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 …
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: …
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. …
Just days after Pakistan Army issued a statement endorsing the laws against minority Ahmadi Muslims, India made a point by having an Ahmadi lead the 85th-anniversary celebrations of the Indian Air Force. During the parade which was held at Hindon air base near Delhi, Group Captain Syed Muzzaffer Yunus accompanied the Indian Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa for inspection. Yunus who belongs to the Ahmadiyya Muslim faith was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) in January 2014 for rescuing more …
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 …