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Misbah Ahmad

British-Pakistani lawyer to lead UN investigation against ISIS

On Thursday, United Nations Secretary-General appointed a British-Pakistani barrister to lead an investigation into ISIS crimes in Iraq. Karim Asad Ahmad Khan of Britain will serve as special adviser and head of the investigation team established by the UN Security Council at the request of Iraq last September. Khan who himself belongs to the persecuted Ahmadiyya community is a human rights lawyer with over 25 years experience in International criminal law. He obtained his Bachelor of Law (LLB) from Kings …

Pakistan legislators refuse resolution condemning mob attack on Ahmadi Mosque

On Friday Pakistan’s provincial assembly of Sindh refused submission of a resolution denouncing the mob attack on a historic Ahmadiyya Mosque. The resolution was tabled by Irum Azeem Farooque, an Independent member of the provincial legislature. Farooque claimed that no political party wanted to sign the resolution which called on the House to “Strongly condemn the attack on the Ahmadi prayer place”. In a tweet she said: Where are we heading? I wasn’t allowed to submit my condemnation Resolution in …

Pakistani mob attack against Ahmadi Mosque prompts global condemnation

Widespread condemnation followed the mob attack against an Ahmadiyya Mosque in the Pakistani city of Sialkot. U.S. joined lawmakers from Canada and UK to condemn the attack which resulted in the destruction of a historic 100-year-old Mosque. The attack which was led by Hafiz Hamid Raza, a member of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf happened between the night of May 23rd and early morning of the May 24th. During the attack, a mob of around 500 Muslims chanted slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya …

Pakistani mob destroys historic Mosque

A mob of Pakistani Muslims destroyed a historic Mosque in the early hours of Thursday. The Mosque which is located in the city of Sialkot was once attended by Pakistani poet and thinker Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The attack started late Wednesday night after a mob of over 600 men gathered in the Kashmiri Mohalla and started chanting slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to which the Mosque belongs. The mob was led by Hafiz Hamid Raza, a member …

Oxford University’s Pakistani society refuses to screen film on Dr. Abdus Salam

Oxford University Pakistan Society has come under fire for allegedly refusing to screen a documentary on Dr. Abdus Salam, a renowned scientist who became the first Pakistani to win a Nobel prize. In a statement, organizer Noman Chaudhry claimed that: I contacted Pakistani Society two months ago about the screening. I had numerous chats with the committee members including the President at various events. I was told that they were still discussing the matter and that they had other events …

Bilawal Bhutto deletes tweet endorsing Ahmadi rights

Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto deleted a tweet on Tuesday in which he had endorsed equal rights for the country’s minority Ahmadis. Bhutto posted the original tweet back in 2013 in response to the arrest of an Ahmadi man for reading the Quran. “No greater crime vs. Islam than banning someone from reading Quran, @ijattala: Bail denied to 2 Ahmadi caught reading Quran” The tweet once again caught the attention of rights activists after a renewed campaign …

Pakistan’s Sikh-Muslim duo want to fight religious intolerance by reviving Punjabi culture

With religious intolerance on the rise in Pakistan, two men have taken it upon themselves to unite people around common cultural roots. Every other weekend, Nasir Dhillon and his friend Bhupinder Singh pack up their bags and travel across the dirt roads of rural Punjab for one purpose, and this to preserve their ancestor’s cultural history by interviewing the ‘displaced generation’. The generation which lived through the India-Pakistan partition of 1947. Partition of British India resulted in the largest mass …

UK Minister of State, Lord Tariq Ahmad visits Israel

Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain’s Minister of State for the Commonwealth has just completed his first official visit to Israel and Palestinian Territories. During his visit to Israel, Lord Ahmad attend the State Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem. He also met with Israeli ministers Tzachi Hanegbi and Ayelet Shaked and reassured them of “UK’s commitment to our bilateral relationship with Israel”. Lord Ahmad, also met with Rami Hamdallah, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National …

Radical Pakistani TV show host barred from entering U.S.

A Pakistani TV show known for his extreme views and hate speech has been barred from entering the U.S. Orya Maqbool Jan who hosts TV Show “Harf-e-Raz” on NEO TV claimed he was stopped from boarding a flight to the U.S. by Pakistan’s airport authorities. Jan claimed the “American narrative in the Muslim world had failed and is closed to its worst defeat in Afghanistan”, he added “if they [U.S.] want to take revenge by stopping me from going to …

Pakistani court orders list of people who left Islam

On Monday a Pakistani court ordered the country’s national citizen database to handover list of individuals who left Islam and requested a change of religion with the department. The High Court court of Pakistani capital Islamabad ordered Pakistan’s Citizen Authority (NADRA) to provide detailed information on an estimated 10,000 Pakistani citizens who are believed to have changed their religion from Islam to Qadiani [Ahmadiyya]. The court also directed the citizen authority to include their age, names of their parents and …

Pakistani Ahmadis travel to India for a week of freedom

On Saturday hundreds of Pakistani Ahmadis walked into India to experience a week of religious freedom in the secular republic. The group was part of the 1,800 Ahmadis who have been given visas by the Indian government to attend their annual convention in the Indian Punjab.The three days event will run from 29th to 31st December. The annual event is significant for the Ahmadis from Pakistan who saw their faith outlawed by Pakistan in 1974, while their annual gatherings were …

PTI open to supporting an Ahmadi candidate in elections: Asad Umar

A prominent Pakistani politician has said his political party is open to the idea of supporting a candidate from the much hated Ahmadiyya sect of Islam. Asad Umar who is a policy head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and member of Pakistan’s National Assembly made the comments Tuesday at an event in the U.S. state of Virginia. Answering a Rabwah Times reporter’s question about whether PTI would support an Ahmadi candidate in the elections by offering him a ticket, Umar said: …