Communal violence: Police clueless in attack on Ahmadi man

Pakistan Punjab

Communal violence: Police clueless in attack on Ahmadi man

By Rana Tanveer
Published: September 9, 2011

Ferozewala police have registered a FIR against three assailants.

LAHORE: The police said on Thursday it had no clue about the attackers who shot and injured an Ahmadi man in an attack which carried communal overtones on Wednesday.

Ferozewala police have, however, registered an FIR against three assailants for attacking Basheer Ahmed. No one has so far been arrested.

The complainant, on whose behalf the FIR was lodged, is the victim’s nephew, Zahid, who is not an Ahmadi. Local Ahmadis expressed reservations over the matter, saying that he ‘will favour the probable suspect’ in view of his beliefs.

Investigation officer, Assistant Sub Inspector Ishrat, talking to The Express Tribune also said that the complainant “is not cooperating with the investigation”.

A local Ahmadi questioned the complainant’s sincerity and said: “How can a Barelvi man take action against an accused of the same faith?”

He said that two witnesses identified in the FIR were also not Ahmadis.

The complainant, Zahid, told The Express Tribune that at this stage, he was trying to save his uncle’s life and he would take care of the assailants.

He said it was obvious his uncle was attacked for his beliefs, adding that he would take action against the attackers.

Talking about the FIR, he said he had clearly mentioned in the application that his uncle was an active member of the Jamat-e-Ahmadia and the local operatives of Khatam-e-Nabuwat organisation had attacked him with intent to kill.

He said that two years ago, an accused had confessed before the Shafiqabad police that a local office bearer of the Khatam-e-Nabuwat organisation, Qari Muhammad Ahmed Fareedi, had paid him to kill his uncle.

He said he had not mentioned this in the FIR. He added he wanted to offer “a reasonable cash prize to the person who will tell him about the real attackers”.

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

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/248262/communal...ahmadi-man/

A most dangerous place

Opinion Editorial

A most dangerous place

By Editorial
Published: September 5, 2011

Ahmadis may be killed with impunity because their persecution by a significant segment of society is ignored by the state and the government of the day. PHOTO: REUTERS

The All-Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Federation has killed another Ahmadi in Faisalabad, the city where the Barelvi school of thought has been allowing itself to become dangerously aggressive. Naseem Ahmad Butt was shot to death by four youths calling him wajibul qatl (worthy of being killed). The wajibul qatl verdict was given in a pamphlet distributed in the city earlier by the authoritative-sounding Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatam-e-Nabuwwat and the All-Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Federation, Faisalabad. The police were informed but they did nothing, feeling safe behind their routine categorisation of the crime as ‘blind murder’.

The state of Pakistan must look carefully at this pattern of behaviour. Ahmadis may be killed with impunity because their persecution by a significant segment of society is ignored by the state and the government of the day. Then comes the turn of the Shias and other sects who are not considered outside the pale of faith but who are still, nonetheless, target by extremist fellow Muslims who consider their views heretical. Faisalabad has been dominated for a long time by the Ahle Hadith and Deobandi schools of thought but the the Barelvis are also gaining in influence, and they are not to be left behind in their persecution of the Ahmadi community. This is ironic since the Deobandis, for instance, don’t see eye-to-eye at all with the Barelvis on most faith-related matters and both hurl invective, and sometimes much more, at one another.

The Punjab government has to answer for the deaths that have happened under its rule and this includes not just Ahmadis, but also others, including several Christians, all killed by sectarian and jihadi outfits, primarily in Lahore last year. In the public eye, the view that the Punjab government may perhaps have a soft spot for jihadis is reinforced when its law minister meets and campaigns, prior to a by-election, with the leader of a banned sectarian outfit. This could be part of its strategy to gain a foothold in southern Punjab, since long a PPP stronghold, but such a tactic could be lethal for the province’s population of vulnerable people. In the process, Pakistan and its social contract are dying a slow death. The pamphlet mentioned above lists 50 Ahmadis who have to be killed in order to “achieve entry into Paradise”. It says the killers will be given a place under the flag of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the chosen place of luxury in the hereafter. The youths of Faisalabad, blighted by loadshedding and religious hatred, will now betake themselves seriously to the transaction of achieving precisely this, while the state sits by and does nothing. Quite shockingly, the Faisalabad police chief says he has no information about the pamphlets which brazenly name the threatening organisation. The fact of the matter is that the Punjab police is but a reflection of society in general, and is filled with people who have nothing but hatred for those from minority communities, or even for those who stand up in support of them. In Karachi, there is the Sunni Tehreek which is far more aggressive.

In June this year, an Ahmadi place of worship was threatened with assault from a nearby mosque. The threat came from a cleric who knew that his outfit was weaponised and could kill just as easily and with as much impunity as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The Barelvis were never taken to jihad by the Pakistani state but they have made up in virulence by embracing two laws that have brought infamy to Pakistan: the Second Amendment apostatising the Ahmadis; and the Blasphemy laws.

The state of Pakistan, after having declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims, has to protect them the way it is committed, under law and religion, to protecting minority communities. Its failure in Faisalabad to come to the help of the targeted Ahmadis is symptomatic of the terminal phase of its existence. Hatred and extremism are becoming the hallmarks of the sociology of the state.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 6th, 2011.

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/245319/a-most-dangerous-place/

Suspected hate crime: Ahmadi man shot dead in Faisalabad

Pakistan

Suspected hate crime: Ahmadi man shot dead in Faisalabad

By Shamsul Islam
Published: September 5, 2011

The minority has been under constant attack even though it keeps a low profile. DESIGN: SAMAD SIDDIQUI

FAISALABAD: In a suspected incident of hate crime against minorities, unidentified attackers killed an Ahmadi man in Faisalabad late Saturday night.

Naseem Ahmad Butt, 55, was shot dead by four men as he lay sleeping inside his house in Muzaffar Colony. According to his brother Khalid Pervez Butt, at about 1am on Saturday, the attackers entered by climbing over the walls.

“The boys were between 20 and 25 years old. Three of them kept a watch on the door as one kicked my brother. When he was awake, the killer said ‘you are Ahmadi and liable to be killed’,” Khalid told The Express Tribune.

The attacker then shot Naseem in the chest while another bullet ruptured his kidney, Khalid said. “My brother was lying in a pool of blood when we saw him. The sound of him crying woke us up.”

A car and a bicycle were used in the attack, Khalid said, and the assailants fled from the main gate of the house.

The family rushed an unconscious Naseem to the Divisional Headquarter Hospital, where he succumbed to his bullet wounds at 8.30am on Sunday.

Naseem, who worked at a power loom factory, leaves behind his widow, four daughters and a son.

Constant threat

According to Khalid, Naseem and other members of their family were under constant threat by a group of extremists who had repeatedly threatened to kill them for their faith.

(Read: Ahmadis in Karachi – Pulpit pounding, barricades, prayers but no peace)

“My first cousin Naseer Butt was also killed in a similar fashion last year. Police has made no effort to trace his killers and the case has been swept under the carpet by being declared ‘blind murder’,” Khalid said.

However, in hope of assistance, Khalid has registered a case with the Samanabad Police for the murder of Naseem. A FIR under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code has been filed.

‘Hate crime’

An advocacy group based in Faisalabad has called Naseem’s murder hate crime and says it has contacted provincial and local police officials but in vain.

Over the past two years, as many as six Ahmadis have been killed in Faisalabad but no killer has been brought to book, said secretary of the secretary of the Faisalabad chapter of the Umoor-e-Aama Jama’at Ahmadiyya Mahmood Ahmad Shah.

“We have time and again contacted the Faisalabad police chief and other senior police officials throughout Punjab that a group of fanatics are threatening Ahmadis in the area.

A list of these names is being publicly circulated,” he said.

In June, Ahmad wrote an email to the province’s home secretary and police chief and Faisalabad’s regional police officer, following the distribution of pamphlets in the city that not only called Ahmadis wajibul qatl (liable to be killed) but also exhorted people to kill them to achieve martyrdom.

(Read: Targeting minorities – No friend to Ahmadis in Faisalabad)

The Punjab government’s record of protecting Ahmadis has been dismal.

In May last year, more than 88 people were killed in provincial capital Lahore when gunmen opened fire at two separate places of worship and, one year on, little progress has been made by investigators.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5th, 2011.

Copyrighted © 2011 The Express Tribune News Network
URL: http://tribune.com.pk/story/245094/suspected...faisalabad/

But they are not “real” Muslims or so I am told

---The American Muslim, USA

But they are not “real” Muslims or so I am told

I am deeply saddened and pained by the news that at least 80 Muslims from the Ahmadiyyah sect were murdered in Pakistan by terrorists during Friday prayers. This great loss of humanity should reverberate throughout the Muslim world, however it won’t likely even be mentioned. Unfortunately, due to great ignorance and hypocrisy, my fellow Muslims who claim to be Sunni as I am don’t seem to think much of Ahmadiyyah’s. What crime have they committed that could have possibly warrant the slaughter of so many men, women, and children? What beliefs could they hold that are so “anti-Islam” that it could warrant decades of oppression, slaughter, and inhumanity by those who themselves ironically claim the title of “Muslim”? Allah (swt) knows best.

I will not go into depth about where my beliefs as a Sunni Muslim differ from those who belong to the Ahmaddiyyah sect, because it is not necessary. These MUSLIMS bear witness to the ONE God, and bear witness to His Messenger Muhammad, upon whom peace and blessings are to be bestowed. I happen to be of the opinion that since I don’t have the keys to paradise nor hell that it’s ultimately up to Allah (swt) to decide, but I seem to be in the minority.

I need not go into how many friends I have that are Ahmaddiyah who I claim as true friends and family, nor do I need to repeat my arguments in defense of their cause as I have in the past. The important thing is that it is about time for Muslims to start being Muslims. It’s time for Muslims to actually follow the Sunnah. There is no way I could call myself Muslim and ignore the barbaric practices carried out by fellow Muslims. There is no way I could ever believe that the Prophet (saw) would ever advocate terrorism and oppression against those who say they believe.

However, on we sleep. On we idly sit by apathetic to the suffering wrought upon this group and many others. Yet, our passions can easily be awoken if the French threaten to pass an anti-burqa law or someone draws a cartoon and calls it “Muhammad”. We have truly become a community of hypocrites.

What kind of backward people would turn a blind eye to murder, allow open persecution, dictatorship, and evil to exist in our lands yet never suffer a cartoonist to live without fear of death?

And we actually wonder why people mock us. We actually wonder why they call us backward and barbaric.

I am thoroughly disgusted and am tired of all the hollow statements from our so-called Muslim leaders who have much to say when it’s convenient and are silent when it is not. The alphabet soup of Muslim organizations love to condemn actions when it’s politically expedient. We love to call out artists and engage in a debate about free speech when we feel “disrespected”. But where are these organizations, Imams, student associations, and other Muslim groups today?

They are silent.

Where is our government who loves to remind us that Pakistan is our ally yet are tight lipped concerning the persecution that the Pakistani government openly allows and sanctions through uncivilized and discriminatory laws?

I pray for all the victims of these terrorists and their families regardless of what sect they belong to, regardless of what they believe, regardless if Allah (swt) considers them Muslim or not, because it’s the human thing to do. I pray that a day will come when Muslims act on the decree of Allah (swt) and actually be a model for all civilizations. I pray for a day when no one will ever feel unsafe when they have Muslims for neighbors.

These Satanic actions must not only be condemned, but punished, legislated against, and openly debated. If we sit back and allow this tyranny to exist and do nothing, we become part of the tyranny and are worthy of the hellfire. How can we claim Islam as our religion and not try to stop these actions physically, verbally, or at least hate it in our hearts.

I call upon all Muslims and those of other faiths to speak out against the terrorism and oppression of the Ahmaddiyah community. I call upon America’s citizens to contact our legislators and our President and let them know that we will not tolerate a Pakistani government that openly oppresses her citizens and creates an atmosphere that results in actions taken similar to those that occurred today in Pakistan.

Either we truly are believers or we are not. At least be man or woman enough to admit it. No drawing is more important than the murders of innocent men, women, and children right under our noses. Where’s the fatwa against this crime?

I would like to believe that my fellow Sunni Muslims would echo my sentiments, but I’m already wise enough to know that I’m more likely to hear the sounds of crickets than I am to at a minimum hear or read a statement from one of our “leaders” or “organizations” condemning these crimes. Unfortunately, my rose colored glasses were shattered years ago.

Here’s to holding my breath…..

My Allah (swt) reward, protect, and guide His true servants in these perilous times.

URL: www.theamericanmuslim.net/blog/?p=1154

In the name of faith by Irfan Husain

By Irfan Husain

IN a moving article on this page (‘Not in the name of faith’, Sept 21), Kunwar Idris reminded us of the treatment being accorded to the Ahmadis in Pakistan.

He mentioned the three murders that took place this month in the aftermath of a television talk-show in which one of the participants said Ahmadis were ‘wajib-ul-qatal’, or deserving of death.

A few days later, the Marriott hotel in Islamabad was targeted by a suicide bomber, killing around 60 people, most of them Muslims. Before and since, many other innocent victims have been murdered in the name of faith. So what do all these deaths have in common? Two things: firstly, these people are killed because one group believes it has a monopoly on faith, and anybody who does not subscribe to their version of it should be killed; and secondly, those who murder in the name of their faith are rarely caught and punished, unless they are suicide bombers.

...

Over the years, intolerance has hardened and become a murderous element that is now threatening to break up Pakistan. Whether this is expressed in the form of a truck of explosives detonated outside the Marriott; an Ahmadi killed because his beliefs do not conform to mainstream orthodoxy; a Christian attacked on the grounds of his faith; or a Hindu girl kidnapped because she has no protection in a Muslim state, it all leads back to the same strain of intolerance that says: ‘I am right, and you are wrong. And because you are wrong, I have the right to kill you.’

URL: www.dawn.com/weekly/mazdak/20080927.htm