegations of blasphemy against four students. Handbills distributed in the village ask the Ahmedis to leave the place by February 9 because their four children allegedly wrote blasphemous things on the walls of the latrines of a local mosque. The Layyah police say there are no witnesses and no evidence against the accused and, what is most alarming, the imam of the mosque admits that a false case has been registered by the police under pressure from a group of people that include the local head of the banned Jama’at-ud Dawa and some local journalists.

All these incidents on the same day point to the nature of terrorism in Pakistan. The umbrella of Al Qaeda and Taliban violence now gives shelter to old terrorist tendencies that existed in the country. The DI Khan incident goes back to the tacit permission of the state to consolidation of the power of Sipah Sahaba in DI Khan during the Afghan war. After the dominance of the Taliban in the neighbouring Tribal Areas the simmering animus of the sectarian terrorists found vent in suicide-bombing attacks on the Shia community. It appeared that the suicide-bombing factories of the Taliban and Al Qaeda were taking time out to kill the Shia too. But the latest killing at a Sunni mosque is even more alarming: it means the Shia have been forced to hit back because they have despaired of the state coming to their help.

The Baloch radicals have always accused the Punjabi of trespassing on their rights. In the past, there were cases of “cleansing” the government machinery of Punjabis; but today the “liberation” organisations find it convenient to “avenge” the acts of the Pakistan army by killing Punjabis although the Pakistan army may contain other nationalities like the Pashtun too. The Ahmedis have avoided ghettoisation and hence been relatively safe from attacks, but wherever they become identified they are subjected to ruthless violence through the instrumentality of two laws on the statute books: one specific, disallowing them Muslim rituals and practices; and second general, the law against blasphemy used to entrap Ahmedis and Christians alike to expel them from their property which is later annexed by the attackers. *

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?...5\story_5-2-2009_pg3_1

Blasphemy charge on four children: Ahmadis face social boycott in Layyah village

-- Daily Times, Pakistan

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Blasphemy charge on four children: Ahmadis face social boycott in Layyah village

* Minority community told to leave area by 9th
* Tuition centre expels 10 students because of their faith
* Police say there are no witnesses, no evidence

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE: Ahmadis in a Layyah village are facing a social boycott after four children from the minority community were detained on charges of blasphemy last week.

Shopkeepers in Chak 172/TDA refuse to deal with Ahmadis and 10 students of a private tuition centre have been expelled because of their faith. Handbills distributed in the village tell the Ahmadis to leave by February 9, and the local MNA’s uncle heads the ‘movement’ against the community, locals said. The children and a 45-year-old fifth suspect have denied the charges – of writing blasphemous material in the latrines of the central Gulzar-e-Madina mosque – and the local police station house officer, Khalid Rauf, said there were no witnesses and no evidence.

The children were charged ostensibly because of their faith. Rauf said the case was registered because the complainants believed no Muslims could possibly commit blasphemy. The imam of the mosque has said his January 27 statement about the children’s involvement was made under pressure from a group of people that included the local head of the banned Jamaatud Dawa and some local journalists.

Qari Muhammad Saeed, the imam of Gulzar-e-Madina mosque, told Daily Times he had removed various names – such as Muhammad Imran and Hidayatullah – from the latrine walls three months ago. He said the writing over which the children have been charged was not readable. All the five suspects are in police custody.

Saeed said the local Dawa head – identified only as Shahbaz – had asked him on January 22 to stop the Ahmadi children from praying in the mosque. After the imam declined, Shahbaz stopped the children on the mosque gate on January 25. The children – who study in a nearby academy – did not visit the mosque again, Saeed said. The father of one of the detained children told Daily Times his children had stopped using the latrines too.

The principal of the Superior Science Academy – where the children studied – said he had asked the children to pray in the mosque, but told them to leave the academy after he saw the blasphemous writing. Asked how he knew they were guilty, he said: “Muslims cannot do such things” so it must be the Ahmadi children.

The vice president of the mosque’s eight-member governing body and the caretaker of the mosque said they were not sure the children were guilty and added that the case had been lodged without consulting with them.

The complainants do not belong to the village.

Abdul Majeed Bhutta, the naib nazim of the union council, said Ahmadis had been peaceful and that the charge had likely been made because of vested interests.

Local residents said that the banned organisation had hijacked the mosque and the academy principal wanted to occupy the premises – owned by an Ahmadi. Noor Elahi Kulachi, a member of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba and one of the first people to make the allegation, had also lodged a blasphemy case against an Ahmadi in 1992, the head of the Ahmadiyya community in Layyah said.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?...4\story_4-2-2009_pg7_15

Pakistan urged to spare five Ahmadiyyas facing death for blasphemy

-- Zee News, India

Pakistan urged to spare five Ahmadiyyas facing death for blasphemy

Toronto, Feb 04: Ahmadiyya Muslims in Canada have urged Pakistan to immediately release five members of the community facing charges of blasphemy, which is punishable by death.

The five — a man and four children — were arrested in Kot Sultan in Layyah district of Pakistan Jan 28 for allegedly writing the name of Prophet Mohammed on the walls of a washroom of the local Jamia Gulzar-e-Medina mosque.

Under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment.

A statement issued here by the Ahmadiyya community named the five as Mubashar Ahmad,50, Tahir Imran,16, Naseer Ahmad,14, Muhammad Irfan,14, and Tahir Mahmood,14.

“The allegations (against the five Ahmadiyyas) are completely false and baseless. Police have no evidence whatsoever and have merely succumbed to the pressure of those who spread religious hatred in the region,” the statement quoted Salim-ud-Din, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan, as saying.

Lal Khan Malik, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Canada, said since Pakistan has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it has violated its Articles 14 and 37 by arresting four Ahmadiyya children.

Even though Pakistan “states that it protects religious minorities and upholds the fundamental human right of freedom of religion, it persists in the persecution of a peaceful and law-abiding community”, he said.

Malik said Pakistan should fulfil its international commitments by releasing the four innocent children who face the death penalty.

The statement said “the entire Ahmadiyya population in Kot Sultan is under siege. Throughout the town, inflammatory posters are on display and religious extremists have called for the social and economic boycott of Ahmadiyyas”.

The statement said the Ahmadiyya faith revered Prophet Mohammed as the “final law-bearing prophet and any show of disrespect towards him is inconceivable by any of its members”.

There are about 50,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims in Canada, with most of them concentrated in Calgary city. In fact, the city’s rich community created history last year by unveiling North America’s largest mosque — named Baitan Nur — at a cost of $15 million.

IANS

URL: www.zeenews.com/southasia/2009-02-04/504448news.html

Pakistan: Police arrest another Ahmadi in Layyah blasphemy case

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Police arrest another Ahmadi in Layyah blasphemy case

* AHRC says police under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the accused
* No evidence produced for the arrests so far

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE: The police in Layyah on Friday arrested another person from the district’s Kot Sultan area, accusing him of blasphemy, Station House Officer (SHO) Rauf Khalid told Daily Times.

The man, Mubashar Ahmed (45), is the fifth person of the Ahmadiyya community to be detained in the blasphemy case since Wednesday.

Four other minor boys, aged between 14 and 16, have also been charged in the case under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the First Information Report (FIR), the boys are accused of writing blasphemous material in latrines of Kot Sultan’s Gulzar-e-Madina mosque. The boys are students of grade nine and 10 at the Superior Academy in Chak 172/TDA of Layyah.

Remand: The SHO said he had obtained a two-day remand of the boys, adding Layyah District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Muhammad Azam and Dera Ghazi Khan Investigation Police Superintendent (SP) Pervaiz Tareen were heading the probe.

Tareen said he had returned to DG Khan after completing his probe on Friday, adding he had appointed a deputy SP to conduct the remaining investigation.

The SP said he would not question the accused boys anymore, but refused to disclose his findings.

A group of lawyers on Friday announced to argue the boys’ case for free, while a press release by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) condemned the charges against the four boys.

Pressure: After contacting the Layyah DPO, the boys’ relatives were told that the police were under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the boys, AHRC said in the statement.

“The DPO said if he did not arrest the accused, the group had threatened to seal the city and attack the houses of Ahmadis. Worried about civic unrest, the officer arrested the children,” the AHRC said.

Evidence: It said no evidence had been provided prior to the five arrests. However, Kot Sultan SHO Khalid told the AHRC that the gravity of the case justified the arrests.

According to an amendment made by parliament in 2004 in Section 295-C of the constitution, the police are bound to thoroughly investigate blasphemy accusations before levelling criminal charges. The aim of the amendment was to reduce the scope of the blasphemy laws, which are still widely and frequently abused, and often result in death penalties. The AHRC urged President Asif Ali Zardari to immediately intervene and order the release of the detained people.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...\31\story_31-1-2009_pg7_23

PAKISTAN: Four children and one man have been arbitrarily arrested and charged with blasphemy at the request of Muslim radicals

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-022-2009
January 30, 2009

PAKISTAN: Four children and one man have been arbitrarily arrested and charged with blasphemy at the request of Muslim radicals

Five persons belonging to the Ahmadi sect of Islam, four of them children, have been arrested for desecrating the name of the last prophet of Islam (peace be upon him), and charged under a law that can only be met with the death penalty. The children were accused of writing the name of the Prophet Muhammad on the walls of a toilet of a mosque in Punjab province, and are being accused of blasphemy.

According to our reports, the boys are students from grades nine and ten of the Superior Academy, Chak no. 172, TDA in Layyah district. They are Muhammad Irfan (14), son of Muhammad Mukhtar, Tahir Imran (16), son of Abdul Ghaffar, Tahir Mehmood (14), son of Muhammad Aslam and Naseer Ahmed (14), son of Nasrullah. A Mr Mubashar Ahmed, 45 has also been arrested.

The five were taken from their houses on the night of January 28, 2009 and taken into custody. Raiding police officials told their families that they would just be detained for 24 hours to appease a number of Muslim fundamentalists, who had recently renewed the long-waged ideological assault on members of the Ahmadi sect, a minority sect of Islam (also known as Qadiani sect). Sect members claims to be Muslim, but were constitutionally removed from the religion in Pakistan in 1974, partly due to their following of a nineteenth century messiah.

However after four hours in custody, charges were filed against all five under section 295-C, for desecrating the name of the last prophet. After contacting Dr Muhammad Azam, the district police officer (DPO) of Layyah, family members were told that the police were under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the children. If he did not arrest them, Azam said, the group had threatened to close down the whole city and attack the houses of Ahmedi sect members. Worried about civilian deaths, the officer arrested the children.

The registered complainant in the case is a Mr Liaquat, who has reported seeing the name of Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the walls of a toilet of Gulzare Madina Mosque in four different places, and scratched into the wall in another. Liaquat concluded that the graffiti must have been a deed of an Ahmadi sect member — a charge agreed with by a Mr. Shahbaz, a government school teacher and a leader of the anti-Ahmadi sect movement. Shabaz implicated the four students, claiming that the graffiti was written under the instruction of Mubashar, the adult accused. No evidence was given, and no investigation done before the five were arrested.

Inspector Khalid Rauf, station head officer (SHO) of Kot Sultan police satation, Layyah district, Punjab province, told the AHRC that police have still not initiated the investigation, but that the gravity of the case against Islam justified arresting the children first. He said the police do not know of any substantial evidence that links the four students with the crime.

Most bemusing, is the fact that the teenagers that were arrested are not students of the Gulzare Madina Mosque, where the graffiti was found, and neither they or Mubashar live anywhere near it. The boys are students of a private English medium school.

According to an Ahmadi spokesperson, a number of attempted assaults and attacks have taken place against sect members in the area, during the last week.

The police have not made any investigation into the threats sent in, to cause harm to Layyah civilians. Neither have they made investigations into the five detainees’ guilt. According to an amendment made by parliament in 2004 in section 295-C of the constitution, police officials are obligated to thoroughly investigate accusations of blasphemy before presenting criminal charges. The aim of this amendment was to reduce the scope of the blasphemy laws, which are still widely and frequently abused, and met with the death penalty.

At this juncture the AHRC would like to question who Pakistan’s police are meant to serve: a few civilian religious groups with little regard for the law, and an agenda of violent persecution? Or do they serve the rule of law and the people of Pakistan? Their actions and admissions in this case point to the former. That children can now be made scapegoats by the police, and high ranking police officers themselves can played with like puppets, is a disgrace to the nation.

The Punjab government has lately claimed to be liberal and progressive. Yet they show little control over the province’s radical religious groups, which flout the law and hold Pakistan society hostage in the name of Islam. When children can be arrested under laws that carry only the death penalty, with no evidence given and no investigation done, there can be no doubt that the systems of this province have broken down.

The AHRC urges the government of President Asif Zardari to immediately release the illegally detained prisoners. Instead they should turn their attention to the dependence of Punjab Police on fundamentalist Islamic groups and the implementation of the rule of law in the province, including the amendment in the blasphemy law made by parliament.

# # #

About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

URL: www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1859/

Pakistan: Mob tries to burn houses of Ahmadis in Layyah

--- Daily Times

Friday, January 30, 2009

Mob tries to burn houses of Ahmadis in Layyah

* HRCP alarmed over four children’s detention on blasphemy charges
* FIR says local MNA’s uncle ‘probed’ the incident at his outhouse

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE: A mob – led reportedly by members of banned religious organisations – tried to set ablaze houses of Ahmadis in Layyah on Thursday, a day after four children belonging to the minority community were detained on charges of blasphemy, police and residents told Daily Times.

Twenty policemen had been deployed to the village, a police official said.

Police had registered a case (number 46/9) in the Kot Sultan police station against Tahir Imran (16), Tahir Mahmood (14), Naseer Ahmad (14), Muhammad Irfan (14), and Mubashar Ahmad (45) under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The Ahmadiyya community has denied the charge, the first ever against children since the Section 295-C was introduced in 1986.

Asma Jahangir, the chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said that it was heinous to use the law against children. The HRCP was finding facts about the incident, she said, and would soon send a team to Layyah.

Religious scholar Javed Ghamidi said the children were safer in police custody.

The children belong to Chak 172/TDA, a village about 25 kilometres from Kot Sultan. Last week, the locals had stopped the Ahmadi children from praying in the central Gulzar-e-Madina mosque, Kot Sultan Station House Officer (SHO) Rauf Khalid told Daily Times.

But they continued to use the latrines, where they have been accused of writing blasphemous material, according to the first information report (FIR).

Noor Elahi Kulachi – a retired schoolteacher, and, as the SHO confirmed, a member of the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba – complained to Iqbal Hussain Shah, the uncle of the local National Assembly member Saqlain Shah. According to the FIR, Iqbal Hussain called the SHO and the people who had seen the writings to his outhouse, where they “probed the incident” to find the Ahmadi children guilty.

But the local leader of the Ahmadiyya community alleged that Kulachi – who was also a member of Jamaatud Dawa – had pressured Iqbal Hussain to direct the police to register the case, and the latter complied because of the Jamaatud Dawa votebank in the constituency.

Saqlain Shah, an MNA from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, denied his uncle had pressured police. But he said representatives of the Ahmadiyya community should have visited his uncle’s residence for the matter to be resolved in line with local traditions, instead of denying charges.

He also said that Ahmadis had first lodged cases against local Muslims (for violating the Loudspeakers Act and under the Maintenance of Public Order) after being disallowed to hold a religious meeting, and should now “face the truth”. He said he would visit the village on Saturday, and that his uncle was trying to pacify the villagers.

The SHO said he had registered the case after consulting the district police officer and a deputy inspector general of police. The inspector general of police had also been informed, he added.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page...30-1-2009_pg7_2

Pakistan: Four Ahmadi children charged with blasphemy

--- Daily Times

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Four Ahmadi children charged with blasphemy

LAHORE: Five members of the Ahmadiyya community including four children were charged with blasphemy under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code in Layyah on Wednesday. The children, aged 16 and younger, were detained at about 8pm after a complaint by a local cleric. Police have registered a case (number 46/9) in the Court Sultan police station against Tahir Imran (16), Tahir Mahmood (14), Naseer Ahmad (14), Muhammad Irfan (14), and Mubashar Ahmad (45). A spokesman for the community denied the allegations saying they were intended to fuel religious hatred. “Victimising children with false accusations is the most condemnable use of the blasphemy law,” he said. staff report

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page...29-1-2009_pg7_5