Pakistani terrorists threaten Ahmadi community

14/06/2011

Pakistani terrorists threaten Ahmadi community

Islamabad, June 14 (IANS) Pakistani terrorists have issued a hit-list of prominent businessmen from the Ahmadi community, saying those who ‘misguide’ the country would be punished with death.

Terrorists have begun distributing pamphlets that say they would start ‘target killings’ of prominent members of the Ahmadi community. The attacks would be launched in Faisalabad, the Daily Times reported.

The Ahmadiyya is an Islamic religious movement founded near the end of the 19th century, originating with the life and teachings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908). The followers of the Ahmadiyya sect are referred to as Ahmadis or Ahmadi Muslims.

Sources in law enforcement agencies said different terrorist outfits have joined hands against the Ahmadi community.

The outfits said the Ahmadis of the country were involved in conspiracies against Islam and Pakistan.

The pamphlets state that the act of killing an Ahmadi made an individual a ‘holy warrior’ and the person who would do so ‘would also be blessed by the Holy Prophet on the Day of Judgement’, according to the daily.

‘O Muslim brothers. There are some people among us who are misguiding us and their punishment is death,’ said one of the pamphlets, while another asked if there was anybody who had the courage to teach the Ahmadis a lesson.

One of the pamphlets was distributed by an extremist group that calls itself All Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwat Federation.

A few Ahmadis told the Daily Times they had been victims of constant persecution by terrorists for decades.

Asian Human Rights Commission Representative Baseer Naveed said it was a matter of serious concern that such pamphlets were being distributed.

Naveed said the government bothered to take steps only after people actually start getting murdered.

©Indo-Asian News Service
URL: http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5208767

Terrorists chalk out plan to target Ahmedis

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Terrorists chalk out plan to target Ahmedis

By Afnan Khan

LAHORE: Terrorists have chalked out a plan regarding target killings of prominent members of the Ahmedi community in the country, starting from Faisalabad, which is the second biggest industrial hub of the province and hometown of Punjab Law Minister, Rana Sanaullah.

Sources in the local law enforcement agencies also revealed that different terrorist organisations have joined together in the mission and they have initiated the campaign through distribution of pamphlets and organising conferences in local seminaries against the Ahmedis.

They also issued a list of prominent Ahmedi businessmen living in Faisalabad and surrounding areas by mentioning their names and addresses, saying that the Ahmedi citizens of the country were involved in conspiracies against Islam and Pakistan.

The pamphlets, containing hit-list of locals who have been working and living in the areas since generations, also state that the act of killing an Ahmedi made an individual a holy warrior and the person who would do so would also be blessed by the Holy Prophet (PBUH) on the Day of Judgment.

“O Muslim brothers. There are some people among us who are misguiding us and their punishment is death,” one of the pamphlets read, further asking if there was anybody who had the courage to teach the Ahmedis a lesson.

The distributed hate material urges people to wake up, become fearless holy warriors and start killing Ahmedis.

One of the pamphlets was distributed by an extremist group named All Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwat Federation. The hit-list of Ahmedi citizens not only contains names of 32 prominent businessmen but also comprises senior teachers and prominent doctors. Some of the local Ahmedis, while talking to told Daily Times, said, that they had remained a victim of constant persecution by the state and terrorists for decades but none of the previous incidents matched this newly organised campaign against them.

They added that they had informed the government and law enforcement authorities about the threats but to no avail. They said that the local Ahmedis are living under extreme tension after knowing about this campaign and there is no surety from any side, be it the government or any other concerned authority.

Asian Human Rights Commission Representative, Baseer Naveed, told Daily Times that it was a matter of serious concern that these pamphlets were being distributed openly in a city from where more than four ministers were in the cabinets of Punjab and the federal government. He said that the local Ahmedis had requested these ministers many a times in the past to help them, however, they turned a deaf ear to all their appeals.

He stated that a large number of Ahmedis as well as Christians had been living in Faisalabad and its neighbouring cities since the past many years, however, recently the killings, abductions and torture by extremists against these communities had increased under the very nose of the government.

Naveed added that it was a sorry state of affairs that our government had become so reckless that they would only bother to take any steps only when people sctually start getting murdered.

He said that it was astonishing that the Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah and opposition leader in Punjab Assembly (PA), Raja Riaz, even though belonging to the same city, conveniently turned a blind eye to the entire situation. Sanaullah was also accused of having ties with a banned terrorist outfit in the area, whose operatives were also accused of planning, executing and leading the massacre of Christians in Gojra in 2009.

However, Punjab government spokesperson and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Senator Pervaiz Rashid told Daily Times that he was not aware about the issue but will immediately ask the local law enforcers to probe and take action against these hate mongers.

He said that the Punjab government had a clear policy regarding protecting the rights of each and every citizen and they will not let these terrorists hijack the whole society. He said that these are the same people who were involved in bombing mosques, shrines and other religious places and their sole aim is to sabotage the country but the government will deal with these people through iron hands.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\06\14\story_14-6-2011_pg13_1

Textile City: Politicians turn blind eye to hate pamphlets

Pakistan Punjab

Textile City: Politicians turn blind eye to hate pamphlets

By Shamsul Islam
Published: June 13, 2011

Rights organisation fears mass target killings of Ahmadis in Faisalabad.

FAISALABAD: A rights organisation said it feared large-scale targeted killing of Ahmadis in Faisalabad after pamphlets labelling members of the Ahmadiyya community “Wajibul Qatl” (‘liable to be murdered’), and inciting people to publicly attack followers of the faith, were openly and widely circulated in Faisalabad.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said that “the government has been made fully aware of the threats to the Ahmadiyya community [and] the AHRC urges the government to take immediate action to prevent such killings and destruction of their industrial and commercial establishments.”

The statement bemoaned the insensitivity of elected representatives from the district to the precarious situation brewing in the city.

“The Ahmadiyya community has informed all members of national and provincial assemblies elected from Faisalabad and the local administration through the district commissioner of this serious threat but no one is taking action,” the statement said.

“It is astonishing that provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah, and leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz are both aware of the mass appeal to kill Ahmadis but both of them are turning a blind eye to the situation,” it added.

The politicians fear losing their right-wing vote bank by standing up for Ahmadiyya community, the statement said.

“It is alleged that Rana Sanaullah who belongs to Faisalabad, had previously supported the movement against Ahmadis by providing official support to Majlis-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat,” the statement added.

The AHRC said it has received information that a plan has been chalked out to kill the owners and family members of 36 commercial and industrial establishments belonging to Ahmadiyya community.

If target killings start, the government will be answerable not only to the Ahmadiyya community but also to citizens of Pakistan and the international community, the statement added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/187855/textile...pamphlets/

Targeting minorities: No friend to Ahmadis in Faisalabad

Pakistan Punjab

Targeting minorities: No friend to Ahmadis in Faisalabad

By Shamsul Islam
Published: June 9, 2011

Pamphlets calling them liable to be murdered and inciting people to kill them being openly distributed.

FAISALABAD: Pamphlets labelling members of the Ahmadiyya community “Wajibul Qatl” (‘liable to be murdered’), and inciting people to publicly attack followers of the faith, are being openly and widely circulated in Punjab’s textile industry hub Faisalabad, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Even more startling is the fact that the pamphlet contains a list of names of Ahmadi industrialists, doctors and businesses. The first name is that of a cloth house, three owners of which were gunned down in a brazen attack last year.

The pamphlets bear the name of the All-Pakistan Students Khatm-e-Nubuwat Federation and are being handed out at all main shopping plazas and important commercial centres of the city.

The pamphlet says: “To shoot such people is an act of jihad and to kill such people is an act of sawab.”

Reacting sharply over distribution of such literature, Umoor-e-Aama Jama’at Ahmadiyya, Faisalabad, has said that the propaganda campaign being carried out unhindered by some fanatic religious groups under patronage of law-enforcing agencies and the provincial government.

The jama’at has also blamed the Punjab government for ignoring myriad protests lodged by the province’s Ahmadiyya community. It says that such religious fanatics are being encouraged by inaction on the part of government agencies.

The jama’at’s secretary Mahmood Ahmad, in an email addressed to the province’s home secretary and police chief, and Faisalabad’s regional police officer, has written: “We have time and again approached police authorities against hate literature but nothing has been done so far. This collapse of law and order can be traced to the cowardice, inefficiency and incompetence of law enforcement agencies.”

Ahmad points out that it is easy to trace the pamphlet’s source as even its publisher’s mobile number is brazenly given in print. This also shows the publisher’s disdain towards Pakistan’s laws and agencies enforcing them.

“Our mouths have been taped shut. Our hands have been tied. I am writing this in the hope that somewhere somehow this letter finds its way to a patriotic police or other official who takes a fearless stand for the sake of Pakistan,” the email says.

Corroborating the view expressed by Ahmad, police officials seemed reluctant to take the matter seriously.

City police chief Rai Tahir Hussain also said he had no information about the pamphlets.

Faisalabad DSP Mian Khalid also pleaded ignorance on the matter, and said that the Kotwali SHO would have the information.

When contacted, SHO Malik Muhammad Shahid said that since no complaint has been made, there was no question of taking action.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2011.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/185179/targeting...in-faisalabad/

A question of faith: ‘Repeal blasphemy law or make it flawless’

Pakistan

A question of faith: ‘Repeal blasphemy law or make it flawless’

Published: June 2, 2011

Report documents the deteriorating state of minorities in Pakistan.

A Think Tank working on minority issues in Pakistan has called upon the government to repeal the blasphemy law, or at least amend it to remove all vague terminology to prevent its misuse.

The Jinnah Institute’s report, “A Question of Faith”, also calls for addition of a section in the Pakistan Penal Code making advocacy of religious hatred or incitement to discrimination or violence a punishable offence.

The institute has published 23 recommendations, including the removal of impunity for prayer leaders in mosques, police and judicial reforms and clarification of the status of Federal Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology. It also calls for an appointment of a “Special Ombudsman” to protect the rights of women and minorities.

The research team interviewed 125 people including minority representatives, victims and non-governmental organisations’ workers all over Pakistan between December 2010 and April 2011. It documents the deterioration in the political, social and economic status of members of religious minorities in Pakistan, “particularly the rising tide of vigilante violence against them”, according to a press release issued by the institute.

The report focuses on Christians, Hindus and Ahmadis, three prominent minority groups in the country. According to the report, the conditions for Christians have deteriorated over the years. The Christians “are on the frontline of the persecution and violence against minority communities.”

Interviews with Christians of different age groups and professions revealed that many of them felt they “are treated as second-class citizens and discriminated against in all aspects of life.” Moreover, most of those who can, do move away from Pakistan. Those who choose to stay back do so because of a “strong sense of commitment to the country and being ‘Pakistani’.”

Christians in rural areas have to deal with instances of their land being grabbed by local Muslim residents and in some of the more serious incidents, the Christian residents did not come back to their homes.

Eighty per cent of the Hindus in Pakistan live in Sindh, and “are victims of caste and wider religious discrimination,” said the report. They do not own lands and work on daily wages, a consequence of them not having any permanent settlement. The report said, “One day, they are with one landlord, the next day with another. And this is how they spend a life of debt, with no accountability or education.”

Their castes have translated into daily life. For instance, Hindus from a lower caste might be restricted to a separate water well in a school, “from which even the Muslims will not drink”.

Higher caste Hindus have their own set of problems to contend with. They live in a state of insecurity and are frequently kidnapped for ransom. For instance, 82-year-old Lakki Chand Garji, a prominent Hindu spiritual leader, was kidnapped on December 21, 2010 and is yet to be traced and rescued.

Then there’s the matter of Hindus being suspected of having sympathy for India. Some Hindus said that “they dealt with the repercussions of the destruction of the Babri Masjid across the border in India in 1992.”

Violence against the Ahmaddiya community has also been on the rise in the past three years, according to the report. The report attributed the increase in violence to maulvis “promoting such attacks and inciting violence in their sermons and in the media.”

Sherry Rehman, President of Jinnah Institute, introduced the report on Tuesday and spoke about the need to reinstate the model of inclusive citizenship envisioned by Mohammed Ali Jinnah.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2011.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/180431/a-question-...flawless/

Report on status of religious minorities launched

	Wednesday, Junne 1, 2011, Jamadi-us-Sani 28, 1432 A.H.
Islamabad
Report on status of religious minorities launched

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

A report on the status of religious minorities in Pakistan, titled ‘A Question of Faith’, was launched by the Jinnah Institute. The report is a research study, compiled over the period December 2010-April 2011 and documents the deterioration in the political, social and economic status of members of religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the rising tide of vigilante violence against them, says a press release.

The report was prepared in consultation with members of several religious minorities across the country, human rights organisations and policy experts. It lists recommendations for the redressal of grievances through constitutional amendments, political and judicial reform, sensitisation of media and revision of educational curricula that imparts discrimination or hatred against minorities.

Findings of the report indicate that minorities in the country connect strongly with a Pakistani national identity, even as they are persecuted on the basis of their religion. It is emphasised that the Pakistani state needs to take steps towards ensuring that citizens of the country do not continue to fall victim to cruelty and vigilantism and that a critical mass of Pakistanis has to help arrest the discrimination and persecution against minorities.

Sherry Rehman, President of Jinnah Institute, introduced the report and spoke about the need to reinstate the model of inclusive citizenship envisioned by Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Mariam Faruqi, lead researcher and author of the report, gave a presentation on the findings and key recommendations contained in the study. Advisor to Prime Minister, Paul Bhatti, stated that a collective effort was required by all concerned to uphold values of human dignity, justice and peace and to create rights for minorities. Joseph Francis, Director CLAAS recalled the historical discrimination against the Christian population and pointed towards laws that lead to systemic discrimination. Krishan Sharma, prominent minority rights activist, presented a list of recommendations from his research paper that demanded repeal of those laws. Ali Dayan Hasan of Human Rights Watch commented on how laws relating to minorities in Pakistan were effectively instruments of coercion and questioned the sustainability of liberal pluralism in the country.

URL: http://thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=50118&Cat=6&dt=6/1/2011

PAKISTAN: A year on from the Lahore attacks but Ahmedis still suffering

Opinion / Columns

PAKISTAN: A year on from the Lahore attacks but Ahmedis still suffering

FOR PUBLICATION
AHRC-ETC-017-2011
May 30, 2011

An article by Nasim Malik published by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: A year on from the Lahore attacks but Ahmedis still suffering

A day of ghastly sight of gristly, gruesome bloodshed of Ahmadis in Lahore Pakistan

A year after the terrifying horrendous massacre of 86 Ahmadis of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Lahore, Pakistan the world remains deeply in shock, appalled by that act of religious terrorism, cold bloodedly covered up by the government of Pakistan.

The 86 murdered were part of a Friday worship service in Darul Zikr mosque in Lahore and Baitul Noor mosque in Model, Town, Lahore. During the course of this carnage nearly 150 people were seriously injured.

The very next day the security forces arrested 6 terrorists who confessed that they had carried out the attack on the Darul Zikr mosque but no action to this day has been taken against anyone. Both the mosques are in close proximity of police stations who could clearly hear the gun shots and blasts but they did not show up on site until the terrorists had exhausted all their ammunition stock. Even on arrival the police did not allow the emergency services to enter the mosque which could have saved many innocent lives of worshippers.

The families of the victims of this carnage received no support or assistance from the government whatsoever and the widows and the orphans are left to suffer and fend for themselves.

The government of Pakistan usurped the fundamental basic human rights, rights of religious freedom of Ahmadis in Pakistan by declaring them non-Muslims in 1974. This was perpetuated by the infamous Ordinance XX promulgated by General Zia ul Haq under which Ahmadi Muslims can be sentenced to death or imprisoned for practising the Islamic faith or using the Islamic scriptures or epithets.

Over 200 Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered in Pakistan for following their faith since 1974 and several hundred prosecuted and imprisoned under the infamous Blasphemy laws.

Pakistan today is infected with Islamists persisting in their hard-line interpretation of Islam based on force and violence to promote their objectives and promote terrorist activities resulting in frightful loss of innocent lives on a daily basis.

The federal government has taken no effective bold step to curb and eliminate the activities of extremists who are continuing to erode the very values on which Pakistan was established.

The political parties in Pakistan too have shown no indication to confront the religious bigotry, extremism and violence which has shattered the social and economic fabric of the society.

Pakistan is a signatory to the UN Human Rights Charter and its ancillary declarations but is attitude and treatment of minorities particularly Ahmadis is deplorable.

Ahmadis now well established in 198 countries of the world have earned a worldwide reputation of being a very tolerant law abiding and peace loving community. They have been treated horribly, unjustly and discriminately to the extent they cannot even vote but they have never protested or acted against the state of Pakistan.

Ahmadi generals shed their blood in the Pakistan wars to protect its integrity and today the government of Pakistan is not showing the slightest regard for the rights, safety and security of Ahmadis in Pakistan.

The 28 May 2010 massacre gives an undeniable slur of cruelty and atrocity upon Pakistan and its continued injustice and violation of the fundamental rights of Ahmadis will not go in vain. It is time that the government of Pakistan sanely attends to its obligations towards all its subjects without discrimination to save itself from a path of destruction on which it is treading. It is now high time for the government of Pakistan to act.

——————
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:
Mr. Nasim Malik was a Swedish Socialdemocrat politician and was elected as a reserve member of the Swedish Parliament and President of the International Wing of the Socialdemocrats Kalmar. He can be reached at nasim.malik@kalmar.se

URL: www.humanrights.asia/opinions/columns/AHRC-ETC-017-2011

Ghari Shahu attacks anniversary: 88 Ahmadis killed. 1 year on. 0 justice.

Pakistan

Ghari Shahu attacks anniversary: 88 Ahmadis killed. 1 year on. 0 justice.

By Rana Tanveer
Published: May 28, 2011

A policeman stands guard inside the compound of an Ahmadi worship place, May 30, 2010. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE

LAHORE: As grieved Ahmadi families prepare to mark the first anniversary of the deadliest attack on their community in Pakistan’s history, investigations stand still.

On Friday, May 28, 2010, over 88 people were killed in twin gun-and-bomb attacks at Ahmadi places of worship in the Garhi Shahu and Model Town areas in Lahore. Investigations were launched and arrests were made but little has come out of the investigations.

According to police, a charge-sheet against the accused was prepared after investigations and has been submitted before an anti-terrorism court in Lahore. “The remaining attackers were killed in the operation and no other attackers or facilitators have been identified,” Civil Lines Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Captain (retd) Liaquat Ali Malik told The Express Tribune. “Police responded effectively and killed all of the attackers.”

But many members of the Ahmadiyya community believe that the police response was sluggish.

In its annual report released in January, the London-based Ahmadiyya Jama’at said that police took a long time to arrive in numbers and the delayed response led to more casualties due to lack of medical assistance for the injured. “There was inadequate supervision of the police operation. The contingent present at Garhi Shahu received no orders to mount a prompt counter-attack,” the report says.

Ahmadiyya Jama’at Pakistan spokesperson Saleemuddin says that the police has made scant progress in investigations. “The two attackers against whom a charge-sheet was prepared were tackled by worshippers themselves in Model Town. The police has neither identified any other attacker nor has it taken the matter seriously,” he said.

Ahmadis have many fears over their protection in the country. According to the Ahmadiyya Jama’at, 99 members of the community were killed in 2010. The number is confirmed by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its State of Human Rights 2010 report. The HRCP adds that 64 Ahmadis were charged with blasphemy that year.

The Lahore attacks, according to Ahmadiyya Jama’at, were not a big surprise as the provincial government had been forewarned by various sources about the likelihood of such an attack.

Even after the attack, no special measures were taken to secure Ahmadi places of worship. In September 2010, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of a worship place in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, where worshippers were offering Friday prayers.

The Ahmadi population, estimated to be around four million, has been marginalised since Pakistan’s parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Ten years later, in 1984, then president General Ziaul Haq enacted an ordinance forbidding Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims and refer to their places of worship as mosques. Under the law, Ahmadis can serve up to three years in prison for “posing as Muslims”.

Saleemuddin believes that the silence over the plight of Ahmadis could lead to more such attacks. “If anti-Ahmadi laws are not repealed, their lives in Pakistan [will continue to] remain in danger,” he says.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2011.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/177562/ghari-shahu-attacks.../

Blasphemy laws — a modification is in order

Opinion

Blasphemy laws — a modification is in order

Kunwar Khalid Yunus
December 04, 2010

The writer served as member of the National Assembly for the MQM four times and is currently a member of the party’s Rabita Committee

The biggest millstone hanging around Pakistan is a remnant from General Ziaul Haq’s time in power — the seemingly untouchable blasphemy laws, first introduced and passed as law in 1986. The law was in fact never drafted, produced or debated in either house of parliament and was more or less bulldozed, through Zia’s Majlis-e-Shura, by a member of parliament who belonged to the Jamaat-i-Islami. The law was approved swiftly without any debate, because that would have meant opposition and the climate in those days was such that it was a risk most lawmakers would not be willing to take. Besides, the dictator in charge at that time, General Zia, wanted their passage so there wasn’t really much that parliament could do in any case.

Given the widespread reported abuse of the blasphemy law, it should be clear to any sensible individual that the existing legislation needs to be modified. To this effect, a proposal has been introduced by an MNA from the ruling party. However, I should add that in the past, it was the MQM that presented at least five amendments to the Hudood Ordinance in 2002. Laying the Hudood Ordinance for amendments in parliament was no joke, given the threats that usually come from clerics and risks associated with backing such legislation.

The most brutal blasphemy laws out of the 57 countries that make up the OIC are found in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Among them, the laws in Pakistan are perhaps the most stringent. A blasphemy law constitutes a death penalty or a death penalty with a fine for the “use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet (pbuh)” and a Shariat Court judgment in 1990 made the death sentence mandatory.

In Afghanistan, the constitution says: “Blasphemy may be punished by penalties up to execution by hanging.” The Afghan constitution was later rewritten, changing many of its articles to make them in accordance with the 21st century.

In Saudi Arabia, the laws prescribe “penalty up to the death for blasphemy” — and this is, surprisingly, less harsh than the law in Pakistan. The law in the world’s largest Muslim country, Indonesia, prescribes a maximum punishment for blasphemy for five years in jail (Article 156-A of the Indonesian constitution).

Statistics compiled by a well-reputed NGO in Pakistan reveals that of the 378 individuals who have been tried over the years under the blasphemy law, as many as 10 per cent met a violent fate, as in they were killed by frenzied mobs merely on the assumption that they had indeed committed an act of blasphemy. This shows the extent of the law’s misuse and is a strong argument for their modification so as to prevent innocent people from being killed.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2010.

URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/85528/blasphemy-laws--a-modification-is-in-order/

No minority rights in Pakistan

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

COMMENT: No minority rights in Pakistan — Shahid Saeed

We live in such an ideologically insecure country hell-bent on maintaining our brand as an Islamic Republic that we undercount and under-report the percentage of minorities in our census. There is a barrier the size of the Great Wall of China that prevents minorities from becoming successful citizens in Pakistan

Amidst the outrage over the sentencing to death of Aasia Bibi, a 45-year old mother of five, over charges of blasphemy that seem difficult to prove and have triggered a debate on the blasphemy law itself, what has been conveniently ignored is the fact that the said incident occurred after people refused to drink water brought by Aasia Bibi, considering it to be napaak (impure). Ironically, it is socially acceptable that people belonging to the poor Christian community are treated despicably, considered unhygienic, called names such as choora (sewer cleaner), regardless of their actual profession. The accusers who refused to drink water brought by Aasia Bibi were somehow acting within religious guidelines. I would like to ask them whether they would act in the same manner if Aasia Bibi and her likes were to be replaced by white Caucasian Christian women. I am pretty positive that there would be no qualms in accepting that glass of water or food touched by Christians who are not chooras. Clearly, then, it is not a matter of religion but socio-economic status that makes people discriminate in such an outrageous and horrific manner in the name of religion.

A few years ago, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had put up a banner on the Islamabad Expressway inviting the Christian biradari (community) to apply for janitorial jobs vacant at the CDA. Historically, Christians from poor backgrounds have served as janitors and cleaners, and many continue to do so whilst fighting social injustice, but for a government department to declare janitorial jobs solely reserved for Christians is disgusting. Our society tolerates, accepts and practises shameful, abominable and repulsive behaviour every day, all in the name of religion. My head hangs in shame.

We live in a country where, for a long time, elections were carried out under religious apartheid as minorities were denied their right to universal franchise by forcing separate electorates on them. The freedom to profess religion guaranteed by Article 20 of the constitution has been meaningless in the light of the legal and social discrimination against minorities. Article 20 grants people of all faiths freedom to “profess, practice and propagate” their religion, but the Second Amendment and Ordinance XX prohibit the Ahmedis from practising their religion openly and denies them the right to call themselves Muslims by categorising their faith for them. We guarantee them freedom of religion, only as long as the majority can feel secure by calling itself the constitutional Muslims and prohibiting the Ahmedis from nearly everything that they believe in, including the right to name their small town of Rabwah, as it has been rechristened Chenab Nagar. The insecurity of the majority sects has been written down in the Second Amendment and Ordinance XX and continues with constant court cases against the Ahmedis.

The fact is there are no minority rights in Pakistan. Minority members of parliament have to begin their speeches by first praising Islam and the government of Pakistan for guaranteeing them whatever limited rights they have, and still they are looked down upon by the ulema (sitting mostly on the treasury desks). It is as if we are doing a favour to them by extending basic humanitarian rights. The Hindu community has faced constant harassment and the number of forced conversions in Sindh has been on a constant rise. The Christian community faces social barriers of enormous proportions and has been the target of innumerable terrorist attacks too. Starting from partition when the Sikh and Hindu populations were killed in massive numbers, minority faiths have suffered immensely. The anti-Ahmedi agitation of 1953 started the wave of mass harassment and persecution that continues to this day. Temples have been razed, churches have been burnt and poor people lynched and killed in the name of religion.

From Shantinagar to Gojra, the history of this land is full of the murder of minorities at the hands of the self-proclaimed righteous guardians of religious boundaries. In a country where sectarian terrorism consumed thousands of lives and minorities have been forced to live in fear, Article 20 is nothing but hollow words.

We live in such an ideologically insecure country hell-bent on maintaining our brand as an Islamic Republic that we undercount and under-report the percentage of minorities in our census. There is a barrier the size of the Great Wall of China that prevents minorities from becoming successful citizens in Pakistan. The wall has been raised by legal and social measures that persecute them and discriminate against them. The majority Muslim population, hijacked by a significant number of hardline religious leaders and their followers, has made life for the minorities a living hell. They use mosque loudspeakers for telling them that they will inevitably go to hell in their afterlife.

With the passage of the Objectives Resolution, the fate of minorities in this country was sealed forever and the dream of the state envisaged in Jinnah’s August 11, 1947 speech had died. The report of the Court of Inquiry constituted under the Punjab Act II of 1954 to enquire into the Punjab Disturbances of 1953, commonly known as the Justice Munir report, had then answered some valid questions about the role of religion in the state. The ulema — disunited as they are on a million issues and unable to come to a single definition of a Muslim — were then nearly united, and still are, on how to treat minorities: they shall be zimmies and “will have no say in the making of law and no right to administer the law” and would not be allowed to propagate their religion. Summarising, the good Justices Munir and MR Kayani wrote: “It is this lack of bold and clear thinking, the inability to understand and take decisions which has brought about in Pakistan a confusion which will persist and repeatedly create situations of the kind we have been inquiring into until our leaders have a clear conception of the goal and of the means to reach it…The sublime faith called Islam will live even if our leaders are not there to enforce it. It lives in the individual, in his soul and outlook, in all his relations with God and men, from the cradle to the grave, and our politicians should understand that if Divine commands cannot make or keep a man a Musalman, their statutes will not.”

These words have proven to be prophetic and stand so apt for today, albeit with the caveat that we no longer have liberal judges who did not think secularism was a bogeyman. The 11-year rule of ‘Islamisation’ has changed our attitudes, ideologies and beliefs immensely, and now we teach our children lies that never were a part of our history. We are confused about the very ideology behind the creation of this country, what it was meant to be, what it has become and what it should be. The confusion persists, but with laws that demand a blind Safia Bibi to produce four witnesses to support her claim of rape, laws that allow honour killings to take place through forgiveness granted under diyat and laws that sentence people to death over fake blasphemy charges, we have arrived at a point where it is clear that theocracy has failed us. Only a secular, progressive and democratic Pakistan can guarantee social progress for the people of this country. Rest assured, the future looks bleak if things are to continue the way they are now.

The writer is interested in history and public policy. He can be reached at shahid@live.com.pk

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\12\01\story_1-12-2010_pg3_4

ROVER’S DIARY: Much ado about blasphemy

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

ROVER’S DIARY: Much ado about blasphemy — Babar Ayaz

A cursory view of the whole debate about the Blasphemy Law shows that there are many saner and more intellectually sound Muslims who do not support the existing draconian law. Except for a small extremist coterie of bigots, many politicians are all for removing Section 295-B and C

Way back on March 6, 1927, Bertrand Russell delivered a lecture to the National Secular Society, South London Branch, at Battersea Town Hall. It was subsequently published in pamphlet form that same year. This essay achieved fame when Paul Edward published a compilation of Russell’s essays on religion, titled Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays. In his lecture, he talked about his agnostic views about God and questioned certain Christian values.

The blasphemy and blasphemous libel laws were part of the British common law at that time. The laws had existed since the 17th century and were punishable by the common law courts. This law was not invoked against Russell by the Church or the British government, although a police case was registered against one rationalist, Harry Boulter, in 1908. He repeated the offence in 1909 and was jailed for six months for speaking against religion.

The last person sent to prison for blasphemy in Britain was John William Gott in December 1921. He had three previous convictions for blasphemy when he was prosecuted for publishing two pamphlets titled Rib Ticklers, or Questions for Parsons and God and Gott. While Russell’s intellectual criticism of Christ and God was tolerated by British society, Gott’s satire of the biblical story of Jesus was found punishable. He was sentenced to nine months hard labour. As he was suffering from some incurable illness, he died shortly after he was released. The case became the subject of public outrage.

There were outbursts by religious lobbies against the subsequent writing and art work, which they considered were blasphemous but the law was not invoked and freedom of expression was respected. The debate about this law gained currency when British author Salman Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, was published in 1988. Strong reaction against Rushdie in Muslim countries and an Iranian fatwa sanctioning that he should be killed “stimulated debate on this topic”, with some arguing that the same protection should be extended to all religions, while others claimed the UK’s ancient blasphemy laws were an anachronism and should be abolished. Despite much discussion surrounding the controversy, the law was not amended. The law was however abolished in 2008. The lobbying for the abolition was done by the National Secular Society and was signed by leading figures including Lord Carey, former Archbishop of Canterbury, who urged that the laws be abandoned.

In 2006, a Dalit intellectual Kancha Ilaiah, who is Head of the Political Science Department of Osmania University in Hyderabad (India) wrote Why I am not Hindu. He wrote with “passionate anger, laced with sarcasm on the caste system and Indian society”. The book criticises the Hindu gods and goddesses and provides socio-economic context to the Dalitbhujan gods and goddesses. There was indeed a strong reaction against the book from extremist Hindu organisations, but it was supported by many Hindu intellectuals and civil society activists. As Hinduism does not have the concept of blasphemy, such laws are absent in their tradition. Today, Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code punishes “hate speech, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of any citizen with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings.” The law is not religion-specific.

There is enough literature written by Jews against Judaism. The Jewish right has always condemned such moves but has not been able to get them tried under any law. More recently, David Dvorkin published his paper Why I am not a Jew in the US. Nobody demanded that he should be tried and no attempt on his life was made. In any case, he could not have been tried in the US because freedom of expression is an inalienable right of the people under the First Amendment.

However, in 1995, a book was published in the US, Why I am not a Muslim. The writer used a pen name, Ibn Warraq, fearing the strong reaction from Muslim extremists. The question thus arises is why, in our Muslim society, is free thinking not challenged by rational argument by the Muslim theologists? Why do we need one of the most extensive and repressive blasphemy laws?

A cursory view of the whole debate about the Blasphemy Law shows that there are many saner and more intellectually sound Muslims who do not support the existing draconian law. Except for a small extremist coterie of bigots, many politicians are all for removing Section 295-B and C. To my pleasant surprise, even Rana Sanaullah, who is generally considered to be a fundamentalist, agreed to change in the law on a TV talk show recently.

Gutsy MNA Sherry Rehman is moving a bill in the National Assembly suggesting some changes in the Blasphemy Law. Her approach is pragmatic as she is of the view that the bill, demanding the abolition of the law, would not be possible at this juncture. Several sections of Pakistan’s Criminal Code comprise blasphemy laws. Section 295 forbids damaging or defiling a place of worship or a sacred object. Section 295-A forbids outraging religious feelings. Section 295-B forbids defiling the Quran. Section 295-C forbids defaming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Except for Section 295-C, the provisions of 295 require that an offence be a consequence of the accused person’s intent. Defiling the Quran merits imprisonment for life. Defaming Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) merits death with or without a fine.

The issue is that even according to Islamic history and tradition, the Prophet (PBUH) himself did not give the death sentence to anybody who opposed and even harmed him. Then are these bigots, who have endorsed section 295-C, justified to fight for it? These additions were made in Section 295 by General Ziaul Haq without any parliamentary sanction and thus should be deleted. Sherry’s proposed change is too soft because the courts are intimidated by Islamic extremists to give a verdict against the accused on technical grounds, as it did in the Aasia Bibi case.

Islamic teachings clearly say that Muslims should respect other people’s religions and should not hurt their feelings. This principle is precisely enunciated in 295-A, so the matter should rest there (unfortunately, all those Muslim invaders who destroyed temples and churches are revered in our Islamic history). So the problem is much more deep-rooted than the laws alone; there are psychological, historical, social and political reasons for the Muslims to be over-sensitive about the blasphemy issue. And, in this society where freedom of expression is limited, any intellectual discourse about these factors is risky.

The writer can be reached at ayazbabar@gmail.com

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\11\30\story_30-11-2010_pg3_4

Smokers’ Corner: It fell from the heavens

---Daily Dawn, Pakistan

Columnists

Smokers’ Corner: It fell from the heavens
  By Nadeem F. Paracha
  Sunday, 18 Apr, 2010

Recently religious programming on TV channels has come under scrutiny for various reasons. One of the biggest concerns is how some of these programmes have gone on to advocate violence against so-called minority sects and religions, and the way they use obscure traditions and biased interpretations of the scriptures to deride certain events and personalities.

Though both sides of the main sectarian divide (the ‘Barelvi’ and the Salafi/Deobandi) are given equal space on the channels, unfortunately, the preachers and TV hosts of both the sides have usually taken extreme positions on various issues. This includes exhibiting animated armchair radicalism by indirectly siding with monsters such as the Taliban and scoffing at the concept of democracy and liberal Islam, attacking them as misguided constructs worthy only of ridicule.

But the proliferation of conservative and at times rather demagogic religious shows on television is not exactly a new phenomenon. Its roots lie in the sudden growth of religious programming on the state-owned PTV from 1979 onwards, or two years after General Ziaul Haq’s intransigent military dictatorship started to find some firm footing following the toppling of a democratically elected government in 1977. According to a former PTV man Burhanudin Hasan’s book, ‘Uncensored’ (2000), there was almost a three-fold growth in religious programming on PTV in the 1980s.

This kind of programming was mostly sculpted to propagate the Zia regime’s Islamic credentials and laws, and to also justify and glorify the concept of armed jihad in the wake of Pakistan’s involvement in the anti-Soviet manoeuvres of the (US/ISI-backed) Afghan mujahideen. But is it possible to pinpoint an exact moment that triggered the whole trend of politically-motivated religious programming in Pakistan? It seems there is.

In July 1979, America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) announced that its ‘Skylab’ satellite that had been orbiting the planet since 1973 had developed a fault and was expected to fall to Earth. Nasa was not sure exactly where it would crash, but experts believed that the burly satellite was likely to fall either over Australia or over the Indian subcontinent. Though the same experts also stated that the satellite would start burning after it entered Earth’s atmosphere and most probably end up in the sea, the story took a life of its own in Pakistan.

PTV started running regular bulletins on the latest whereabouts of Skylab, usually read by Azhar Lodhi — a newscaster who would go on to become a ubiquitous presence on PTV across the Zia years. Lodhi maintained a sombre tone in the bulletins, and then started to punctuate them with equally sombre pleas for urgent prayers. Suddenly, most Pakistanis who till then had taken the affair lightly began using apocalyptic overtones while speaking (to PTV and newsmen) about the event. Many even went to the extent of wondering whether the fall of Skylab (on Pakistan) may announce the beginning of the Day of Judgment.

A tense strain of fear cut across society. It was as if the Zia regime was purposefully using the occasion (and TV) to instil fear into people’s minds by allowing Lodhi to use an apocalyptic tone, sermons and pleas for prayers, perhaps alluding that in such a testing hour Pakistan required a pious and Islamic regime (which, of course, the dictatorship was pretending to be). Interestingly, in those days, more Pakistanis visited Sufi shrines than mosques, with much of the urban populace going to the mosques only on special occasions such as Eid and sometimes for the Friday prayer.

However, with Zia’s Islamic laws coming into force, many Pakistanis saw themselves being led (mostly by fear) to the mosque as Lodhi continued to dramatically announce the closing in of the falling Skylab. It eventually fell on July 12, 1979, over the ocean and the deserts of Australia, and once the feared day did not come, the episode was forgotten but the apocalyptic outlook that it had triggered lingered. This grim point of view worked well for the Zia dictatorship to intensify its ‘Islamic’ manoeuvres and appeal, in which religious programming played an important role.

Interestingly though, the number of religious programmes actually fell after Zia’s death in 1988. But with the emergence and success of new, more modern sounding — albeit equally conservative and traditionalist — preachers in various urban drawing rooms from 1995 onwards, the new trend was picked up by various TV channels that erupted in the early 2000s.

What we see today on these channels as religious shows is directly linked to the said trend, but this trend’s roots too lie in that bizarre Skylab incident that first triggered and shaped the kind of conservative and alarmist mindset required for such programming to flourish.

©2010 DAWN Media Group. All rights reserved
URL: www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-librar...-fell-from-the-heavens-840-hh-03

Permanent etchings

---The News International, Pakistan - Internet Edition

Tuesday, March 02, 2010,
Rabi-ul-Awwal 15 1431 A.H

Permanent etchings

It seems the ‘Islamic’ provisions rammed into the Constitution by the late dictator General Ziaul Haq, to serve his own purposes, can be neither touched nor altered. Like etchings in stone, they may stay with us for a very long time to come. One of the greatest ironies of our time can be found in the sordid saga of how the Constitution, consequently politics and ultimately society at large in Pakistan were put under the bondage of obscurantism disguised as religion by military dictators and civilian opportunists. They certainly knew how to play society’s prejudices and biases to their advantage and cared little for Islam or the people. We call it an irony because the path to constitutional theocracy in Pakistan was laid in blatant contrast to what its founder had envisaged this country to be. It was not for nothing that he had invited the wrath of the theocrats and the orthodox while struggling for a Muslim homeland. The process of diluting his vision with vague references to people being ‘enabled’ to live their lives according to the precepts of state-defined religion and turning the definition of political sovereignty into a metaphysical one began soon after his death. Since then it has been the fate of this country and its constitution(s) to sink deeper and deeper into a swamp of confusion over questions of rights, identity, gender, education and the nature of state and its interaction with citizens. Instead of building the dream that was Pakistan, we dragged whatever good we had inherited into the mire of hypocritical rhetoric that prevented us from solving the most basic questions regarding politics, religion and society. The consequences are there for all to see. Anybody who does not see the role of this hypocrisy, this failure, this betrayal of the original ideal, in the rise of militant obscurantism suffers from voluntary blindness.

Against this backdrop, we see with sadness that the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reform has failed to touch any of the provisions (even those that were the prop of Zia’s rule) introduced in the name of religion. Interestingly even the controversial Article 62, which lays down that all members of parliament must be ‘sagacious, righteous, honest and ‘Ameen’ has not been touched. The fact that few in parliament can lay claim to these values, as fresh cases of corruption never cease to surface, in no way influenced the committee. This should provide food for thought to those who were angry with the judiciary over the references it made to the rulers being ‘Ameen’ in its judgment on the NRO. Perhaps they would have served the cause of enlightenment better by urging parliament to see reason and rid us of such “anomalies” instead of castigating a judiciary which is not responsible for these provisions being there. Having said all that, it is not difficult to imagine the outcry by certain quarters had the committee touched these provisions. We have become a society where religion is used as a means to blackmail. Apparently, the ‘religious’ parties and their patrons have made it impossible to even talk about many issues with any degree of rationality. We are too scared to take up matters of immense significance. A genuine effort is needed to alter the Constitution in a meaningful way and make a move towards transforming Pakistan into a progressive state. Those who wish to see things change should demonstrate courage and conviction. They may find that once they raise their voices there are others ready to join in with them.

URL: www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=226770