RABWAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – Crammed into buses and mini-vans, more than 10,000 Pakistanis traveled to a mosque on the outskirts of the small Punjabi town of Rabwah, for the sole purpose of denouncing followers of the minority sect based here as “infidels and enemies of the state”. For members of the long persecuted Ahmadi community, who are forbidden to call themselves Muslims and face discrimination and violence over accusations their faith insults Islam, the open vitriol on display at the …
A Pakistani Shia leader has warned that the public and the government should be made aware of the “dangers” posed by Baha’is and Ahmadis. Shia cleric Allama Iqbal Bahishti urged the Government to be watchful of the ‘heretic’ Baha’is & Ahmadis. Allam Iqbal Bahishti who is the provincial secretary-general of Pakistan’s largest Shiite political organization the Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) made the comments while speaking to members of the press on November 11. Bahishti said: The Islamic world was split into two …
A Pakistani Minister has been forced to conduct a shake-up of his security detail after threats by Islamists. Pakistan’s provincial law Minister, Rana Sanaullah has ordered that only non-Muslim officers be deployed for his security. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have started conducting background checks on all his security detail and also asked the Minister to restrict his movements. However, sources close to the Minister say that he is not satisfied with the background checks and has already hired a private security firm to take …
Pakistan’s prominent singer and politician Abrar-ul-Haq has announced his support for Islamists who are protesting against the Government in the city of Narowal. In a video message Haq urged the Government to give in to the demands of the Islamist protestors. The protestors are part of Tehrike-e-Labbaik-Ya-Rasulullah (TLYR) who have shutdown the capital Islamabad for the last few days and have called on the Government among other things to release blasphemy killers, hang blasphemers and limit the activities of Ahmadis, …
Several thousand Islamists in Pakistan have effectively blocked a main crossing near the national capital, Islamabad, crippling the daily life of millions of people and underscoring challenges facing the country’s counter extremism efforts. The rally began with a few hundred members of the small radical Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party who had gathered earlier this week at the main Faizabad crossing outside Islamabad. By Friday afternoon, the gathering grew to over 3,000, disrupting public life and prompting police to set …
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, …
A Canadian-Pakistani newspaper is set to host a senior Pakistani politician who ran Jihadi camps from his farmhouse. Sheikh Rasheed, President of Awami Muslim League ran a training camp for Kashmiri separatist militants from his farmhouse on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad. Rasheed who is a member of Pakistan’s national parliament is set to speak at Swagat Banquet Hall in Mississauga on October 30th. The event is being hosted by Urdu Times, a weekly Urdu language newspaper which came …
On 7 September 1974, the long unfulfilled dream of Pakistan’s religious conservatives finally became a reality with the passing of the second constitutional amendment which declared Ahmadis non-Musim. For the man who spearheaded this movement, Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, it was a singular moment of glory and as he left parliament on the day of its enactment he was met by jubilant crowds who hailed him as a hero. A theological dispute sold to the people as a struggle …
U.S. has thanked Pakistan for helping secure the release of a Canadian man, his American wife, and their three young children. In 2012, the family was taken hostage by the Haqqani network. Their three children were subsequently born in captivity. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson said: I applaud the innumerable lines of effort from across the U.S. Government. I’m particularly proud of Ambassador Hale and his Mission Islamabad team for their engagement with Pakistan. These …
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. …