Ahmadi children arrested on false charges in Pakistan, alleges Indian Ahmadiyya commu

[AK-47]

Ahmadi children arrested on false charges in Pakistan, alleges Indian Ahmadiyya community

Maqbool Ahmad
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
QUADIAN: Ahmadiyya Muslim community in India spokesman Mohammad Nasim Khan said in a press release that five members of its community residing in Chak 172/TDA, District Layyah, Pakistan have been arrested and charged under Section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code. In a grave blow to any standards of decency, four of the accused are children studying at the English language ‘Superior Academy’ private school. Under the terms of Section 295-C any person found guilty is subject to either the death penalty or life imprisonment.



The arrests have been formally condemned by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) , whilst Asma Jahangir the chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has also condemned the arrests of the children as ‘heinous’.

The four accused children are Muhammad Irfan, Tahir Imran, Tahir Mahmood and Naseeb Ahmad. There are conflicting reports regarding the exact age of the children however according to both the ‘AHRC’ and ‘The Daily Times’ their ages range between 14 and 16. Mr Mubashar Ahmad, aged 50, has also been arrested under section 295-C.
All five were taken into custody on 28 January 2009 by virtue of a police raid on each of their homes. After four hours in custody each of the accused was charged under the terms of section 295-C on the completely false grounds that they had written the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the walls of a toilet at the Jamia Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque.

Mr Salim-ud-Din, Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Pakistan said:

“These allegations are completely false and baseless. The police have no evidence whatsoever and have merely succumbed to the pressure of those who spread religious hatred in the region.”

It is of note that none of the persons arrested have any connection to the Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque and they do not live anywhere near it.

The Asian Human Rights Commission has stated:

“Family members were told (by the District Police Officer) that the police were under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the children. If he did not arrest them, the group had threatened to close down the whole city and attack the houses of Ahmadi sect members... The AHRC urges the government of President Asif Zardari to immediately release the illegally detained prisoners.”

The charge laid against the five Ahmadis is completely baseless and false without foundation. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat reveres the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the final law bearing prophet, who brought with him a universal teaching. No disrespect towards him could ever be tolerated by any Ahmadi; man, woman or child. The Founder of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote:

“The man who in his being and his attributes and his actions and through his spiritual and holy faculties set an example of perfection and was called the perfect man was Muhammad (peace be upon him).”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat urges the immediate release of the five persons imprisoned and for all charges to be dropped. In a country which seeks to promote an image of tolerance to the Western world, it speaks volumes that peace loving children have been charged with an offence that sanctions the death penalty as a sentence.

The International Community, Media and Human Rights organisations are all urged to take action to secure the release of all of the accused in this matter. In an era where freedom of religion and belief is accepted as a basic human right throughout the world it is of disbelief that anti-Ahmadiyya legislation is still active and indeed still being so cruelly enforced in Pakistan.

SITUATION IN DISTRICT LAYYAH WORSENS


Qadian 10th Feb (Maqbool Ahmad): Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat spokesman Mohammad Nasim Khan said in a press release today that the Human Rights situation of its members in District Layyah, Pakistan is worsening. The five Ahmadis, who include four children, arrested on 28 January 2009 remain in police custody. They are not being allowed to meet with any persons, in direct contravention to the provisions laid forth in Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Pakistan is party.

Further, to the arrests of the five Ahmadis, in the village of Chak 172/TDA the situation is becoming increasingly tense due to the acts of religious extremists in the area. A social boycott against the Ahmadis has started whereby it is not safe for them to travel home via normal routes and they are unable to purchase even food from the local shops.

Inflammatory posters in opposition to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat are being displayed throughout the village.

Once again the International Community is urged to take immediate action to bring an end to the increasingly dangerous and threatening situation that is developing in District Layyah.



The Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat confirms that the situation in District Layyah, Pakistan continues to deteriorate. Although there are elements within the local community who are supportive of the Jamaat, the pressure of the local Mullahs is such that the situation is becoming increasingly tense.

The four children arrested by the authorities on fabricated charges under section 295-C of the Pakistani Penal Code were moved to Dera Ghazi District Jail on 4th February. Even though they have been in custody for over a week they continue to be denied access to Jamaat officials and to their families. An official at the Jail has said that some limited access to family will be granted in the near future, however until such meetings actually occur, doubt remains.

A natural consequence of the continued detention of the children is that they are falling behind in their studies. They are all due to sit exams in one month and therefore are all concerned at their lack of preparation and schooling.

In a further worrying move the local Mullahs have announced that a large scale rally will be held at Chak TDA/172 in opposition to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat. It is more than likely that this event will be used to incite hatred against the Jamaat and to urge people to act against Ahmadis. The organisers of this event are inviting people from nearby cities such as Dera Isamael Khan and Muzafergarh to take part in this rally. The local authorities and police are seriously concerned about the event which they fear they will be unable to control.

Ahmadi Muslims throughout the world are urged to write to their local media and officials in protest of what is happening in District Layyah.

The International Community is once again urged to take immediate action.

PunjabNewsline.com - Ahmadi children arrested on false charges in Pakistan, alleges Indian Ahmadiyya community

 

[Awesome]

Can't say if its false or not since the younger peeps are usually upto nonsense like this, but I'm guessing they are being charged under the anti-Blasphemy laws? Anti Blasphemy laws have no place in a society where you'll encourage free speech.

 

[ejaz007]

They shall go through legal system and if found innocent shall be freed. Every country has a legal system and all are bound to follow it.
Indian Ahmadiyya community better take care of the people on their side of the border instead of meddling into our affairs.

 

[A.Rahman]

Anti Blasphemy laws have no place in a society where you'll encourage free speech.

West is every hypocritical when it comes to them, they dont practice what they preach.

They have holocaust laws, you can go to jail even if you question it. Where is the free speech?

They dont support real democracy,they only support it in which their puppets are involved. When people of Gaza elected Hamas over corrupt fatah, they put sanctions & blockade on Palestinian people.

Yar, Pakistan does not needs imported western Idea, what they need is true Islam. We have the book "Quran", If people start following it, our problems would be solved.

 

[muse]

The so called "West" is hypocritical -- and that means that Pakistan ought to be as well????

How about just "Decent"? Can we at least make a claim to be decent peoples without reference to the West, the East,the Martians and to texts that are considered holy???

What's wrong with this picture, see if you can figure it out:

The four accused children are Muhammad Irfan, Tahir Imran, Tahir Mahmood and Naseeb Ahmad. There are conflicting reports regarding the exact age of the children however according to both the ‘AHRC’ and ‘The Daily Times’ their ages range between 14 and 16. Mr Mubashar Ahmad, aged 50, has also been arrested under section 295-C.
All five were taken into custody on 28 January 2009 by virtue of a police raid on each of their homes. After four hours in custody each of the accused was charged under the terms of section 295-C on the completely false grounds that they had written the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the walls of a toilet at the Jamia Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque.

Mr Salim-ud-Din, Spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Pakistan said:

“These allegations are completely false and baseless. The police have no evidence whatsoever and have merely succumbed to the pressure of those who spread religious hatred in the region.”

It is of note that none of the persons arrested have any connection to the Gulzar-e-Medina Mosque and they do not live anywhere near it.

Allah is witness - this us treating children in this way, imagine how we treat the adults of communities not on the "approved" list. And you say you wonder how religious intolerance and talib attitudes got in to the fabric of Pakistani society???

Shame!!, Shame on such a society, Shame on us for having not even common decency -- we are waiting for some Arab to give us that as well, it will involve a great deal of violence, I am sure.

 

[Meesna]

They shall go through legal system and if found innocent shall be freed. Every country has a legal system and all are bound to follow it.
Indian Ahmadiyya community better take care of the people on their side of the border instead of meddling into our affairs.

How about not complaining of Gujarat riots and babri masjid as it is on their side and not yours?

 

[Meesna]

Can't say if its false or not since the younger peeps are usually upto nonsense like this

Its false because there is no proof of it..innocent until proven guilty. Can we arrest your children under any charge just because "younger peeps are usually up to nonsense like this"? Not my opinion btw.

 

[Meesna]

West is every hypocritical when it comes to them, they dont practice what they preach.

They have holocaust laws, you can go to jail even if you question it. Where is the free speech?

Regardless of if there should be blasphemy laws or what blasphemy is or who is going to decide what entails blasphemy as one person’s belief is often other person's blasphemy...there is no proof of the alleged crime so no one should be treated like this.

 

[Meesna]

Here is what has been reported in the press;

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

According to our reports, the boys are students from grades nine and ten of the Superior Academy, Chak no. 172, TDA in Layyah district. They are Muhammad Irfan (14), son of Muhammad Mukhtar, Tahir Imran (16), son of Abdul Ghaffar, Tahir Mehmood (14), son of Muhammad Aslam and Naseer Ahmed (14), son of Nasrullah. A Mr Mubashar Ahmed, 45 has also been arrested.

The five were taken from their houses on the night of January 28, 2009 and taken into custody. Raiding police officials told their families that they would just be detained for 24 hours to appease a number of Muslim fundamentalists, who had recently renewed the long-waged ideological assault on members of the Ahmadi sect, a minority sect of Islam (also known as Qadiani sect).

…

However after four hours in custody, charges were filed against all five under section 295-C, for desecrating the name of the last prophet. After contacting Dr Muhammad Azam, the district police officer (DPO) of Layyah, family members were told that the police were under pressure from fundamentalists to act against the children. If he did not arrest them, Azam said, the group had threatened to close down the whole city and attack the houses of Ahmedi sect members. Worried about civilian deaths, the officer arrested the children.

The registered complainant in the case is a Mr Liaquat, who has reported seeing the name of Muhammad (peace be upon him) on the walls of a toilet of Gulzare Madina Mosque in four different places, and scratched into the wall in another. Liaquat concluded that the graffiti must have been a deed of an Ahmadi sect member – a charge agreed with by a Mr. Shahbaz, a government school teacher and a leader of the anti-Ahmadi sect movement. Shabaz implicated the four students, claiming that the graffiti was written under the instruction of Mubashar, the adult accused. No evidence was given, and no investigation done before the five were arrested. Inspector Khalid Rauf, station head officer (SHO) of Kot Sultan police satation, Layyah district, Punjab province, told the AHRC that police have still not initiated the investigation, but that the gravity of the case against Islam justified arresting the children first. He said the police do not know of any substantial evidence that links the four students with the crime.

…

According to an Ahmadi spokesperson, a number of attempted assaults and attacks have taken place against sect members in the area, during the last week.

The police have not made any investigation into the threats sent in, to cause harm to Layyah civilians. Neither have they made investigations into the five detainees’ guilt. According to an amendment made by parliament in 2004 in section 295-C of the constitution, police officials are obligated to thoroughly investigate accusations of blasphemy before presenting criminal charges. The aim of this amendment was to reduce the scope of the blasphemy laws, which are still widely and frequently abused, and met with the death penalty.

At this juncture the AHRC would like to question who Pakistan’s police are meant to serve: a few civilian religious groups with little regard for the law, and an agenda of violent persecution? Or do they serve the rule of law and the people of Pakistan? Their actions and admissions in this case point to the former. That children can now be made scapegoats by the police, and high ranking police officers themselves can played with like puppets, is a disgrace to the nation.

The Punjab government has lately claimed to be liberal and progressive. Yet they show little control over the province’s radical religious groups, which flout the law and hold Pakistan society hostage in the name of Islam. When children can be arrested under laws that carry only the death penalty, with no evidence given and no investigation done, there can be no doubt that the systems of this province have broken down.

Scoop: Blasphemy Charges For Man And Four Children

 

[Meesna]

This has all the hallmarks of the usual Ahmadiyya persecution, as per reported facts. So far no one has disputed the reported facts ascribed to the police.

 

[Awesome]

Let the west be so. I'll give an example. I've heard from certain type of Pakistani members time and time again that Indian boards are filled with ***** against Pakistan and so we should allow it against India too. Truth is, ***** will just make us ****** too.

The same way, the European Holocaust laws are disgrace to freedom of speech concepts and should be abolished, but what has that got to do with us? We have to work in our own positive development, not other people's.

 

[Awesome]

Its false because there is no proof of it..innocent until proven guilty. Can we arrest your children under any charge just because "younger peeps are usually up to nonsense like this"? Not my opinion btw.

I cannot say there is no proof, maybe a handwriting analysis can be done on what was written on the toilets with those kids' writings?

While I'm disputing the law, I have no reason, yet, to dispute the investigations. I'm saying that they should be freed regardless of the fact that they've written or not. Their parents ought to scold them for being rude brats(or not, thats their own prerogative), but they don't deserve jail.

 

[Awesome]

This has all the hallmarks of the usual Ahmadiyya persecution, as per reported facts. So far no one has disputed the reported facts ascribed to the police.

Again aren't you going by the same "hearsay" bias? Just because its perceived that Ahmedis are persecuted, you're assuming this is persecution.

If the boys were suspected of the 'crime', the police which serves to uphold the law, even Pakistani police, had every right to make an arrest and didn't need to be pressured into doing so. They might have had pressure to not to arrest the kids, given the international implications of invoking the blasphemy laws.

 

[Meesna]

I cannot say there is no proof, maybe a handwriting analysis can be done on what was written on the toilets with those kids' writings?

While I'm disputing the law, I have no reason, yet, to dispute the investigations. I'm saying that they should be freed regardless of the fact that they've written or not. Their parents ought to scold them for being rude brats(or not, thats their own prerogative), but they don't deserve jail.

You are assuming guilt all along while law in a civilised country even in Pakistan, at least in theory, works in the opposite. If there is proof it’s the responsibility of the law to bring it forward. Police has denied existence of any such proof and have accepted they are doing it under pressure form fanatics.

 

[muse]

Tell it like it is Asim - Based on news reports this is outrageous bahviour by police and to tell it like it is, religious bigotry against Ahmadis is a fact of life, even Shi'ah are not safe from these bigots - for the defense of Islam and the beloved prophet, of course -- tomorrow we will be it's victims as well. And we would deserve it for being silent when it was our duty as Muslims to speak out against this behaviour. Not in our name, Yeh Hum Nahin!! Hargiz Nahim!!