persecution

Persecution of the Ahmadiyya Community In Pakistan – A Historical Perspective

Summary The paper analyses, through Pakistan’s history, a State sponsored persecution of the Ahmadiyaa community in Pakistan focusing on its discriminatory anti-Ahmadi laws that have made this religious minority sect the most vulnerable and oppressed community of Pakistan. Background; Ahmadis in Pakistan and the beginning of discrimination The calls for declaring Ahmadis a non-Muslim minority began since 1948 when a Muslim group called ‘Ahrar’ demanded removal of Ahmadi officials from their government posts including Pakistan’s Ahmadi Foreign Minister Zafarullah Khan.Jamaat …

Pakistan, when will you accept me?

Though I was born in Pakistan, I was still a baby when my dad had to move to The Gambia in West Africa. The Gambia is a small peaceful country. Here, I remember my mother teaching me the Urdu  Qaida and telling me interesting stories about Pakistan. I could see she missed Pakistan a great deal. She would sometimes break down in tears, relating stories of the persecution she had witnessed growing up in her hometown in Sindh. My father …

Ahmadi women being harassed for ‘violating constitution’

LAHORE – Two female faculty member of Post-Graduate College of Nursing, Birdwood Road, are getting life threats for being “members of the Ahmadiya community”, with religious elements inside the college alleging that the two were preaching their faith inside the college, Pakistan Today learnt on Monday. Sources said some elements inside the college were also coming with weapons to “teach a lesson” to these female teachers, while the teachers in question are seeking the government’s help. Sources said that it …

Ahmadi murdered in Nawab Shah, Sindh

An 80 year old Ahmadi, Chaudhary Muhammad Akram was murdered in an attack in Nawab Shah, Sindh. His 18 year old grandson Muneeb Ahmad was also victim of this fatal attack and is in hospital undergoing life saving surgery. Mr Chaudhary Muhammad Akram was coming back from his son in law’s shop to his home when unknown assailants opened fire on him. He died on the spot while his grandson Muneeb Ahmad was taken to hospital in critical condition. Mr …

Rawalpindi: Jammat ud Dawa threatens Ahmadiyya Centre

As the political and judicial crises deepen in Pakistan, the only winners emerging from the scene seem to to be the extremists. Lashkar e Taiba has reemerged with the new name of Jammat ud Dawa led by Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. Jammat ud Dawa was a declared a terrorist organization and Saeed its terrorist leader in 2008 by the UN. Even though Jammat ud Dawa was declared a terrorist organization by the UN it operates freely in Pakistan and has so …

The Sahiwal Saga

“General Zia singled out Ahmadis in an open and vicious hate campaign of persecution. He and members of his administration made numerous public speeches urging Pakistanis to seek out, expose and even to kill Ahmadis.” In 1977, Gen Mohammed Zia ul Haq usurped the constitution of Pakistan and enacted Operation Fair Play by seizing power in Pakistan. He declared martial law and imprisoned the democratically elected Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and in the first of many lies and broken …

The Stream Al-Jazeera discusses Ahmadiyya Beliefs and Persecution

In the past few weeks there has been a lot of debate around the supposed ban on social media by ahmadiyya muslim community but the joint efforts by ahmadi twitter users proved those reports to be inaccurate.Not only that it also drew attention towards the struggle and persecution of the ahmadiyya muslim community which normally goes underreported but this time round their tweets were picked up by Al-Jazeera’s THE STREAM. The Stream is a unique TV show based upon social …

In Rabwah, every house has a story to tell

RABWAH: The tombstones in Rabwah’s graveyards tell a macabre tale. The graves of the men killed in the attacks on Ahmadi places of worship in Lahore – retired army officers and young factory workers among them – rest with the dozens killed due to the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community. The graveyards have been defiled in the past as locals have released animals in the graveyards or trod on the graves. Other tombstones in a row show how entire families …

US condemns Jang Group & Geo TV for inciting Violence

In a leaked US  Diplomat cable the US has condemned GeoTv and its owner Jang Media Group for airing stories that encourage violence, the cable dated 11/26/2008 highlights how the network specifically targeted the Ahmadiyya Community which resulted in the murder of two prominent Ahmadi leaders after Geo Tv Network aired the program “Aaalim Online” on September 7, 2008. In the program guests used the phrase “Wajib ul Qatal” or “Duty to Kill” for those who believed in Ahmadiyyat.The cable …

Thailand releases Almost 100 Ahmadi Refugees

BANGKOK: Almost 100 Pakistani refugees have been freed from Bangkok’s overcrowded immigration prison in an initiative spearheaded by Thai human rights activists. The Thai Committee for Refugees said the release on bail of 96 members of Pakistan’s Ahmadiyya Muslim sect was the first such large-scale release of refugees who Thai authorities locked up merely for being refugees. The group negotiated the release with the state National Human Rights Commission and immigration officials. The detainees, about a third of whom are …

Hardliners call for deaths of Ahmadi Muslims – Ahmadiyya

By Jerome Taylor, Religious Affairs Correspondent For The Independent Islamic extremists have started openly calling for the destruction of a controversial Muslim sect in a major escalation of sectarian conflict within British Islam, an investigation by The Independent has revealed. Members of the Ahmadiyya Community have seen a significant upsurge in threats and intimidation over the past four months, sparked by an extremist attack on two of their largest mosques in Pakistan earlier this year. Hardline Islamists in Britain have …

Ahmadiyya Mosque in Mardan attacked by a Suicide Bomb

It is with great regret that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that yesterday, 3rd September 2010 its Bait-ul-Zikr mosque in Mardan, Pakistan was attacked by two terrorists. One Ahmadi Muslim, Sheikh Amir Raza was martyred during this attack, whilst further loss was prevented by the bravery of the Ahmadi Muslims charged with securing the premises. FACTS On 3rd September 2010 at around 1.05pm local time Mr Ata-ul Hameed was leading the Friday prayers at the Bait-ul-Zikr mosque at Muslimabad, Canal …