Pakistan's Ahmadi Muslims under attack: Ahmadi-owned factory burnt; Punjab govt and media biases on display

"The front part of factory is burnt. As per information received most of people inside are Alhamdullilah [thank God] safe. Mob is still there"; these are the latest reports from Jehlum, Punjab, where an enraged mob attacked and set an Ahmadi-owned wood products factory on fire late last evening, local time, on false accusations of blasphemy against one of the manager.

News of the attack first broke in social media around 10:00 PM and the first confirmation of the commotion going on in Jehlum was posted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community about 30 minutes later.

"There is ongoing security situation at Jehlum chip board factory," wrote Saleem-ud Din, national spokesperson of Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya Pakistan. 

Reports of the factory set ablaze and workers forced-held inside the factory compound kept family members and countless Ahmadis around the world on edge and praying.

"This is repeat of Gujranwalla situation all over again," wrote a BBC reporter, Tahir Imran, referring to the Ahmadī houses set ablaze and resulting fatalities in July 2014. “Hope this time we don't lose precious human lives.”

As the fire raged in the factory several in social media questioned the Pakistani media’s biases when it comes to persecution of Ahmadis. “#Ahmadi owned factory under attack in #Jhelum. Why is the media silent? #Pakistan,” wrote Farahnaz Ispahani, a former lawmaker from Pakistan and a public policy scholar at Woodrow Wilson Center.

A Pakistani journalist and documentary filmmaker, Rabia Mehmood, challenged the government, asking, “First high intensity attack on #Ahmadis since #NAP implementation. Huge test of #Punjab govt's resolve towards battling violent extremism” in her social media post.

Meanwhile, on the scene of fire in Jehlum, no rescue services were allowed in and 100’s from violent mob were seen enforcing a blockade of the burning premises while raising slogan of ‘Allah-o Akbar” and shouting anti-Ahmadis slurs.

However, as per the information released last by the community spokesperson most of the people inside were confirmed safe. 

In Pakistan, where minority lives have not been safe in general, Ahmadī have particularly fared worse because they face persecution not just from the fanatic segment of the Pakistani society, but they are systematically persecuted also by the country’s institutions.

Imran Jattala, cheif editor of Ahmadiyya Times says there is a consistent stream of Ahmadi-bating and continuous enticement of hatred against members of the Ahmadiyya Jama'at and its elders by some self -proclaimed 'moderate' clerics on Pakistani social media scene.

"The chairman of Pakistan's so called 'clerics council' is one such culprit," said Jattala while pointing to a barrage of disparaging anti-Ahmadi tweets Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi, chairman Pakistan Ulema [Clerics] Council, has posted in Twitter time line. "He abuses Ahmadis, their beliefs and revered personalities all day long, but Pakistan's liberal pundits still call and promote him as a 'moderate'."

Jattala demanded Ashrafi and his brother Hassan Muawia --known for advancing agitation against Ahmadis-- should be investigated for a possible hand in last night's fire at wood factory in Jehlum.

'P.U.C., Tahir Ashrafi and his brother Hasan Muawia should be included among the suspects being investigated for their hand in instigating Jehlum fire,' Jattala wrote in his twitter post.

Sana Saleem, a freelance writer and director of Bolo Bhi, an advocacy group for gender rights, government transparency, internet access, digital security and privacy, reacted to the event and Ahmadis entrapped by factory fire saying, "They will hopefully survive but so will the persecution against them."

http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com/2015/11/pakistan-ahmadi-owned-factory-burnt.html