Pakistan's Ahmadi Muslims: Prisoners of Conscience

Ahmadiyya Times

Even in the predominantly Ahmadi Muslim town of Rabwah, the Ahmadi Muslims cannot vote for the local representatives.

“No society can truly succeed unless it guarantees the rights of all its peoples, including religious minorities, whether they are Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan or Bahais in Iran, or Coptic Christians in Egypt,” said President Barack Obama of the USA in his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, 2014. Obama’s words served to highlight the severe state-sponsored persecution Ahmadi Muslims are facing in Pakistan.

Innocent, law-abiding Ahmadis are regularly killed in attacks provoked because of the victim’s faith. Orangi Town, a neighbourhood in Pakistan’s most populous city, Karchi, has proven to be an extremely dangerous place for Ahmadi Muslims to live. Five members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community have been killed in seperate attacks in recent months. Raziud Din, 27, was murdered in front of his wife and nephew outside his home. He leaves behind a two-year-old daughter.

Not only do Pakistan’s authorities refuse to protect or help Ahmadi Muslims, they actively participate in the persecution. For three decades, Ahmadis have suffered under specific anti-Ahmad laws (Ordinance XX) which result in Ahmadis being jailed or fined for practicing their faith. In February, Muhammad Qasim was sent to prison for two years. He had been accused of preaching, but even local police felt there was a lack of evidence but the case still made it to court due to pressure by local extremists.

In a similar case, well known anti-Ahmadi extremist Mulla Mohammad Ihsan visited a local Ahmadi doctor last November. Ihsan asked the doctor, Masood Ahmad, 72, a question about his faith. Ihsan secretly recorded Ahmad’s answer and used the video to make a complaint to local police. Ahmad was jailed for over two months.

Meanwhile, across the country police participate in the desecration of Ahmadi Muslim mosques. Complaints are made to the police about the existance of Ahmadi Muslim places of worship. Often the police respond by forcibly demolishing minarets. In other cases, Ahmadi Muslims are prevented from properly renovating historical mosques or are prevented from building them in the first place.

Even once dead, Ahmadi Muslims are not allowed to rest in peace. Gravestones are desecrated by police for the crime of being engraved with religious terminology. Meanwhile, grieving Ahmadi families are regularly denied the use of public graveyards. Families mourning the loss of babies as young as two months have been forcibly prevented from burying their dead.

The exclusion of Ahmadi Muslims from public life has been completed with their disenfranchisement from all elections. Most recently, Ahmadis were barred from voting in local elections in the city of Lahore. Even in the predominantly Ahmadi Muslim town of Rabwah, the Ahmadi Muslims cannot vote for the local representatives. To participate, they must sign a form either declaring themselves non-Muslim or declaring the founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to be a liar in the most pejorative terms. Of course, Ahamdi Muslims are unwilling to do either.

Obama had it right about Pakistan, but perhaps even he underestimates how this flourishing hate campaign is being exported to other countries. In this issue, we will give just one of many examples, by highlighting an appalling case from Malaysia.