Girl from Rabwah scored big at the 13th annual Spelling Bee regional competition organized by Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper. The competition was held on October 28th at the Ali Institute of Education in Lahore. Mikail Faisal Ejaz of Aitchison College Middle School, Lahore, Vaneeza Salman Mokal of Bloomfield Hall School, Lahore and Sania Ayala of Maryam Siddiqa Higher Secondary School, Rabwah got top positions in the age 9 to 11 age group. As many as 1,000 schools from across the country …
A documentary on the experience of Pakistani refugees in Nepal will be featured at the Human Rights Film festival in Barcelona on November 18th. The film covers the plight of Ahmadi refugees from Pakistan who escaped persecution in the Islamic republic and sought refuge in the Himalayan city of Kathmandu. There are around 350 Ahmadi refugees in Nepal who have been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The emotional documentary provides an insight into …
On Monday the Indian Vice President awarded an officer from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with a Vigilance Excellence Award. The Vice-President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu awarded Shri Munawar Khursheed, the Former DIG of India’s Railway Protection Force with the Vigilance Innovation award for his “Outstanding contribution in Vigilance Innovation”. Rasheed who currently serves as Chief Vigilance Officer of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited was credited for implementing an Integrated Fuel Management System which has brought about 100% transparency in fuelling, …
In a statement, six U.S. Senators including former Presidential candidate Marco Rubio (R-FL) have urged the State Department to declare Pakistan a country of particular concern (CPC). CPC is a designation given to countries for severe violations of religious freedom. If the Secretary of State designates a country as CPC, the U.S. Congress is notified, which can then use both non-economic policy options or economic sanctions to bring about stop severe religious freedom violations. In a letter dated October 27, …
Residents of Pakistan’s only Ahmadi majority town of Rabwah have voiced concerns after thousands of gathered for a two-day conference against the followers of the minority sect. The two-day conference was organized by Aalmi Majlis-e-Tahfuze Khatm e Nabuwat, in an area known as ‘Muslim Colony’. The area once owned by Ahmadis was forcefully taken over by Islamist clerics and has since been a hotbed of anti-Ahmadi conferences in the area. The conference which ran from 19th to 20th October attracted thousands …
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has condemned a Pakistani court’s decision to award the death penalty to three Ahmadis accused of blasphemy. The Ahmadis who were arrested in 2014 after they were accused of committing blasphemy by tearing down posters against them. Daniel Mark, Chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) stated that: “Pakistan must repeal its blasphemy laws and immediately release all those imprisoned under those provisions. Blasphemy laws and the horrific acts …
A Pakistani parliamentarian’s speech has garnered international attention after he announced plans to table a resolution that will bar non-Muslims from holding public office and exclude them from the country’s armed forces. On 10th October 2017, MNA Captain (R) Safdar, a former Army Captain and son-in-law of the recently dismissed Prime Minister made a fiery speech against the Ahmadis. The Ahmadis are a persecuted Islamic sect which has been declared “non-Muslim” under the country’s constitution. During his speech Safdar said: …
A Pakistani court on Wednesday condemned three Ahmadi men to death on charges of committing blasphemy. The court also fined the men Rs 200,000 (USD 2,000) each, and if they are unable to pay the fine, they would have to undergo six months of rigorous punishment. In his decision, Additional District and Sessions Judge Mian Javed Akram stated that the three individuals, Ehsan Ahmad, Ghulam Ahmad and Mubasher Ahmad from the Ahmadiyya community of Bhoaywal town had committed blasphemy by …
A lawyer, his wife, and 2-year-old son were shot dead by unidentified gunmen who on early Monday stormed their home located in Rehman Garden in Sheikhupura and opened fire. The five-year-old son of Advocate Rauf Ahmad Thakur miraculously survived the attack by hiding under the bed. Thakur who was of Ahmadiyya sect of Islam married Abida Bibi against the wishes of her family around 8 years ago, Ahmadis are considered heretic under Pakistani law and are not considered Muslims. Police suspect …
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has requested help from the UK and the international community, to help resolve the Rohingya crisis. Hasina who was on her way back to Bangladesh from U.S. made a stopover in London where she met Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon who currently serves as the UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Briefing media, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said Hasina told Lord Ahmad that the UK should continue pressing Myanmar government. …
Malaysia’s prominent female Islamic scholar and former member of the Cabinet Dr. Mashitah Ibrahim has called for action against “the dissemination of deviant teachings of Qadianis”, a peaceful minority Islamic sect considered heretic by mainstream Muslims. She made the comments on Thursday during a panel discussion on the Islamic school fire which killed 21 children. The Executive Chairman of the Pondok Malaysia Development Foundation said “We do not want Malaysia to be like the neighboring country where freedom of Islam …
According to reports, a Turkish couple with alleged links to controversial Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen has been “kidnapped” by Pakistan’s security forces. Mesut Kacmaz, the former director of PakTurk school and his wife were picked up during a midnight raid on their rented house in the city of Lahore. Kacmaz and his family had been staying in Wapda Town, Lahore on an asylum seeker certificate issued by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The couple applied for asylum after Turkey …