PAKISTAN: Appeal to amend the Blasphemy Laws

Asian Human Rights Commission — Urgent Appeals

PAKISTAN: Blasphemy laws — Stopping the rot

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION — URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-183-2010
21 December 2010

PAKISTAN: Appeal to amend the Blasphemy Laws

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the introduction of a private member’s bill to the National Assembly Secretariat that would end the death penalty for blasphemy, curtail abuse of the blasphemy laws for the purpose of harassing and victimising religious minorities and take steps to ensure equal protection for all religions under the law. The bill was introduced by People’s Party member of the National Assembly Ms. Sherry Rehman, former federal minister, who said, “The bill amends both the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC), the two main sources of criminal law. The aim is to amend the codes to ensure protection of Pakistan’s minorities and vulnerable citizens, who routinely face judgments and verdicts in the lower courts where mob pressure is often mobilised to obtain a conviction.”

CASE NARRATIVE:

Following the Asia Bibi case, in which a Christian woman was sentenced to death under the blasphemy laws, Ms. Rehman has introduced an amendment to the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. The amendment would end the death penalty for blasphemy and take steps toward ensuring equal protections for religious minorities under the law in Pakistan.

Currently, extreme militant Muslim organisations may use blasphemy laws as a way to pressure and oppress religious minority groups. So far, the government has failed to protect the lives and property of the minority community. Although there is formal protection in place for religious minorities in the Constitution and although the blasphemy law has made it compulsory that no police officer below the rank of Superintendent of Police can investigate the charges, these statutes are rarely respected.

Religious minority groups in Pakistan remain vulnerable due to the continued use and abuse of blasphemy charges, despite section 295C of the Pakistan Penal Code. The police, who fail to follow the code and who operate under the directives of extremists in the community, must face strong legal action. Charges of blasphemy are still met with the death penalty in Pakistan.

The deliberate institutionalisation of Islam’s status as protected and predominant promoted the perpetuation of religious intolerance by Islamic fundamentalists. According to data collected through different sources at least 1030 persons were charged under these anti-blasphemy clauses from 1986 to August 2009, while over 30 persons were killed extra-judicially by angry mobs or individuals.

Militant Muslim organisations are using blasphemy as a tool as the best way to keep religious minority groups under pressure and even forcibly take land. The State is failing to protect the lives and property of the minority community.

In August 2009 after the attack on the Christian population in Gojra, Punjab province, in which seven Christians were burnt to death, the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani again announced plans to review “laws detrimental to religious harmony” in a committee comprising of constitutional experts, the minister for minorities, the religious affairs minister and other representatives, but the government has again hesitated to initiate change due to their unwillingness to antagonize fundamentalist groups.

Recent cases in Pakistan suggest a criminal collaboration among government authorities, police, and fundamentalist organisations, in which the Muslim clergy, on receiving bribes from land-grabbers in the National and Provincial Assemblies, colluded with local police to expropriate land owned by minorities by bringing allegations of blasphemy against them. The situation is especially worrying in Punjab province after the formation of the PML-N government, which has a record of intolerant policies against Christians and Ahmadis in particular.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

The introduction of an amendment in the National Assembly that would limit the abuse of blasphemy laws is a major development in Pakistan and must be supported strongly. Please write letters to legislators, officials, and civil society leaders urging them to support and lobby for this law.

The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of religious minorities calling for his intervention into the misuse of blasphemy law.

To support this appeal, please click here: Send an Appeal Letter

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PAKISTAN: Appeal to amend the Blasphemy laws

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the misuse of blasphemy laws and to express strong support for the private member’s bill introduced by the People’s Party MNA, Ms. Sherry Rehman that would amend blasphemy laws to end the death penalty and rationalise punishments under the blasphemy laws.

According to the data I have collected at least 1030 persons were charged under these anti-blasphemy clauses from 1986 to August 2009, while over 30 persons were killed extra-judicially by angry mobs or individuals.

I am appalled by the political expediency of the government and ruling party who do not want to take a firm stand on the misuse of the blasphemy law but instead is trying to sweep the basic issue of freedom of expression and discrimination on the basis of religion under the carpet. The deliberate institutionalisation of Islam’s status as protected and predominant promoted the perpetuation of religious intolerance by Islamic fundamentalists.

I am shocked to know that militant Muslim organisations are using blasphemy as a tool as the best way to keep religious minority groups under pressure and even forcibly take land. The State is failing to protect the lives and property of the minority community. The blasphemy law has made it compulsory that no police officer below the level of Superintendent of Police can investigate the charges but this is rarely adhered to.

I urge you to repeal the Blasphemy law or at least amend it by deleting section 295-c from the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) (the death sentence). I hereby fully support the initiative of Ms. Sherry Rehman to amend the blasphemy law by submitting a private bill in the national assembly.

I also urge the government, the ruling political parties, the members of the national assemblies and senate to pass the amendment in Blasphemy law introduced in a private bill introduced by MNA Sherry Rehman.

I look forward to your prompt action to provide substantial and comprehensive policy responses on the freedom of expression, protection of religious minority groups and misuse of blasphemy law.

Yours sincerely,

___________________
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mr. Asif Ali Zardari
President of Pakistan
President’s Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 51 9204801 +92 51 9204801 +51 9214171
Fax: +92 51 9207458
Email: publicmail@president.gov.pk

2.Mr. Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani
Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9221596
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk, pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk

3. Dr. Fehmida Mirza
Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan
Parliament house, Islamabad,
PAKISTAN
Email: speaker@na.gov.pk
Tel. No. +92 51 920 3734 +92 51 922 1082
Fax: +92 51 920 4673 / +92 51 922 1106

4.Dr. Zaheeruddin Babar Awan
Federal Minister
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Government of Pakistan,
R block, Pak Secretariat
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Tel: 92-51- 9202712 FAX: 92-51-9202541
E-mail: minister@molaw.gov.pk

5. Mr. Syed Mumtaz Alam Gillani
Federal Minister for Human Rights
Ministry of Human Rights
Old US AID Building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
E-mail: sarfaraz_yousuf@yahoo.com

6. Dr. Faqir Hussain
Registrar
Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: + 92 51 9213452
E-mail: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

URL: www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3614/

PAKISTAN: Blasphemy laws — Stopping the rot

Asian Human Rights Commission — Statement

PAKISTAN: Blasphemy laws — Stopping the rot

FOR PUBLICATION
AHRC-ETC-040-2010
November 16, 2010

An article by Ms. Beena Sarwar published by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: Blasphemy laws — Stopping the rot

Beena Sarwar

The introspection, debate and outrage generated a month ago by the attacks on two villages in Gojra on July 31 and Aug 1 may be out of public sight, as happened all too often in the past, but the nine people murdered and the homes and churches gutted are not out of mind. Neither is Najeeb Zafar, the young factory owner in Sheikhupura, Punjab, killed on August 4 for allegedly desecrating Quranic verses when he removed a calendar from a wall. The following day, police in Sanghar, Sindh, saved a similarly accused 60-year old woman, Akhtari Malkani by taking her in protective custody.

On the surface, these incidents were motivated by passions aroused by allegations of blasphemy or disrespect to the holy Quran. These criminal charges can be punishable by death – but this is a punishment for the state to administer, not private citizens. The real motivation remains settling scores, a pattern identified over twenty years ago when the first ‘blasphemy murder’ took place; that of the Punjabi poet and teacher Naiamat Ahmar in Faisalabad in 1992.

The pattern involves one party targeting another, alleging blasphemy while the real motives are personal enmity or economic rivalry as Zubeida Mustafa noted in a recent column. The accused tend to be poor people who have improved their lot in life, triggering jealousies. Accusations of blasphemy are used to justify the violence. Ms Mustafa also pointed to (mis) education as a factor that makes it easy, when such an allegation is levelled, to rabble-rouse a mob into violence.

The three recent cases bear out these observations. In Gojra, evidence points to a pre-meditated plan aimed at clearing out the village from the area, while the administration turned a deaf ear to the warnings and pleas of observers. A disgruntled employee accused Najeeb Zafar of disrespecting the Quran; the unarmed police sent to protect him could only watch as the mob set upon him. Akhtari Malkani had a monetary dispute with her accuser but disappeared without registering an FIR. She says she threw a book of accounts on the floor, not the holy Quran.

Last April, there was the horrific case of Jagdish Kumar, the young Hindu factory worker in Karachi, lynched by co-workers for alleged blasphemy. The real reason appears to have been personal enmity based on Kumar’s reported association with a Muslim girl.

Such cases have been taking place since the option of life imprisonment under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (“Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet”), the ‘blasphemy law’, introduced by Gen. Ziaul Haq in 1985 was amended by default in 1992 to make death the mandatory punishment for anyone convicted under this law. Certainly, the law does not provide for these extra-judicial murders. However, it is equally true no such murder took place until death was made the mandatory punishment for 295-C convictions.

People of all faiths, including Muslims (remember the Muslim religious scholar lynched in Gujranwala, 1994?), have been accused and attacked since then. Investigations into blasphemy accusations indicate pre-meditation rather than the heat of passion. Those who commit the violence may be arrested but none has ever been punished. Even the Inquiry Commission Tribunal headed by Justice Tanvir A. Khan of the Lahore High Court examining the destruction of Christian homes and churches in Shantinagar, 1997, was quashed (the Punjab Chief Minister then too was Shahbaz Sharif; will he rise to the occasion this time?).

The public defamation of blasphemy victims is a key tactic preceding such attacks – posters and mosque loudspeakers are routinely used for this.

Naimat Ahmar was killed after posters cropped up warning people that a Christian teacher (Ahmar) was leading their children astray. A handwritten copy in Urdu that I saw at the time warned Muslims that Ahmar was misleading students, telling them that the Prophet (pbuh) ‘stole’ goats – ‘bakriyaN charaya kartey thay’. Replace ‘churaya’ (stole) with ‘charaya’ (grazed) and it’s apparent what Ahmar probably said.

A youngster from the militant outfit Anjuman-e-Sipah-e-Sahaba (later changed to Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan) accosted Ahmar outside the Education Department in Faisalabad and knifed him to death. Investigations revealed that the murderer’s uncle wanted Ahmar’s job in the Education Department. The allegation of blasphemy alone was enough to ‘justify’ the murder. Policemen at the lockup housing the murderer, garlanded by his ASS (sic) mentors, embraced and kissed him. The ASS was, in fact, behind just about every ‘blasphemy case’ during the 1990s – the SSP, now banned, is believed to be behind the Gojra carnage as well.

Blasphemy accused are attacked and murdered even in prisons and police lock-ups, sometimes by the very people who are supposed to protect them. In 2004 a police constable attacked Samuel Masih, 27, a prisoner under trial at Kot Lakhpat jail with a brick-cutter. Samuel had been charged with spitting at the wall of a mosque (Section 295, “defiling a place of worship with the intent of insulting the religion of any class”, maximum sentence up to two years). He succumbed to his injuries the following day. “I wanted to earn a place in heaven by killing him,” Ali reportedly confessed.

The fanatical and misguided mindset cultivated over the past few decades will not disappear by simply repealing 295-C, although this must be done. Embarking on a sensible education policy is also a long-term step that must be taken to stop the rot. What must be an immediate priority is the strict enforcement of law and order.

Those inciting violence and murder from mosque loudspeakers and public accusations, true or false, must be held culpable, charged, tried and punished according to law. This also goes for those who desecrate a holy book or symbol of any religion. There must be accountability for those who allow these murders to take place. The political leadership is responsible for providing police with the training, means and the orders to prevent such violence. Finally, religion cannot be used or allowed to justify murder.

The views shared in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the AHRC, and the AHRC takes no responsibility for them.

About the Author:
The writer is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker. Ms. Sarwar’s email address is beena.sarwar@gmail.com

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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/2010statements/2937/

Pakistan: Sectarian Killings and Role of Media

---Daily Aajkal, Pakistan
   
Pakistan: Sectarian Killings and Role of Media
By Mohammad Shoaib Adil,
Saturday April 24, 2010
Daily Aajkal, Lahore, Pakistan

"Not a single analyst in the media has raised voice in support of Ahmadis. Opponents took benefit of this silence and started one sided propaganda. It is an irony that law enforcement agencies also become a party and sided with religious groups."

In Pakistan, war against terrorism is going on. Taliban have added a new dimension to this war by introducing sectarian killings in urban areas. A large section of Pakistani media is supporting the war against terrorism but fail to express due resentment against sectarian killings. They fail to answer the burning question if sectarian killing is also not a part and act of terrorism.

Actually our media is supporting the war against terrorism half heartedly due to pressure of western countries and US. Other wise Pakistani media often support the activities of Taliban and try to present the unlawful activities of Taliban like burning of CD shops and restricting women to get education according to Shariah. The voice against sectarian killings in Pakistan is weak and government has no strategy to overcome this pathetic attitude. Media and its projected intellectuals do not discuss openly such issues and try to hush up the matter in one or other way. Not a single voice is raised in our electronic media to condemn fundamentalism and support secularism.

History of sectarian violence is as old as Pakistan. After three or four years of partition, sectarian violence is started against Ahmadis (a Muslim sect which was declared non Muslim by parliament in 1974). At that time, secular traditions of United India were prevailing and law enforcement agencies dealt strictly with such issues. But after the passing of objectives resolution (in which Allah is declared supreme authority in making laws instead of Parliament) fundamentalism has grown manifold in our society and secular traditions became vulnerable.

During the period of so called Afghan Jihad, which is declared by US and was actually against Soviet Union, Pakistani society became the hub of proxy war between Iran and Suadi Arabia and sectarian killings were started. So called Islamisation of Pakistan penal code by a dictator, General Zia ul Haq made the situation grave day by day. Now liberals, minorities and women have become targets of this Islamisation.

Actually people of Pakistan became hostage of different religious groups which have strong links with Taliban. These religious groups have been so powerful and dominant that if any government tries to change such legislation, they created hurdles. Recently, due to the pressure of these elements, constitutional committee, headed by Mr. Raza Rabbani, could not strike down the amendments added by a dictator General Zia ul Haq.

Currently People of Pakistan are facing unemployment, inflation and energy crises on one hand and on the other have become victims of suicide bombers. Besides this, large section of people is becoming target of sectarian killings. From the last many years Shia community in Dera Ismael Khan, Para Chanar, Gilgit-Biltistan, Quetta and Karachi have become target of sectarian killings. Ashura processions and majalis have been attacked by jihadi groups. As a result thousands of people have been killed. In Dera Ismael Khan target killing of shia community is continuing and the same situation at Quetta prevails where target killing of Hazra (Shia) community is continuing. Various jihadi groups have accepted responsibility for such killings, but law enforcement agencies kept silent. Media and its sponsored analysts do not dare to condemn these jihadi groups.

In central Punjab besides shia community, minorities are also becoming target of Jihadi groups. In July 2008, on blasphemy charge sixty houses were burnt by highly provoked procession of local people. This was a clear war against Christian community but our media did not mention it initially and reported it as a clash between two local groups. Government of Punjab constituted an inquiry tribunal headed by a Judge of Lahore High Court. Some two months back, the tribunal presented its findings and involvement of Jihadi organization was proved. But the law enforcement agencies are not interested to take any action against jihadi group.

Besides Shia and Christian Community, Ahmadi community is being persecuted and are also a target of sectarian killings. Many Ahamadis have been killed only due to their faith. The news of excesses on Shia and Christian community published in newspapers and noticed by different sections of civil society. But acts of persecution of Ahmadis were not reported in the print and electronic media. Not a single analyst in the media has raised voice in support of Ahmadis. Opponents took benefit of this silence and started one sided propaganda. It is an irony that law enforcement agencies also become a party and sided with religious groups.

Roots of fundamentalism are so deep in our society that if anybody speaks against persecution of Ahmadis he, too, is declared Ahmadi. This is a simple way to victimize such a person who try to support them. If anybody tries to write in favor of Ahmadis in the press a vicious propaganda is started against such person. In Faisalabad, many Ahmadis have been killed from during last three months and many have been kidnapped for ransom. A local cleric issued a decree in which he allows the looted amount and allow kidnapping for ransom. Ahmadi community in Fasialabad have received threatening letters, ‘advising’ them to renounce their faith, before their homes are raided or relatives abducted. Police have arrested some people and investigations revealed that the culprits belong to Lashker e Taiba, a jhidhi outfit. Last year 23 Ahmadi students (girls and boys) have to quit Medical College on the pressure of religious groups only due to their faith.

Due to Islamisation of General Zia ul Haq, people started to give religious dimension to their personal and business issues to exploit weak groups of society. With the passage of time situation become so grave that if anybody declared from mosque loudspeaker that his opponent is involved in blashpehmy. People became provoked and started to beat him or his family member and police became just spectator.

© Mohammad Shoaib Adil
URL : www.aajkal.com.pk/news.aspx?img=http://ww...=800&h=1222

PAKISTAN: The electoral process is self-contradictory and denies the Ahmadi minority its right to vote

---Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Asian Human Rights Commission — Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AHRC-STM-050-2010

March 19, 2010

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: The electoral process is self-contradictory and denies the Ahmadi minority its right to vote

Pakistan claims to provide a universal right to vote to all its citizens, which proves to be contradictory to the facts. Indeed, the members of the Ahmadi community have been denied this fundamental right. The shameful regulations implemented against Ahmadis are in violation of the 1973 Pakistani Constitution and the process of democracy itself.

Right before the elections, the Election Commission issued instructions based on the circular [No.F.1 (6)/2001-Cord] of 17th January, 2007 to maintain a separate electoral lists system, entitled “Preparation of Separate List of Draft Electoral Rolls for Ahmadis/Quadianis”. The eighth amendment to the 1973 Constitution, enacted in 1985, imposed this separated system. Since then, elections have been held in the country with separate electoral lists for different religious groups. This system is primarily aimed at Ahmadis, the most vulnerable and discriminated minority in Pakistan. In 2008, for being registered as voters, those who claimed to be Muslims had to sign a certificate of faith and deny the veracity of the holy founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Of course no Ahmadi would agree to do so; they were thus de facto denied their right to vote.

The marginalization of Ahmadis, leading to a discriminatory electoral system based on religious beliefs is in violation of national and international legislations, as well as the spirit of democracy itself. Under the Pakistani Constitution, every Pakistani citizen has the right to vote irrespective of their race, religion, creed or belief. Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights also states that “every citizen shall have the right and opportunity to vote and to be elected.” Articles 19 and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights also guarantee the right to vote to every citizen. The right to vote is one of the most basic and fundamental rights that must be guaranteed to every citizen and without which a state cannot call itself a democracy.

The fact is that the Pakistani legislation is discriminatory against all religious minorities in general, and against Ahmadis in particular. It is not only about the right to vote, but all aspects of public and private life. In 1984, General Zia ul Haq promulgated anti-Ahmadiyya Ordinance XX in which the Ahmadis were outlawed. The Penal Code explicitly discriminates the Ahmadi community in its section 298-C:

“any person of the Quadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves ‘Ahmadis’ or by any other name), who directly or indirectly, poses himself as a Muslim, or calls, or refers to, his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.”

It must be reminded that Article 20 of Pakistan’s Constitution guarantees each citizen’s freedom “to profess religion and to manage religious institutions”. Article 33 gives the state the responsibility to “discourage parochial, racial, tribal, sectarian and provincial prejudices among the citizens”. Moreover, Article 36 ensures that the state “shall safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of minorities, including their due representation in the Federal and Provincial services”.

The Asian Human Rights Commission therefore strongly calls for significant governmental measures in order to tackle this issue and restore the democratic norms in their true spirit. The Pakistani government must repeal all discriminatory laws against religious minorities, for all Pakistani citizens must be equal before the law. The 1973 Constitution before the shameful anti-Ahmadi amendments must be restored. Moreover, all national and international texts that guarantee fundamental rights, such as the right to vote, must be literally implemented. The electoral system based on separated lists must be outlawed and all Pakistani citizens must be treated equally, irrespective of race, religion, creed or belief. It is only through these essential steps that justice and the rule of law can be restored and that Pakistan could finally call itself a democracy.

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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/2010statements/2474/

PAKISTAN: The year 2009 was worst for Ahmedis

---Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Asian Human Rights Commission — Statement

PAKISTAN: The year 2009 was worst for Ahmedis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-FST-009-2010
February 3, 2010

A Statement from Ahmadiyya Jamaat forwarded by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: The year 2009 was worst for Ahmedis

The year 2009 was one of the worst for Ahmadis (a religious minority community) in Pakistan. Eleven Ahmadis were murdered for their faith. Since the promulgation of the anti-Ahmadiyya law in 1984, there has never been a year when less than 11 Ahmadis were killed. Apart from this, numerous attempts have been made on the lives of Ahmadis by their opponents who felt encouraged by the jaundiced attitude of the authorities against Ahmadis.

The federal government maintained its posture as if in continual denial of the human rights and freedom of religion of Ahmadis. The provincial governments, particularly in the Punjab and Azad Kashmir openly supported the Mullas (Muslim fundamentalist leaders) in their anti-Ahmadiyya campaign.

The government of the Punjab sponsored and held an ‘end of the prophet hood conference’ at the Badshahi Mosque in the provincial capital city of Lahore on April 11, 2009. At the occasion they even burnt an effigy of the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya community. Clerics, one after another, unrestrainedly proposed the denial of religious freedom to Ahmadis and indulged in slander and abuse. The conference was paid for with public funds. The federal Minister of Religious Affairs also addressed the conference.

On July 1, 2009 Mr Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of the Punjab province, presided over a meeting of high ranking clerics on the issue of terrorism. At the end of the conference a Declaration was issued and in its clause 2 the conference declared that “Anyone who is guilty, directly or indirectly, openly or by implication, of even minor insolence to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) is an infidel (Kafir), apostate (Murtad) and must be put to death (Wajib-ul-Qatl).” They linked this statement in the text to the ‘end of prophethood’. The declaration was given wide publicity through an advertisement campaign in the vernacular press.

The Central Police Office of Azad Kashmir issued an office circular dated March 5, 2009 on the subject of Suppression of Ahmadiyyat. A prominent sectarian leader Mr. Pir Atiqur Rahman has been appointed Minister of Auqaf (Religious Trusts) of Azad Kashmir government.

In District Layyah of Punjab province, five Ahmadis including four school-going children were arrested on a fabricated charge of blasphemy. They suffered in prison for almost six months before they were released on bail.

Thirty two Ahmadis of Lathianwala, Punjab province, were accused of blasphemy in a single case on July 25, 2009 with FIR 486/09 at Police Station Khurarianwala, Punjab. The authorities took four months to drop the fabricated charge of blasphemy. A heavy police contingent raided their mosque and homes on August 10, 2009 and removed all religious and Arabic inscriptions on their walls. YouTube displayed the video of the outrage under title: Acts of Blasphemy by Pakistani Authorities.

Seventy-four Ahmadis were booked during the year under anti-Ahmadiyya and religious laws on spurious grounds. These laws carry penalties of death and long-term imprisonments. A woman school teacher, Ms Bushra Naheed was booked on March 5, 2009 under section PPC 295-A, which is section of law that deals with deliberate and malicious act to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting the religion or religious beliefs. The charge is triable in an anti-terrorist court, and it is punishable by ten years imprisonment. The lady was only accused of speaking harshly to a woman worker.

Ahmadiyya mosques continued to be targeted throughout the year. One mosque in Kalaswala, Punjab, was destroyed by miscreants while another was attacked by a grenade in Sialkot. Freedom of worship was denied to Ahmadis at Chiniot and Tatle Aali by police officials. A police party used chisels, cement and paint to remove all Arabic inscriptions from the Ahmadiyya mosque in Lathianwala, Punjab.

At Pir Mahal, District Toba Tek Singh Mullas agitated, attacked and defiled an Ahmadiyya graveyard in June 2009. The local authorities, rather than taking action against the clerics, proceeded to cancel the allotment order of the graveyard land to Ahmadis.

A Summary of the Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan
From January 1 — December 31, 2009

Ahmadis murdered for their faith

1. Mr. Saeed Ahmad was killed in Kotri on Jan 19, 09.
2. Mr. Mubashir Ahmad was shot dead on Feb 20, 09 in Karachi.
3. Mr. Shiraz Bajwa and his wife Noreen Bajwa both doctors were brutally murdered on Mar 14, 09 in Multan.
4. Mian Laiq Ahmad was killed in Faisalabad on May 29, 09.
5. Two Ahmadis, Mr. Khalid Rasheed and Mr. Zafar Iqbal were shot dead on Jun 24, 09 in Quetta.
6. Rana Ata-ul-Karim was murdered on Jul 06, 09 in Multan.
7. Mr. M. Ahmad Farooqi was shot dead on Sep 26, 09 in Uch Sharif,Bahawalpur.
8. Zulfiquar Mansur was murdered brutally on Sep 11, 09. He had been abducted a month earlier.
9. Rana Saleem Ahmad, the Deputy Amir of Jamaat Ahmadiyya Sanghar was shot dead on Nov 26, 09.

Ahmadis behind bars

1. Mr. Muhammad Iqbal was imprisoned for life in a fabricated case of blasphemy. He was arrested in March 2004, and is currently incarcerated in the Central Jail, Faisalabad. An appeal has been filed with the Lahore High Court against the decision of the Sessions Court. It is registered as Criminal Appeal No. 89/2005. He is now in the sixth year of his imprisonment.
2. Three Ahmadis; Mr. Basharat, Mr. Nasir Ahmad and Mr. Muhammad Idrees along with seven others of Chak Sikandar, Punjab province, were arrested in September 2003 on a false charge of murdering a cleric. The police, after due investigation found no evidence against the accused. Yet they faced a ‘complaint trial’ for a crime they did not commit. They are being held on death row at a prison in Jehlum, while their appeal lies with the Lahore High Court. They are now in the seventh year of their incarceration. Their appeal to the Lahore High Court is registered as Criminal Appeal No. 616/2005 dated 26 April 2005.
3. Dr. Muhammad Asghar was arrested on a fabricated charge of blasphemy in June 2008. The judge rejected his plea for bail. The police investigation found him innocent. Subsequently his plea for bail was rejected by the High Court — and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has directed his expeditious trial which is now in progress. It is learnt that his plea for bail has now been accepted by the Supreme Court, but he was still in prison on December 31.

Ahmadis who were made to face charges

1. Thirty-seven Ahmadis were wrongfully booked under the dreaded blasphemy laws.
2. Fifty-seven Ahmadis were charged under Ahmadi-specific laws.
3. Ms. Bushra Naheed, an Ahmadi school teacher was falsely charged under PPC 295-A, triable in Anti-terrorism court. She is accused only of speaking harshly to a woman worker.
4. An Ahmadiyya mosque was desecrated in Lathianwala; Kalima (Islamic Creed) and Islamic terminology written on the walls of the mosque as well as Ahmadis’ houses was covered with cement and paint by the police. A case was registered against 32 Ahmadis under 295-A, 295-C and 298-C, etc.

Murder Attempts

1. A murder attempt was made on Mr. Muhammad Iqbal Abid, an Ahmadi religious teacher on February 25, 2009 at Vehari.
2. An Ahmadi college lecturer, Mr. Mubashir Ahmad Tahir escaped death from murderers in Chakwal. He received serious injuries when they tried to behead him.
3. An Ahmadi lawyer Mr. Riasat Ali Bajwa was attacked on May 4, 2009.
4. Another Ahmadi Mr. Javed Ahmad escaped a murder attempt on August 12, 2009 in Kunri.
5. Mr. Luqman Ahmad Gondal s/o Mr. Nasir Ahmad Gondal (president of the local Ahmadiyya community) closely escaped an attempt on his life on September 12, 2009.
6. Mr. Muhammad Ayaz, 20-years old son of a former president of the district Ahmadiyya community became the target of an attack on his life on February 7, 2009.
7. Dr Pervaiz Zareef of Bhati Gate, Lahore closely escaped an attempt on his life on November 25, 2009.

Abduction of Ahmadis

1. Qamar Ahmad, an Ahmadi was abducted by two men in the vicinity of his home at about 21:30 on March 16, 2009. He was left unconscious on roadside.
2. Mr. Bashir Ahmad Advocate, President of the local Ahmadiyya community, Achini Payan, near Peshawar was abducted on April 1, 2009. He has not been recovered yet.
3. Mr. Rashid Karim, a well-known Ahmadi in Faisalabad, was abducted on May 9, 2009. He was released 5 months later after payment of heavy ransom.
4. Mr. Zulfiquar Mansur was abducted at Quetta in September 2009. A month later his dead body was recovered from roadside in city’s suburbs.

Miscellaneous

1. Four school-going children of 9th and 10th grade were falsely charged under PPC 295-C in Layyah; they remained incarcerated for about 6 months.
2. An Ahmadiyya mosque was attacked with a grenade in Sialkot.
3. A gang of religious extremists, comprising approximately 50 men attacked an Ahmadiyya mosque in the village of Kalaswala on October 27 and destroyed it.
4. All Ahmadi teachers were fired from Qurban High School in Lahore under the pressure of mullas.
5. Four rockets were launched against an Ahmadi-owned industrial plant in Feb 09.
6. Anti-Ahmadiyya Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Conference was held in the Royal Mosque, Lahore under the auspices of the provincial government in April 2009.
7. An Ahmadiyya graveyard was attacked and desecrated by rioters in Pir Mahal, Toba Tek Singh in June 09. Thereafter the authorities cancelled the land allotment order issued by them to Ahmadis 20 years ago.
8. Two Ahmadis were assaulted for their faith on August 7, 2009 in Nankana.
9. A Khatme Nabuwwat Conference was held in Rabwah by rabid mullas on 15, 16 October 2009. It is worth noting that Ahmadis, who are 95% of the Rabwah population, are not allowed to hold their gatherings and sports competitions in this town, while the authorities allow the fundamentalists to hold conferences in Rabwah, in which they use highly provocative language against Ahmadi residents of Rabwah.
10. SHO Police Station Chiniot City, ordered Ahmadis of Kot Muhammad Yar to stop their weekly Friday worship.
11. Ahmadis of Tatle Aali, District Gujranwala were forbidden by the local police to congregate for prayers.

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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/2009statements/2397/

Pakistan’s abused Ahmadis: A mosque by any other name

---The Economist

Wednesday January 13th 2010

Pakistan’s abused Ahmadis
A mosque by any other name

Jan 13th 2010
From The Economist print edition

Members of the Ahmadiya sect face a new rash of persecution

AS AFZAL TAHIR was reciting the Koran last month, and otherwise minding his own business—an electrical repair shop—four Muslim fundamentalists came to threaten him. If they caught Mr Tahir masquerading as a Muslim again, they said, he would pay for it: with up to three years in prison, which is the penalty for members of the Ahmadiya sect who are convicted of that crime.

Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, though they differ from the Sunni mainstream on an important point: they believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the 19th-century Indian who founded their tradition, was a latter-day prophet. In many Muslims’ eyes, this makes them un-Islamic and blasphemous. Pakistan’s Ahmadis, of whom there may be 4m, were declared to be non-Muslims by the government in 1974. In the 1980s, under General Zia ul Haq, a fundamentalist Sunni dictator, most aspects of Ahmadi worship were in effect criminalised—in some cases by blasphemy laws which carry the death penalty.

The Ahmadis are an educated minority, who do well in commerce and produced Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate. But they are not permitted to call their mosque a mosque, nor to issue the Muslim call to prayer, display Koranic inscriptions or otherwise present themselves as Muslims. Under an arrangement re-established by Pervez Musharraf, the country’s most recent military dictator, Ahmadis have a separate voters’ list and parliamentary seats reserved for their candidates. But most Ahmadis choose not to vote at all. And some, including the leader of Lahore’s Ahmadis, Munir Ahmad Sheikh, argue that those holding the reserved seats, having implicitly accepted their status as non-Muslims, are not really Ahmadis at all.

Seated at Lahore’s main Ahmadi mosque—where an engraving of the Kalima, the Muslim profession of faith, has been crudely planked over—Mr Sheikh diagnoses a new outbreak of anti-Ahmadi thuggery. This is a roughly decennial event, he says, and has manifested itself in recent attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore and intensified intimidation of Ahmadi traders.

A general rise in Islamist militancy, in which jihadists’ competing agendas have tended to merge, may explain this. Economic hardship, which aggravates the property disputes that so often underlie sectarian and religious violence, could be another factor. As can mundane political rivalries: a fiery dispute last September between Pakistan’s central “moon-sighting committee” and the government of North-West Frontier Province, over when to end the Ramadan fast, escalated to the point that supporters of the government likened their opponents to the Ahmadis—in effect, using the sect as a paragon of religious deviance.

So long as anti-Ahmadi sentiment is sanctioned by law, there is little prospect of breaking the decennial cycle. Nor is any political party likely to dare antagonising the Islamists by trying to repeal Pakistan’s anti-Ahmadi laws. It was, after all, a government of the relatively liberal Pakistan People’s Party that first declared the group to be non-Muslim. With most mullahs, the government and the law all ranged against the Ahmadis, it would be surprising if most Pakistanis were not too.

The shop next to Mr Tahir’s is pasted with anti-Ahmadi slogans. One screams “Every Ahmadi is a blasphemer like Salman Rushdie”. Asked whether this wasn’t rather un-neighbourly, the proprietor, Muhammad Rafiq, replies, “Whatever the mullahs say must be right.”

URL: www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15266768

PAKISTAN: Another Ahmadi academic is killed by Muslim fundamentalists

---Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong

Asian Human Rights Commission — Statement

PAKISTAN: Another Ahmadi academic is killed by Muslim fundamentalists

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-234-2009
November 27, 2009

On November 26, 2009 Mr. Rana Salim, a well known educationalist of Sanghir district, Sindh province, was shot dead. Mr. Salim and his wife ran the prestigious New Life public school, credited by residents for the quality of its teaching.

As Mr. Rana was walking out from Baitul Hamd mosque after his evening payers, he was shot at point blank range and was rushed to hospital, but died on the way. The local police didn’t arrive until very late and have yet to start any investigation. District authorities have stated that the assailant cannot be identified and that therefore they cannot speculate on the cause of the murder.

However the administration of New Life Public School claims to have been frequently threatened by Muslim extremists and though the deceased had reported this, no actions had ever been taken by the authorities.

Fundamentalist groups are openly critical of the notoriously high performance of Ahmediya schools in Pakistan, since they consider the Ahmediya community — which they believe to be non Islamic community — a threat. In the past it has been left to local people to shield this particular school from small attacks.

Salim is the 106th Ahmadi to be murdered since 1986, when former military dictator General Zia ul Haq prohibited the religious sect from performing Islamic rituals and constructing mosques. During 2009 six Ahmadis have so far been murdered in target killings, and the state consistently fails in its responsibility to protect them, despite repeated claims by the current administration that it represents the best interests of minorities in the country. The impunity seen to be enjoyed by those who commit crimes against Ahmadis only encourages further discriminatory violence.

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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/stateme...ements/2317/