As the political and judicial crises deepen in Pakistan, the only winners emerging from the scene seem to to be the extremists. Lashkar e Taiba has reemerged with the new name of Jammat ud Dawa led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Jammat ud Dawa was a declared a terrorist organization and Saeed its terrorist leader in 2008 by the UN.

Even though Jammat ud Dawa was declared a terrorist organization by the UN it operates freely in Pakistan and has so far enjoyed the full protection of Punjab’s political leadership and is trying to gain political points by inciting anti-Indian sentiments. As soon as you enter Lahore you are met with countless posters and banners filled with anti-India slogans plastered all over the walls and back of Rickshaws. But Pakistan’s economic and civil situation has forced the masses to ignore this hoopla with most of the households immersed in Indian TV series revenge from India is the last thing on their mind.

But it would seem Jammat ud Dawa struck the right chord when on 29^th January 2012 a rally was organized in Rawalpindi against the Ahmadiyya Community in which an open warning was given to demolish the “Ewan e Tawheed” a place used for prayers by the Ahmadiyya Community. Over 5,000 protesters from Jamaatud Dawa, Jamaat-i-Islami, Sipah Sahaba (banned organisation) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat attended the gathering.

This issue has left the Ahmadiyya community prone to attacks and there are known security threats to community members from these terrorist outfits. As the possibility of an attack looms the Ahmadis are not being allowed to defend or protect themselves.

The spokesperson of Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan, Saleem ud Din said in a statement :

“This open campaign against the community centre is a plan to deprive the community’s peaceful members of their right to pray and gather.”

Mr. Saleem ud Din further said,

“We can compromise on the right of self-defence but never compromise on the right of prayer in front of God”

He said “the founder of Pakistan Qaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave this right to all Pakistani citizens on 11 August 1947.

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”

“General Zia singled out Ahmadis in an open and vicious hate campaign of persecution. He and members of his administration made numerous public speeches urging Pakistanis to seek out, expose and even to kill Ahmadis.”

In 1977, Gen Mohammed Zia ul Haq usurped the constitution of Pakistan and enacted Operation Fair Play by seizing power in Pakistan. He declared martial law and imprisoned the democratically elected Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and in the first of many lies and broken promises declared that his only desire was to facilitate elections in 90 days, after which he faithfully promised he would step down. Ignoring world public opinion and despite the wishes of the citizens of Pakistan he remained entrenched in power and consolidated his brutal dictatorship over the coming years. Zia would have remained a hated peripheral figure had fate not intervened following the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This event rapidly propelled Zia from world pariah status to center stage as he was lauded as the West’s bulwark and friend against the spread of communism.

The change in fortune for the Zia regime meant that he felt emboldened to enact a series of draconian laws that conformed to his extremist interpretation of Islam. Following a farcical trial Bhutto was sentenced to death, and Pakistan entered a new dark age of oppression and obscurantism. The Hadood Ordinance led to the imposition of a draconian penal code that legislated amputation, flogging and stoning for a wide series of offences. Rules of evidence and the punishment of adultery & rape were slanted against women, making it virtually impossible for a woman to prove an allegation of rape.

By 1984 the Zia regime was comfortable in power and whilst it continued its cooperation in the “jihad” against the Soviet Union, the West was largely happy to turn a blind eye to the excesses and repression of the Zia regime within Pakistan. It was at this time that Zia felt emboldened enough to turn on his next target-the Ahmadis of Pakistan.

Zia enacted Ordinace XX in April 1984, which was a set of laws and regulations that placed serious and draconian curbs on Ahmadis in the observance of their faith and their ability to lead their lives as citizens of Pakistan equal before the law. Ahmadis who observed all the articles of faith of their fellow Muslims were prevented by legal sanction from calling out the Adhan, referring to their place of worship as mosques, or using the Islamic salutation “Assalamo-a-laikum”. The additional prohibition that forbade Ahmadis from “posing as Muslims” was open to interpretation and application by overzealous and extremist mullah’s and government officials alike. Hundreds of Ahmadis were charged, arrested as the extremists realised that they had been given carte blanche to attack Ahmadis with impunity. In many parts of Pakistan Ahmadis were simply targeted and murdered for their beliefs. Zia felt able to send messages of solidarity to the London conference of the Khatm-e- Nabuwwat Conference in which he promised that the government of Pakistan would do all that it could do to “stamp out the cancer of Ahmadiyyat”, he further declared that he wanted to carry out the “Final solution of the Ahmadiyya question” .

Against this backdrop and climate of fear a new and pernicious campaign was launched by the Mullahs with the active connivance and encouragement of the government of Zia. Ahmadi mosques were targeted and baying mobs of extremists  attacked mosques, to either destroy them brick by brick or to deface the mosque by erasing the inscription of the Kalima engraved on  the walls of the mosque. Mullahs incited mobs into frenzy and whilst being provided protection by local police and members of the local authority would descend upon Ahmadi mosques and besiege the mosque and leave only after defacing and vandalising the mosque. In all such cases Ahmadis on the scene were beaten, tortured and in some tragic cases murdered on the spot. All of this happening as members of the local police and local authority looked on with indifference.  There was little doubt that this campaign was officially inspired and had the approval and imprimatur of Zia ul Haq himself.  Leading Human Rights Advocate Karen Parker states that:

“General Zia singled out Ahmadis in an open and vicious hate campaign of persecution. He and members of his administration made numerous public speeches urging Pakistanis to seek out, expose and even to kill Ahmadis. One such speech was broadcast on television when I was in Pakistan: in that broadcast one of Zia’s Ministers urged Pakistanis that it was their sacred duty to eliminate Ahmadis. On May 5, 1986, I had a meeting with General Zia at which he declared “Ahmadis are heretics and they offend me. I have a sacred duty to Allah to rid Pakistan of these impostors. I intend to drive them out.” At the same meeting, in discussion the United Nations Sub-Commission resolution 1985/21, General Zia told me “Ordinance XX may violate human rights but I don’t care.”

Against this backdrop of carnage and a deliberate campaign to destroy the Ahmadiyya community, its members remained peaceful. But the daily attacks upon mosques and individual Ahmadis was taking its toll. The attacks were gaining momentum and the extremists and Mullahs were emboldened at the total impunity they enjoyed. It was at this point that fate intervened.

The Ahmadi mosque in Sahiwal was targeted by students of a religious madrassah who were whipped into a frenzy of hate and encouraged to attack the mosque to kill all the Ahmadis and deface and remove the Kalima Tayyaba inscribed on the walls of the Ahmadi mosque. The mob descended upon the mosque on October the 26th  1984 just before Fajr prayers. The cowardly mob intended to storm into the mosque and attack the occupants. At the time, the mosque was occupied and protected by a single Ahmadi custodian Rana Naeem ud Din Ahmad. As Rana Sahib woke to the sounds of the mob he knew the fate that awaited him, but far  more importantly he knew the fate of the mosque and in particular the fate of the Kalima Tayaba, that most iconic and sacred profession of faith that all Muslims have held dear since the time of the Holy Prophet himself. The Holy Prophet himself had declared that the profession of the Kalima Tayyaba was sufficient for one to accepted as a Muslim. Yet on this October day the so called defenders of the Kalima (Zia’s Mullah’s) were about to commit sacrilege by defacing that very same inscription. Only on this day, Rana Naeem ud Din Ahmad a simple mild mannered Ahmadi had decided to stand tall and decided that he would not allow his Kalima Tayyaba to be defaced, regardless of the consequences to his own life.

As the mob gathered outside the mosque Rana Sahib knew he was surrounded and that he had no way of escaping, even had he wanted to. He called out to the mob, warning them that he had no intention of allowing them forcible entry into the mosque, and that he was armed with a shotgun. Regardless, the mob surged forward and stormed into the courtyard of the mosque. Rana Sahib repeatedly warned the mob not to advance or carry out its threat to deface the Kalima. Despite repeated warnings the mob surged and placed ladders against the walls of the mosque and began to deface the Kalima Tayyaba from the walls of the mosque. At that point Rana Sahib gave his final warning and fired from his shotgun at those defacing the Kalima from the walls. The mob retreated in disarray and fled in panic from the confines of the mosque. Rana Sahib made no attempt to flee himself but calmly placed his shotgun on the ground beside him and awaited the arrival of the authorities.
Rana Sahib was arrested along with 11 other Ahmadis most of whom were not even present at the mosque, including the Murabbi of Sahiwal Mohammed Ilyas Munir who was himself the son of a missionary serving in West Africa. The 11 Ahmadis were interrogated and tortured by their captors for many months and were all charged, and sent to appear before a special military tribunal.

Eight months later in October 1985, before a special military tribunal sentences were handed out. Death sentences were handed down to Mohammad Ilyas Munir, Ahmadiyya missionary and Rana Naeem-uddin Ahmad, custodian of Sahiwal Mosque. Four other Ahmadis were sentenced to imprisonment of 7 years each. The sentence of the tribunal were sent to General Ghulam Jilani Khan (Governor of Punjab) for ratification. General Jilani felt that there was a clear miscarriage of justice as Rana Naeem Sahib was clearly acting in self-defence and none of the other accused had been at the scene. Gen Jilani decided to raise the matter when Zia next came to Lahore. Eventually Gen Jilani explained his doubts to Zia and asked him for his instructions. Zia contemptuously shrugged his shoulders and barked “Hang them”.

Rana Naeem ud din and Mohamed Ilyas Munir were incarcerated and spent the next five years on death row awaiting the gallows. It is difficult to comprehend the pain and anguish that they both endured. The depredation and privation that they endured in those dark, dank cockroach infested cells is the stuff of nightmares. Their families never knew from one day to the next when the sentence would eventually be carried out. But despite all this mental and physical torture neither flinched, neither complained but instead with quiet dignity and grace both awaited their fate. Visitors would come back in tears and were unable to comprehend how the two could remain so calm and resigned to their fate.  On a number of occasions the death warrant was even issued and they were both moved to the death cell; only for it to be rescinded following legal appeals. One thing was clear, that the tyrant Zia ul Haq, consumed with hatred for Ahmadis would never allow any plea for mercy or clemency in the case of these Ahmadis. But once again fate had something else planned.

On August 18th 1988 a year after Hadrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad the Head of the Ahmadiyyah community had issued his Mubahilla challenge, Zia ul Haq travelling in his C-130 aircraft was blown out of the skies and perished in a fireball across the plains of Bahawalpur. No trace of the cruel dictator was found in the charred remains of the aircraft.

By December 1988 of that same year the civilian government of Benazir Bhutto was in place, and shortly thereafter in one of its first acts, it commuted all death sentences to that of life imprisonment. Both Rana Naeem ud Din and Mohammed Ilyas Munir were moved from death row and following appeals in the civilian courts had their convictions quashed and they were both subsequently released. Whilst the Mullah’s scrambled to launch further appeals against the two and have them returned to the death cell, both quietly left the country. Today Rana Naeem ud Din a venerable white haired old man attends the Fazl Mosque in London every day and offers prayers behind his Imam Hadrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. Above him inscribed on the walls of the Mehrab  are the words of the Kalima Tayyaba “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his Messenger”, for which he was willing to give up his life those many years ago. Mohammed Ilyas Munir remained  attached to his vow of Waqf I Zinadagi and continues to serve to this day as the missionary in charge of the Cologne Mosque in Germany.

Following the events at Sahiwal no further attempts of desecration were made against Ahmadi mosques that year, and attacks against Ahmadis abated for a period of time.

In the past few weeks there has been a lot of debate around the supposed ban on social media by ahmadiyya muslim community but the joint efforts by ahmadi twitter users proved those reports to be inaccurate.Not only that it also drew attention towards the struggle and persecution of the ahmadiyya muslim community which normally goes underreported but this time round their tweets were picked up by Al-Jazeera’s THE STREAM.

The Stream is a unique TV show based upon social media community and aims to cover unheard voices and lesser covered communities around the world.

On July 27^th THE STREAM held a debate over the beliefs & persecution of Ahmadiyya Muslims with both representatives from ahmadiyya and non ahmadiyya community (mainstream muslims). The program was both aired live and streamed online. Several twitter users from the ahmadiyya community sent in their questions and feedback most notably:

@atiqmangla , @atifahmads , @luqman_ahmad , @KhawabeTalae , @KashifMD , @EhsanAhmad , @naeemshamim , @sainiz, @SaimaMir , @SabahatAhmad , @Harris_Zafar , @QasimRashid, @Waqqarazeem , @ahmadjee , @Lutfislam

But the list wouldn’t be complete without the mention of @daliaziada (guest on the show) who wasn’t shy to air out her blunt and outspoken views regarding the subject, Dalia is an award winning Egyptian blogger & also Regional Director of American Islamic Congress.

Amjad Mahmood Khan, National Director of Public Affairs for Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, addressed questions regarding the beliefs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, as well as the persecution the Community faces across the world.

RABWAH: The tombstones in Rabwah’s graveyards tell a macabre tale. The graves of the men killed in the attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore – retired army officers and young factory workers among them – rest with the dozens killed due to the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community.

The graveyards have been defiled in the past as locals have released animals in the graveyards or trod on the graves.

Other tombstones in a row show how entire families were systematically killed.

“If you knock at any door in Rabwah, you will find a story of persecution,” says Amir Mahmood, who works at the Jamaat Ahmadiyya’s press section.

One door leads to a prominent Ahmadi family from Mardan. Despite years of harassment, lawsuits, imprisonment and a kidnapping, the family’s men vowed to stay in Mardan. Four of them were gunned down. “After my father’s assassination I told my husband to be more careful. But he wasn’t scared,” says Rabia Mehmood, who was expecting her first child when her husband was killed.

Another door leads to Bushra Siddiqui’s family. She lives with her two widowed daughters, whose husbands were killed because of their faith.

Siddiqui’s daughter Asma Ahsan says her husband was praying at Darul Zikr in Lahore when it was besieged last May. She received a phone call from him, informing her that he was safe. Later, she learned that he had been killed. To add insult to injury, several neighbours did not offer condolences.

While the May 2010 carnage highlighted the systematic campaign of violence against Ahmadis, it did not end there. Three days later, a man entered Naimatullah’s house in Narowal district and stabbed him to death. His daughter Sidra recalls waking up to an “awful noise”. She rushed to the courtyard, where her dying father lay. The assassin was caught a few hours later, roaming around a seminary after Fajr prayers. He was reportedly ‘inspired’ to kill Naimutallah after being incited by local clerics.

“Nobody is safe in this country,” says Malik Munawwar Ahmad, the 78-year-old head of Darul Ziafat, which carries out the decades-old tradition in the community of housing and feeding travellers.

For Ahmadis, every day brings forth new incidents of harassment. In Vehari, clerics recently called for the Kalima to be erased from Ahmadi places of worship. The Jamaat’s representative in Vehari says the threat – from the Khatam-e-Nabuwwat movement and the Majlis-e-Ahrar – emanated from a land dispute over an Ahle Hadith mosque, which was unrelated to the Ahmadiyya community. He said the community would not give in to the clerics’ threats and would wait for the area administration’s decision.

“There was always opposition to us, but the 1974 and 1984 amendments created a storm,” says Ahmad. “But our silent protest is being recorded with God, and He will announce His decision.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12th, 2011.

In a leaked US  Diplomat cable the US has condemned GeoTv and its owner Jang Media Group for airing stories that encourage violence, the cable dated 11/26/2008 highlights how the network specifically targeted the Ahmadiyya Community which resulted in the murder of two prominent Ahmadi leaders after Geo Tv Network aired the program “Aaalim Online” on September 7, 2008. In the program guests used the phrase “Wajib ul Qatal” or “Duty to Kill” for those who believed in Ahmadiyyat.The cable also points out that no member of the Ahmadiyya Community was invited to speak.

Here are the exact excerpts from the cable:

……. While claiming to be moderate and neutral to USG  policies, the “Jang Group” recently has increased its criticism of  the USG and its policies, has engaged in anti-Semitic behaviour and  has specifically targeted the Ahmadi religious minority group in a  television program that resulted in the death of two (including one  Amcit) Ahmadis.

…….– On September 7, 2008, “GEO TV Network” aired the program “Aalim  Online.”  The date coincided with the anniversary of a change in  Pakistan’s constitution in 1974 that officially classified the  Ahmadis as “non-Muslims.”   The host Dr. Aamir Liaquat Hussain egged  on guests about the Ahmadis.  One guest responded that, “As long as  this sedition is alive and even one (Ahmadi) remains on this earth,  there is a need to eliminate it.”  Two other guests used the Arabic  phrase “Wajb-ul-Qatal (duty to kill) to describe those who believe  in the Ahmadi doctrine.  Dr. Hussain did not intervene to moderate  the views, and in his closing statement belittled the Ahmadi founder  and agreed in essence with the guests’ contention that his followers  were not true Muslims.  No member of the Ahmadi community was  invited to speak.  Two prominent Ahmadi leaders, one of them an  American citizen, were murdered in Pakistan shortly after the  program was televised.

Here is an interview of Geo TV President Imran Aslam which was taken at the time by BBC Urdu.  GeoTV claimed copyright and had the interview removed from YouTube several times before finally giving up. The interview up till now has had over 200,000  views.

BANGKOK: Almost 100 Pakistani refugees have been freed from Bangkok’s overcrowded immigration prison in an initiative spearheaded by Thai human rights activists.

The Thai Committee for Refugees said the release on bail of 96 members of Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim sect was the first such large-scale release of refugees who Thai authorities locked up merely for being refugees. The group negotiated the release with the state National Human Rights Commission and immigration officials.

The detainees, about a third of whom are children, were arrested last December even though all but two were granted official refugee status by the United Nations because they face persecution in their homeland, where they are considered non-Muslim.

"We are feeling very happy … like a bird in a cage when it comes out," said Mehmood, a freed 35-year-old refugee who declined to give his last name. "But we should not say about inside."

"Love for all, hatred for none, that is what our religion teaches," he said. "Whatever the situation, you should always hold onto your ethics and obey the officials wherever you are. That is what we tried to do inside this detention centre."

The committee said conditions in the detention centre had been described as "overcrowded, inhumane and unhygienic," with more than 150 people having to share cells designed for 30 to 40.

“In the women’s cell there were times when women had to stand so that some of them could sleep,” said Anoop Sukumaran, coordinator of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network.

"The UN refugee agency believes no refugee should be locked up simply for being a refugee, so we applaud any measure that gets refugees out from behind bars," said James Lynch, UNHCR’s Representative for Thailand.

“The children were often sleeping next to the toilets, which were overflowing with feces and urine. The conditions, to say the least, were horrific at some points.”

The Ahmadiyya practitioners fled to Thailand from Pakistan, where they are persecuted as heretics to Islam. Earlier this year, police in Bangkok arrested the 96 during several immigration raids from December to February.

Asfa, a one-month-old girl born in a detention centre, is pictured among bags as her father, a Pakistani refugee who is a member of the Ahmadiyya, an Islamic minority sect, stands in their new accommodation after their release from detention in Bangkok on June 6.

The U.N. Refugee Agency, the UNHCR, welcomed their release. Spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey said they should not have been arrested in the first place.

While they are on bail, the Ahmadiyya are being housed in Bangkok until they are resettled to a third country.

By Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent For The Independent

Islamic extremists have started openly calling for the destruction of a controversial Muslim sect in a major escalation of sectarian conflict within British Islam, an investigation by The Independent has revealed.

Members of the Ahmadiyya Community have seen a significant upsurge in threats and intimidation over the past four months, sparked by an extremist attack on two of their largest mosques in Pakistan earlier this year.

Hardline Islamists in Britain have been distributing leaflets calling for the murder of AhmadiMuslims in Kingston-upon-Thames whilst mosques have been vandalised in Newham and Crawley. Preachers in south London have also been orchestrating a boycott of Ahmadi businesses and Ofcom has had to reprimand an Islamic satellite channel for repeatedly calling the sect "Wajib-ul Qatal" – an Arabic phrase used to describe those who digress from mainstream Islam that translates as "liable for death".

Community leaders say the upsurge in animosity towards Ahmadis is directly linked to violence in Pakistan where local Taliban militants have declared war on sects that they deem to be heretical such as the Ahmadis and the Shi’a.

Although the Ahmadis have been targeted by extremists in the past, the combined attacks on two mosques in Lahore in May was the most brazen assault on their community yet, with 93 worshippers killed as they gathered for Friday prayers, including a number of Britons.

Since the mid 1980s the Ahmadi community has been headquartered in Morden, south London, after their leaders were forced to flee Pakistan, the only country in the world that legally forbids them from declaring themselves Muslims. They claim to have 70 million adherents worldwide although detractors say the number is closer to two million. An estimated 15,000 live in Britain including their spiritual leader Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad.

The Ahmadi leadership had hoped the attacks in Lahore would prompt an outpouring of sympathy among British Muslims. Instead, they say, it has emboldened a minority of extremists to openly target them in an upsurge in intimidation.

Rafiq Hayat, national president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK, told The Independent: "Through leaflet distribution, posting of hate material on websites and via programmes on satellite TV (often in Urdu and other south Asian languages) our community is being made a target of hatred and hostility by preachers of hate. The perpetrators of this act are Muslims and whilst they are certainly not representative of the vast majority of Muslims in this country, they are creating hatred in society."

Police in Kingston-upon-Thames have opened a hate crime investigation earlier this summer when an Ahmadi woman was handed a leaflet by a man which stated: "Kill [an Ahmadi] and the doors to heaven will be open for you." In Tooting, meanwhile, some mainstream Sunni preachers have urged follower to boycotts Ahmadi businesses.

To many orthodox Muslims, the Ahmadis are considered heretical because they believe that their 19th century founder was none other than the Mahdi – Islam’s equivalent of the messiah – and the successor to the Prophet Mohamed.

Islamic satellite channels, a rapidly expanding but largely unregulated section of the broadcast media, have played an instrumental role in recent anti-Ahmadiyya campaigning. This week Ofcom criticised the Ummah Channel for a string of three programmes broadcast shortly before and after the Lahore massacre in which clerics and callers alike said Ahmadis should be killed.

In one programme "Seal of the Prophethood" a cleric declared: Until now, whenever one has claimed to be a prophet the Muslim nation has issued fatwa that he should be killed. It is only that at present Muslims are weak and they do not have the power to slice such a man in two parts."

On 21 May the Ummah Channel broadcast a in which Islamic scholars debated the status of Ahmadis within Islam.

When a caller named Asim asked for a scholar to explain whether Ahmadis were legitimate Muslims the imam replied: "Since the time of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) the Sahiba [knowledgeable scholars] have confirmed that anyone who believes in a prophet after the Holy Prophet is a kafir [unbeliever], murtad [apostate] and Wajib-ul Qatal [liable for death]."

He later added: "Until now, whoever has claimed prophethood, the Muslim Ummah has issued the fatwa for them to be killed. And all these false prophets have always been killed. It is only now that Muslims have become weak and they do not have the strength that they should cut such people into two."

Ahmadis were also frequently referred to as "filth" who should be avoided by mainstream Muslims.

Ofcom ruled that the Ummah Channel breached broadcasting regulations with its "abusive treatment of the religious views and beliefs of members of the Ahmadiyya community".

A representative of Ummah Channel said the station has now broadcast apologies for the programmes. "The Ummah Channel would like to express their sincere apologies for any offence caused," the spokesperson said. "It was never the intention of the Ummah Channel to support or condone these opinions that were delivered by independent scholars during ‘live’ phone in shows."

The Ahmadis say that doctrinal opposition towards their community is being spearheaded by Khatme Nubawwat Academy, a British offshoot of a Pakistani group that is dedicated to confronting Ahmadi beliefs.

The group, whose name translates to "The Finality of the Prophet", has close connections to the Pakistani establishment and met Pakistan’s high commissioner in the UK earlier this summer.

They also held a conference in Newham on 18th June in which one of their speakers claimed that the attacks on the two mosques on Lahore were an Ahmadi conspiracy.

Imam Suhail Bawa, a leading Khatme Nubbawat preacher, told worshippers: "This will become apparent very soon to you all that Qadiani [a derogatory term for Ahmadis] themselves are behind this whole conspiracy. [They] are responsible for whatever has happened in Lahore. This is all Qadiani conspiracy. They now come to television programs to try to "falsely" demonstrate their victimisation."

He then went on to warn that any attempt to try and change laws in Pakistan which forbid Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims would be met with violence on a similar scale to a previous massacre of Ahmadis in 1953 in Lahore.

"If the anti-Qadiani laws or the blasphemy laws are touched by anyone in Pakistan," Imam Bawa said, "then the 1953 Lahore agitation against the Qadianis will be repeated in the streets once more. The streets and roads of Lahore were filled with blood in that agitation."

Khatme Nubbawat preachers have also given anti-Ahmadi speeches in Tooting Islamic Centre.

On the website for the group’s east London offices in Forest Gate, Ahmadis are described as "nothing but a gang of traitors, apostates and infidels". The term Wajib-ul Qatal is not used although their preachers in Pakistan often use the term.

Akber Choudhry, a spokesperson for the Khatme Nubawwat Academy, said: "[We are] an independent UK organisation that is loosely affiliated with other such organisations around the world, and one of their major goals is to counter Qadiani (Ahmadiyya) propaganda within the laws of the jurisdiction in which each such organisation is based. We condemn all atrocities being committed in Pakistan and it is our wish and desire that Pakistan be free from all war, foreign intervention and attacks on civilians."

Asked whether he thought it was acceptable to describe a religious group as a "gang of traitors, apostates and infidels" Mr Choudhry replied: "The words ‘apostates’ and ‘infidels’ are understood differently in English than in their Islamic theological sense, especially within the Urdu-speaking Muslims, and can be replaced by terms more sensitive to the current climate in which the connotations of these words have changed quite rapidly in the past few years."

But Mr Hayat said he believed groups like Khatme Nubawwat create an atmosphere that encourages ordinary Muslims to be hostile towards Ahmadis.

"Freedom of speech is one thing, but incitement of hatred is another matter altogether," he said. "We appeal to the authorities to nip this in the bud; otherwise this campaign of hatred against Ahmadi Muslims today will tomorrow grow into a threat against other moderate Muslims and indeed the wider society."

FACTS

On 3rd September 2010 at around 1.05pm local time Mr Ata-ul Hameed was leading the Friday prayers at the Bait-ul-Zikr mosque at Muslimabad, Canal Road, Mardan when two unknown terrorists tried to enter the premises.

Initially one of the attackers threw a grenade towards the Mosque entrance which landed a few metres away. Upon seeing this, the Ahmadi Muslims near the entrance went into the mosque and locked the door from the inside.

Due to the bravery of further Ahmadi security personnel one of the attackers was injured and so he retreated. However the other began to fire his gun indiscriminately. He again tried to enter the mosque but was prevented from doing so by the Ahmadis on duty. Seeing that he would not be able to enter the mosque the terrorist chose to detonate a bomb hidden inside his jacket in a suicide attack. The effect of the explosion was massive and due to the impact the mosque gate and the outer wall were both destroyed. The homes of Ahmadis who lived nearby were also damaged by the explosion. Upon the explosion the other terrorist who had retreated ran away and remains unaccounted for.

Inside the mosque building at the end of a small corridor is a small room where final security checking takes place. At the time of the attack Sheikh Amir Raza was on duty in that room. When he heard firing he closed the inner door in an effort to protect the worshippers who had come for Friday prayers and also to prevent either of the terrorists from entering into the mosque area. However when the suicide bomber blew himself up the blast was so severe that it caused the door and wall of the room Sheikh Amir Raza was in to collapse. As it fell the door struck Sheikh Amir Raza and he was seriously injured. Tragically, on the way to hospital Sheikh Amir Raza succumbed to the injuries and was thus martyred.

Sheikh Amir Raza was 40 years old and was the son of the late Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad. He was a much loved and dedicated member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. He had an electronics business and also worked for a food items agency.

Sheikh Amir Raza is survived by his wife, Lubna Amir, his son Usama (9) and infant daughter.

Three other Ahmadi Muslims were also injured in this heinous attack. They are Fahim Ahmad Khan, Taufeeq Ahmad and Imran Jawed.

The Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said in his Friday Sermon of 3rd September 2010:

“Today we received very sad news that during the Friday prayers our Mosque in Mardan was attacked by terrorists. One person was martyred and some others were injured. May Allah elevate the status of the martyr and grant full recovery to those who were injured.”

His Holiness went on to say:

“What type of people are these, who in the name of Islam and in the name of God perpetrate such evil acts? These people who attack worshippers of God in His name can under no circumstances claim to be Godly. Just two days ago there was also an attack on a Shia religious procession in Lahore in which many innocent people were killed and many others were injured. May God quickly save our country from the acts of such evil persons and groups. Indeed I pray that He saves the entire world because such evil has spread throughout the world.”

It is with great sadness and regret that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat hereby confirms that a well-known and loved Ahmadi Muslim, Pir Habib al-Rehman (60) was martyred earlier today near Sanghar in Sindh Province.

According to details currently available Pir Habib-al-Rehman was on his way to his farm when two masked assailants approached his vehicle and shot him twice. One of the shots fired was directly at his head. He was rushed to hospital by his nephew and three labourers who were with him at the time, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The perpetrators of the crime immediately fled the scene and remain unidentified.

Pir Habib al-Rehman was a US citizen and had been in Pakistan on personal business. Thus he is the second US citizen in two years to be martyred for being an Ahmadi. In September 2008 Dr Abdul Mannan Siddiqi, also a US citizen, was brutally killed in Mirpurkhas.

Pir Habib al-Rehman was a kind and humble man who harbored no enmity against anyone. He was 60 at the time of his death and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. In 2006 his brother, Dr Pir Mujeeb al –Rehman, was also martyred for being an Ahmadi Muslim.

The deceased was actively involved with the work of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and performed great service, in particular, to the development and maintenance of the Jamaat’s official website ‘Alislam.org’.

The Press Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan said:

“The murder of Pir Habib al-Rehman has caused great sadness to all Ahmadis around the world. This incident follows on from the martyrdom of Dr Najam al- Hasan also in Sindh just a couple of days ago. Such violence results from the continuing hatred that is spread throughout Pakistan against our Community. We call upon the international community and media to take notice of the continued persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Pakistan.”

For its part, the government claims that all relief goods are being distributed among survivors without discrimination. And that all survivors have been sheltered in relief camps without distinction. The flood-devastated families from the Ahmadiyya community have strongly criticised the government’s “discriminatory attitude” even at a time when the entire country is reeling from the ravages of the worst flooding in living memory.

Of the 500 Ahmadi families, 350 belong to DG Khan, 60 to Muzaffargarh and 65 to Rajanpur district. According to Ahmadiyya community leaders, over 2,500 members of their community have been displaced and are now living with their relatives while some of them have left for Rabwah, the community’s headquarters.

Aziz Ahmad Khan, a local leader of flood victims from the Ahmadiyya community in DG Khan, told The Express Tribune that all members of his family have complained of discrimination in DG Khan. He said 200 families from Basti Rindan and Basti Sohrani, 60 from Chah Ismaeel Wala, three from Rakh Mor Jangi, 18 from Ghazi Ghat and 12 from  Jhakar Imam Shah of Ahmadpur. Khan alleged that 200 families, who have been displaced from Basti Rindan and Basti Sohrani by flooding, took shelter in a state-run school at Jhok Utra but within days the local administration forced them to leave the school. He said the local administration later told them that people from the surrounding areas did not want the Ahmadis in the relief camp. And that the administration could not allow them to stay at the camp as it could create a law and order situation.

“So we left our cattle and other belongings in the area and took refuge in the homes of our community members on higher grounds,” he said, adding that some of them even migrated to Chenab Nagar.

Muhammad Iqbal Sohrani, a member of the Ahmadiya community told The Express Tribune that around 40 Ahmadi families who took shelter in a state-run school at Jhakar Imam Shah near Sumandri, some 40 kilometres from DG Khan, have not received any relief either from philanthropists or from the government. He alleged that relief packages were being distributed through local lawmakers who have been told by the district administration that the Ahmadis are not eligible for any support.

Saleem Chandia, another Ahmadiya community member, said that he along with 40 other community members rented a house but after two days their landlord was forced by local clerics to evict them. Chandia said they were offered help by their own community members after wandering for several days in search of shelter.

Mansoor Ahmad, a resident of Muzaffargarh, told The Express Tribune that over 800 members of the Ahmadiya community were displaced from Bait Nasirabad, Masroornagar, Hussainwala and Shahjamal. At least 100 members of the community, from Hussainwala and Masroorabad, were trapped at Shahjamal. He claimed that they had asked the district police officer (DPO) and the district coordination officer (DCO) to provide them a boat or to rescue the trapped people but they did not take notice.

Ahmad claimed that the trapped Ahmadis were rescued by their fellows on a broken boat. He said local clerics have issued an edict that the Ahmadis should not be provided help.

Naseem Ahmad, from Rajanpur, told The Express Tribune that their 500 community members from the areas of Basti Lashari, Basti Allahdad Dareeshak and from Basti Azizabad were displaced. Their houses were washed away and the government and local clerics ignored them. He said that they were not allowed to stay in state-run schools or in camps, therefore the majority of them were living on the rooftops of their inundated houses.

“The Ahmadiya community itself rescued trapped people and delivered relief to them,” community spokesperson Saleem-ul-Din told The Express Tribune by phone.

He said that the community did not want any relief package from the government for its members. However, the government should protect the property and livestock of the Ahmadis.

Hassan Iqbal, Commissioner DG Khan, told The Express Tribune that he would check the situation. He asked the Ahmadis to directly approach him if they face discrimination anywhere in the district. However, DCO Muzaffargarh Farasat Iqbal said that the Ahmadis have not contacted him.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.

[By Ahmadiyya Times - August 18, 2010]