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Asia

Pakistan orders Google & Wikipedia to remove ‘blasphemous content’ by Ahmadis

Pakistan has ordered tech giant Google and the world’s largest wiki portal Wikipedia to remove ‘blasphemous content’ by the minority Ahmadiyya community, which the Islamic republic deems as a heretic sect. In a statement, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said Friday that it took the step after receiving complaints against misleading search results associated with “Present Khalifa of Islam” and an unauthentic version of the Holy Quran which had been uploaded on Google’s Play Store by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The …

U.S. Lawmakers concerned over increase in violence against Ahmadis in Pakistan

U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern over the increase in violence against Ahmadis in Pakistan. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the lawmakers criticized Pakistan’s colonial-era blasphemy laws and urged the State Department to ensure that justice is served in the killing of Tahir Naseem, an Ahmadi Muslim who was shot dead in July. The letter stated: “We are concerned by a recent increase in violence against members of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, and the silence …

Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s advisor may have secretly visited Israel

An advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Israel in the last week of November, according to reports published by Israel Hayom and several other Israeli media outlets. The source who is close to the Israeli government said that on the morning of November 20 at 8 a.m., British Airways Flight 165 from London landed at Ben Gurion Airport and on the plane was a senior adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who flew in business class …

Ahmadi man critically wounded in Peshawar shooting

Gunmen opened fire on an Ahmadi man in Peshawar on Sunday, critically wounding him, police said. 62-year-old Gulzar Ahmad was attacked at his store located in the Qissa Khawani market of Peshawar. He managed to escape with four bullet wounds to his leg and one to his hand. Ahmad was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, Police said. Sunday’s attack is the third attack on Ahmadis in Peshawar in less than three months. On July 29th an American-Ahmadi Tahir …

Pakistan police rescue Ahmadi family from mob attack, charge teenage son with blasphemy

Pakistan Police on Thursday filed charges against an Ahmadi teenager after rescuing him and his family from a mob of religious extremists. The incident took place in the Phandu area of Peshawar where a mob of religious fanatics surrounded the Ahmadi family’s house in the early hours of Thursday. According to local media, the incident started in the Hasht Nagar where a few local teenagers provoked a confrontation by putting up anti-Ahmadi posters and chanting religious slogans. When the Ahmadi …

Pakistani Christian sentenced to death for blasphemy

A Pakistani court sentenced a Christian man to death after finding him guilty of blasphemy for insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in text messages he sent to a Muslim co-worker in 2013, a defense lawyer said Thursday. Saiful Malook said his client, 37-year-old Asif Pervaiz, was convicted and sentenced this week in the eastern city of Lahore. It was the latest example of the Islamic nation’s strict upholding of blasphemy laws. Malook said the court rejected Pervaiz’s denial of the charges …

Pakistan Police charge toddler for holding an ‘illegal gathering’

Pakistan’s police on Sunday charged a toddler and five others for holding an “illegal gathering” and “promoting sectarianism.” According to the charge sheet, 4-year-old Fazal Abbas and two others hosted an illegal Majlis (gathering) on the night of August 30th at the Aiwan e Hussain Imam Bargah in the village of Purana Ghanian. The village is located in the Kamoke municipality of the Gujranwala district. The charge sheet also accused the three organizers and six attendees for promoting sectarianism by hosting and …

Rabwah’s 7-11 bakery shut down after at least 40 people suffer food poisoning

A Rabwah bakery has been shut down after a suspected food poisoning outbreak left more than a dozen people in hospital. At least 40 people presented to Fazl e Omar Hospital over the weekend with gastroenteritis symptoms including vomiting, fever and cramps after they consumed food prepared at 7-11 Bakery on College Road. Fifteen of those people, including the hospital’s staff nurse were admitted for further treatment. The Punjab Food Authority closed the bakery on Sunday upon the instructions of …

Ahmadi business owner shot to death outside shop

An Ahmadi business owner was shot to death outside his shop on Wednesday. Mairaj Ahmad, 61, owned a pharmacy store in the Dabagari area of Peshawar. The incident took place on the night of August 12 when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle pulled up to Ahmad’s shop and opened fire on him. Ahmad’s son Yasir claimed that their family was targeted because of their religious beliefs. He stated that the family was being attacked on social media for quite some …

Pakistanis rally in support of Ahmadi man’s killer

Thousands of Pakistanis rallied Friday in Peshawar to show their support for the killer who gunned down an Ahmadi man on trial for blasphemy. The American, Tahir Naseem, died of his wounds before he could be taken to hospital while the gunman, Faisal Khan, was taken into custody. When Khan was arrested he told Police that he had been told in his dream to kill the Ahmadi man. Khan said: “He had claimed to be a Prophet, I swear to …

US ‘outraged’ over the killing of an American citizen in Pakistan

The United States on Thursday called for the immediate reformation of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws after an American citizen was killed over alleged blasphemy. “We are shocked, saddened, and outraged that American citizen Tahir Naseem was killed yesterday inside a Pakistani courtroom. Mr. Naseem had been lured to Pakistan from his home in Illinois by individuals who then used Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to entrap him,” a U.S. State Department spokesman said. “We grieve with the family of Mr. Naseem. We urge …

Ahmadi man accused of blasphemy shot dead in Pakistan courtroom

A young Pakistani Muslim walked into a courtroom in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday and shot and killed an Ahmadi man who was on trial for blasphemy. Tahir Ahmed Naseem, an American citizen had been in prison since his arrest in 2018, allegedly after claiming he was a prophet. He was a follower of the Ahmadiyya sect, which is persecuted in Pakistan where they have officially been declared non-Muslims. According to a lawyer, who was present in the …