Pakistan: Ahmedi-baiting: ridiculous or tragic?

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Second Editorial: Ahmedi-baiting: ridiculous or tragic?

The 20 shopkeepers of Green Town in Lahore have been advised to remove any Quranic verses from their shops simply to avoid bloody mayhem, given the atmosphere of extremism in the country. The shopkeepers are Ahmedis who represent the cluster of 200 houses belonging to the community in the nearby Township area. Some of them have written verses from the Quran (like the kalima) on the front of their shops and houses.

The Ahmedis complain that the Sunni shopkeepers had gone to the police in the matter out of business jealousy. They say the verses had stayed written on their houses and shops for many years. But the stark fact is that under the Constitution and the laws framed in line with an amendment made in it, the Ahmedis are not even allowed to show respect towards Islamic symbols. They have been declared non-Muslims but with the distinction that while other non-Muslims can show respect, they cannot.

Outsiders will regard this as ridiculous or even funny, but in Pakistan this is a deadly serious matter. People have died for it, and angry organisations with global connections are calling for more drastic action against the Ahmedis every day. The application to the police against the Ahmedis has been moved in the name of the International Majlis Khatm-e-Nabuwwat. The police in the area of Green Town cannot wave the affair away.

According to Section 298-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the Ahmedi community cannot call its place of worship a masjid and cannot give the call to prayer (azan). According to Section 298-C of the PPC, they cannot pose as Muslims, directly or indirectly. There was this extremely absurd incident of an Ahmedi being hauled up for having written the kalima on the house that he had just bought; but he was hauled up again, for desecration, when he tried to wipe it off. *

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?pa...tory_30-9-2009_pg3_1

Green Town Police to remove Quranic verses from Ahmadis’ shops

---Daily Times, Pakistan

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Green Town Police to remove Quranic verses from Ahmadis’ shops

• Community leader says police warned Ahmadis on complaint of business rivals
• Local Ahmadi says police did not act on his complaint of stones thrown at his house
• SHO says verses to be removed in next couple of days
  

By Rana Tanveer

LAHORE: The Green Town Police is set to launch an operation to remove verses of the holy Quran from more than 20 shops of the Ahmadiya community on College Road, Township, on the complaint of local traders, sources told Daily Times.

The community owns shops of electronics, hardware and home appliances on the road as well as over 200 houses in C-Block of nearby Township. Some of the people have written verses from the Quran (like the kalima) on the front of their shops and houses.

According to local Ahmadiya residents, the traders of the locality were seeking action against them over business rivalries. They said they had written the verses to receive God’s blessings. They said the verses had been written on their houses and shops for many years, and some extremists were now seeking action against them for their own gains.

Members of the Ahmadiya community claimed that their opponents had distributed pamphlets on many occasions, urging the locals to boycott the community, not talk to them, shake hands with them, or shop at their stores.

Waseem Amjad Mahmood, a community leader, said on the complaint of the owners of a local shop Al-Makkah Electronics, the Green Town Police had warned the community to remove all Islamic writing from their houses and shops, or the police would do it.

Sayyed Farrukh Hafeez, another member of the community, told Daily Times that the police had told him to remove a plaque from his front door, which carried a Quranic verse. He said he had removed the plaque. He said local shopkeepers often passed derogatory remarks against the Ahmadiya community.

Hafeez claimed some young men had made videos of the Ahmadiya houses on some occasions. He said some Taliban elements might be behind this.

Abdul Qayyum Mughal, another member of the community, said he had also filed an application with the Green Town Police, seeking action against some locals for hurling stones at his house, which had broken some windowpanes. He said the police did not take any action.

Green Town Police Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Ghulam Abbas told Daily Times that after receiving an application against the Ahmadiya community, he had called them to the police station, and had told them to remove the verses of the holy Quran. He said he would make the community remove the verses from their shops in the next couple of days.

Tauseef, the proprietor of Al-Makkah Electronics, told Daily Times that the application against the Ahmadiya community had been moved from the platform of the International Majlis Khatam-e-Nabuwat. He denied that bricks were thrown at the houses of the community. He said there were laws against the community.

Human Rights activist Hina Jillani said no one had the right to impose his will on anyone else. She said there were some restrictions on the Ahmadiya community by law, but no one had the right to harass others.

Jamia Naeemia patron Dr Raghib Naeemi told Daily Times that the Ahmadiya community could not do the things barred to them by the Prohibition of Qadianiat Ordinance, 1984. According to Section 298-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), the community cannot call its places of worship a ‘masjid’ and cannot give the call to prayer (azan). According to Section 298-C of the PPC, they cannot pose themselves as Muslims, directly or indirectly.

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.a...9-9-2009_pg13_10