ANALYSIS: Persecution of Ahmedis in the Islamic Republic

Monday, December 05, 2011

ANALYSIS: Persecution of Ahmedis in the Islamic Republic — Yasser Latif Hamdani

The basic premise on which we won ourselves Pakistan was that a permanent majority cannot and should not dominate a permanent minority on account of numeric strength. Yet contrary to that founding logic, Pakistan is today legally a totalitarian fundamentalist theocracy

A fresh round of hate has been unleashed against the hapless Ahmediyya community once again. A young woman has been expelled from her university for daring to stand up to hate speech against her community on campus in Lahore. In Rawalpindi, ignorant and boorish mobs have been agitating to close down an Ahmedi ‘place of worship’ for being ‘unconstitutional’. In other words, practising their own faith in their own space is deemed unconstitutional by a mob that has probably never opened the constitution. All the while this community goes on praying and fasting for Pakistan, where a majority continues to persecute them for believing differently.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the great American Judge, wrote in his dissenting opinion in Abrams vs United States 250 US 616 (1919): “When men have realised that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas — that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market.” If the Ahmedi beliefs are so patently false and ridiculous as our ulema (Islamic scholars) say they are, then why be so insecure as to shut them down completely? Why not allow them to be ridiculed in the marketplace of ideas?

Every citizen of Pakistan has the unfettered right to practice and propagate his or her religion and every religious denomination and sect thereof has the right to establish its places of worship and educational institutions according to Article 20 of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973. These rights are paramount. Unlike other articles, this Article — the cornerstone of religious liberty in our country — is not restricted by reasonable restrictions but is subject to law, order and morality alone. This means that religious freedom and freedom of conscience cannot be restricted. Ahmedis might be non-Muslims for the purposes of law and constitution under Article 260 but that does not mean that they are not Pakistanis. Unfortunately, time and again the judiciary in Pakistan — whose basic function is to safeguard marginalised sections of our society — has upheld retrogressive laws that target the Ahmedis.

To begin with, let us put a popular notion to rest that if an Ahmedi calls himself a Muslim, he is violating the constitution. The most one can stretch Article 260, which is a definition clause, is to say that the state of Pakistan does not agree with an Ahmedi if he calls himself a Muslim and that laws and provisions specific to the Muslims will not apply to the Ahmedis. When Article 260 is read with Article 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and Article 20 (freedom of religion), it becomes clear that there is no constitutional bar against an Ahmedi citizen calling himself a Muslim, even if the Pakistani constitution and law does not agree with him. In these circumstances Ordinance XX of 1984 is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of an entire community to any sane and reasonable mind. However, two judges on a three member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in Zaheeruddin vs the State 1993 SCMR 1718 did not think so. They felt — incredibly enough — that Ahmedis purporting to or even thinking themselves to be Muslims is a violation akin to violation of intellectual property rights. One of these judges went so far as to declare that it was reasonable for a Muslim to be outraged and therefore attack the Ahmedis on this ground. This is our Supreme Court for God’s sake. Check your religious biases on the door, Lordships. You cannot be partisan judges serving communitarian interests of the majority. You are justices of the superior judiciary of Pakistan, tasked with safeguarding fundamental rights of every citizen of Pakistan, whatever his faith maybe. The clearest duty on part of the Pakistani Supreme Court is to stand up for every citizen of Pakistan, be it an Ahmedi, Shia, Christian or Hindu. If you cannot be unbiased or if you cannot stand up or are too afraid to stand up for every citizen of Pakistan, then I implore you to resign and let men made of sterner stuff replace you.

Last but not the least, the history of Ahmedi persecution is as sordid as it is surreal. The anti-Pakistan Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam, which had opposed the Muslim League in the 1940s, enflamed passions on the Ahmedi issue to hit back at the Muslim League, which had many prominent Ahmedis in it. One particular Ahmedi target for this party was Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan who was Pakistan’s first foreign minister and in the words of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the most able Muslim in his team. Jinnah himself would have been horrified at the persecution of the Ahmedis. He had dismissed appeals by the mullahs in his lifetime. saying that anyone who professes to be a Muslim is a Muslim. It was this statement that won him the eternal animosity of the Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam and other religious outfits. These religious organisations are today claimants of the protectors of Nazaria-e-Pakistan (Ideology of Pakistan).

The basic premise on which we won ourselves Pakistan was that a permanent majority cannot and should not dominate a permanent minority on account of numeric strength. Yet contrary to that founding logic, Pakistan is today legally a totalitarian fundamentalist theocracy. It will lead us to a dead end from which there will be no way out. It is time the Muslims of Pakistan halted and thought about where they intend to take this much abused, much maligned and much misunderstood Islamic Republic.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore. He is also a regular contributor to the Indian law website http://mylaw.net and blogs on http//globallegalforum.blogspot.com and http://pakteahouse.net. He can be reached at yasser.hamdani@gmail.com

URL: www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\12\05\story_5-12-2011_pg3_6

Pakistan: Ahmadi student ejected for resisting Islamists

World:  Asia

Pakistan: Ahmadi student ejected for resisting Islamists

Ahmadi Muslims live in constant fear of persecution in Pakistan. Earlier this year, hundreds were killed by Islamic radicals

Friday, November 25, 2011

By Rodrick Samson

Rabia Saleem, a female student of the Ahmadi religious sect in the final year of studies at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in Lahore, Pakistan, has been expelled on allegations of blasphemy. Rabia Saleem was accused of blasphemy by the student wing of the banned Islamist organization known as Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (TKN). She lived at a student hostel in Lahore, and allegedly removed a banner displayed by TKN condemning the Ahmadi community. A guard observed her removing the poster. He then accused her of committing blasphemy by dishonoring the verses of the Koran. The controversy has been extensively covered in the Pakistani media. Ahmadis are considered by many Muslims as heretics and are treated to the same persecution as are Christians and Hindus in Pakistan.

According to a fellow CIIT student, Nasreem Ghulam, the banner displayed at the hostel door condemned Ahmadis but did not include Koranic verses. Ahmadis claim that she has been falsely accused because of her faith. Rasheed Ahmed Khan, the CIIT Registrar, denied any connection between the removal of the offending banner with the student’s faith. According to the Al-Ufaq website, “Rabia Saleem has been expelled for violating the discipline of the Institution and not complying with the rules and regulation.” He refused to provide a copy of the notice that was served to the student.


Pakistani Ahmadis bury massacre victims, 2011.

A faculty member on the condition of anonymity said,” It was a petty matter that could have been resolved by the warden and the administration, but the warden along with the security guard and CIIT administration exploited the situation against the Ahmadi student, the administration has a very discriminating attitude towards the religious minorities and never leaves a chance to take action against them. In the past several similar incidents took place, but the administration allowed the Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat to continue their propaganda against the Ahmadis, the administration allows the TKN to act, because of the support from the administration they have become strong. The religious organizations should be barred from all the educational institutes, they are harboring terrorists by allowing such organizations to act freely and do whatever they like.”

The TKN has been displaying banners denouncing Ahmadis, while the CIIT administration has expelled the student with TKN‘s support and allowed them to display banners inciting hatred against the religious minorities and protest against the Ahmadis. They announced that they will not allow any Ahmadi student to live on the campus and will even kill if any of them resists. TKN has also started campaigns against the Ahmadis on various social networks as well.

The CIIT administration has been accused of allowing such extremist activities to continue on campus, while authorities and the ministry of education silently observe the situation allowing the propaganda against the Ahmadi students.

The Ahmadis have been living in continuous fear, earlier this year an Ahmadi religious institute was attacked in Lahore, and hundreds of innocent people were killed. In past several years the persecution against the Ahmadis has been on the rise.

In September an 8th grader was expelled for a spelling mistake in the Urdu exam in Abbotabad. Her mother was also expelled from Abbotabad.

The Masihi Foundation and Life for All Pakistan, which campaign for human rights, have also condemned the incident and issued a joint statement,” We strongly condemn the incident, the administration of the institution must be condemned for supporting a religious organization and allowing them to act against the code of conduct. The Institution‘s spokesperson said that the Ahmadi student was expelled for violating discipline, displaying banners against the religious minorities is not a violation of the discipline?”

Furthermore, read the statement “ Openly announcing a religious minority liable to be killed is allowed in an educational institution, is this not violation of the regulations and humanity? Where are we headed? Why was a banner against a religious minority allowed to be displayed at the hostel door? Many students suffer discrimination in the educational institutions, but no one addresses the matter. I fail to understand the role of the education Ministry, if they dont do anything for the education, then what is the need of having such an department, it is merely a burden on the nation, simply abolish such ministries which are not performing their designated duties. The state is allowing the religious hatred to grow and is not taking notice of the growing persecution.”

“The extremist mind set is growing and taking over, if this continues Pakistan will lose all the sane people alive. Ensuring the safety of the minorities is the state‘s responsibility, Quaid-e-Azam the founder of Pakistan said every citizen has the right to practice his / her religion freely, anyone‘s religion is their personal mater and not the matter of the state. Is today‘s Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam‘s Pakistan? The Director COMSATS must have immediately resigned on such a shameful incident.”

“This is the reason religious and state affairs should be kept separate,” continued the statement from the humanitarian organizations.

“The concerned authorities must intervene and take the necessary action. The growing extremism in the educational institutions must be checked, no one should be allowed to speak or do anything against any religion. Tolerance and Harmony must be promoted, the religious leaders must play a positive role and condemn such incidents, so that in future students like Rabia Saleem don’t suffer. The only Pakistani who won the Nobel peace prize - Abdul Salam - was never given the place he deserved only because he was an Ahamdi. It is about time the government takes steps to end the religious extremism before it consumes the nation like a plague.”

Rodrick Samson is Spero correspondent in Pakistan.

© Copyright Spero, All rights reserved.
URL: www.speroforum.com/a/OKRZLTUIGV5/...resisting-Islamists

Lahore: Ahmadi student expelled on false blasphemy charges

» 11/25/2011 17:11
PAKISTAN
Lahore: Ahmadi student expelled on false blasphemy charges
by Jibran Khan

Rabia Saleem ripped up an anti-Ahmadi poster. Students affiliated with Islamic fundamentalist groups accused her falsely in order to expel her from campus. The university usually covers up extremist abuses as silence reigns in the Education Ministry. Catholic priest slams the authorities’ inaction.

Lahore (AsiaNews) — An Ahmadi student from Lahore (Punjab) was expelled from her university in her senior after she was accused of blasphemy. Students affiliated with Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (TKN) accused Rabia Saleem of ripping up a poster with anti-Ahmadi content. Ahmadi Muslims are considered heretical by mainstream Islam because they do not view Muhammad as the last prophet. The poster was on the door of the hostel where the young woman lived, and, according to sources, it did not contain any verses from the Qur‘an. A student, who asked for anonymity, said that the university “discriminates against religious minorities” and allows fundamentalist groups to “do as they as they please.”

Rashid Ahmad Khan, additional registrar at the Comsats Institute of Information Technology in Lahore, had denied any link between the student’s expulsion and her religion. Instead, he said she was expelled for “breaking university rules” since she “did not provide a document” required in order to register. Student sources say instead that the expulsion of the Ahmadi student was racist in nature, the result of an attitude of discrimination towards religious minorities that permeates the university.

In the meantime, TKN-affiliated students announced that “Ahmadi students would not be allowed” on campus, and that anybody who tried to resist them would be killed. The university and the education ministry reacted to the threat with total silence.

By contrast, it has send shockwaves through the Ahmadi community, which now fears fresh attacks, like the dual attack of May 2010 against two mosques in Lahore that left hundreds dead.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Amir John said that “many students are victims of discrimination in school and that no one has seriously tackled the problem.” In his view, the state “tolerates religious hatred” and “does nothing when episodes of persecution occur.”

For the Catholic priest, the extremist mindset continues to spread and because of it Pakistan could lose important and prominent people from religious minorities.

The Masihi Foundation and Life for All, two NGOs involved in helping victims of discrimination and violence, also condemned Rabia Saleem’ expulsion. In a joint statement, they called for “tolerance and harmony” and urged religious leaders to “play a positive role” in building a multi-confessional society.

They also noted that the only Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize (for Physics) is Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi, who was not appropriately honoured at home for his international award.

URL: www.asianews.it/news-en/Lahore:-Ahmadi...charges-23280.html