Pakistan: Human rights organisations raise concerns over Ahmadiyya community's persecution

International human rights organisations have raised alarm over the recent persecution of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan, reported news agency ANI on Thursday. The International Forum for Right and Security (IFFRAS) said that the organisations are documenting the systematic persecution which is being endured by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community by the religious extremists and state institutions. 

As per news agency ANI, in the latest incident, a Khatm-e-Nabuwat Conference that was held on September 12 under the aegis of Jamiat-e-Ulema Pakistan, demanded that the Imran Khan-led government remove Qadinias (Ahmadiyyas) from key posts. The conference was reportedly presided over by JUP (Punjab) Deputy President Maulana Hafiz Muhammad Saleem and the Ulema. 

According to IFFRAS, the Ulema reportedly said that Qadinias refuse to end the Prophethood and are traitors of Islam, said IFFRAS. Previously, some of the radical Muslim clerics have opposed the burial of an Ahmadiyya woman in the local graveyard in Safdarabad, Sheikhupura district in Punjab on June 6. This had further triggered violent clashes between both sides. Notably, dedicated Ahamdiyya graveyards in Pakistan are also kept locked the majority of the time amid gears of graves being destroyed by the extremists.

Ahmadiyya mosque was demolished in July

Additionally, in July, an Ahmadiyya mosque was demolished by Tahreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) extremists reportedly in connivance with the local law enforcement in the Faridabad district. ANI quoted Pakistani media reports to state that several Islamic clerics like Amir of Tahreek-e-Dawat-e-Haq Pakistan, Peer Allama Muhammad Ashgar Noorani, reprimand the Ahmadiyyas for distorting ‘the Islam faith’ and have urged the western countries to cease their consideration as part of the Muslim community.

The persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan has been underlined by the global community. Further, Siobhain McDonagh, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, UK said in a letter dated December 2020 to the Pakistan High Commissioner in the UK, flagged concerns over the reports of efforts to target, harass and persecute Ahmadi Muslims. The atrocities also include the murder of an Ahmadi doctor in Punjab and the murder of two Ahmadis in Peshawar in October and November 2020.

Apart from British MP, in February, US Senators Richard Blumenthal and John Cornyn have also expressed worry over the ‘continued and escalating persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan’ including the exploitation of cyber and blasphemy laws designed to target ‘an already persecuted religious minority.’ 

The American lawmakers also underlined that six Ahmadiyya Muslims including one US citizen were killed in Pakistan in the last six months. As per the IFFRAS report, they said that another Ahmadi had died in prison facing charges for blasphemy. They noted that instead of denouncing the atrocities, the Pakistani lawmakers, in stark contrast, praised the killers in parliament and on social media. This, according to US senators, further ignites the anti-Ahmadi bias in the country. They also called on the government to take immediate action to deal with the situation involving the community. 

IMAGE: AP

(With ANI inputs)