Ahmadis in Pakistan

[rohailmalhi]

Ahmadi massacre silence is dispiriting​

The virtual conspiracy of silence after the murder of 94 Ahmadis in Pakistan exposes the oppression suffered by the sect

I often find myself defending Pakistan against the unbidden prejudices of the outside world. No, Islam is not the cause of terrorism. Yes, the Taliban is a complex phenomenon. No, Imran Khan is not a major political figure.
This past week, though, I am silent. The massacre of 94 members of the minority Ahmadi community on May 28 has exposed something ugly at the heart of Pakistan – its laws, its rulers, its society.
It's not the violence that disturbs most, gut-churning as it was. During Friday prayers two teams of attackers stormed Ahmadi mosques in the eastern city of Lahore. They fired Kalashnikovs from minarets, chucked grenades into the crowds, exploded their suicide vests.
As the massacre unfolded, a friend called – his father-in-law, a devout Ahmadi, was inside one of the besieged mosques. The family, glued to live television coverage, were sick with worry.
Two hours later, my friend's relative emerged alive. But many of his friends – old men, including a retired general and former judge – were dead.
The killers were quickly identified as "Punjabi Taliban" – a loose collective of local extremists with ties to the tribal belt. This was unsurprising. More dispiriting, however, was the wider reaction.
Human rights groups reacted with pre-programmed outrage; otherwise there was a virtual conspiracy of silence. A dribble of protestors attended street protests against the attack in Lahore and Karachi; eleven people showed up in Islamabad.
The normally vociferous media were unusually reticent. Commentators expressed dismay at the violence, but few dared voice support for the Ahmadi community itself. Politicians turned yellow.
Few visited the bereaved; still today, the chief minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, has not visited the bullet-pocked mosques or offered compensation to the injured.

In the national parliament, three brave female MPs crossed party lines to propose a resolution condemning the attacks, in the face of massive indifference. The motion passed, just.
The reticence is rooted in law and history. Ahmadis believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, a 19th century Punjabi cleric, was the messiah sent by God – a notion that deeply offends orthodox Muslims for whom Muhammad, who lived in 7th-century Arabia, is the final prophet.

The problem is that the state has taken sides in this religious argument. Since the 1970s, civilian and military governments have passed laws enshrining the discrimination against Ahmadis, today thought to number about 4 million in Pakistan.
And so they live in the shadows of society. Under the law, Ahmadis may not call themselves Muslims and may not refer to their places of worship as "mosques". Orthodox Muslims applying for a passport must sign a statement deriding Ahmad as an "imposter".
Any Ahmadi who defies these edicts can be sentenced to death; in 2009, 37 were charged under the blasphemy laws and 57 under Ahmadi-specific laws.
This state-directed discrimination has caused prejudice to soak into the bones of even well-educated Pakistanis. It is acceptable to denigrate Ahmadis as "agents of foreign powers" such as the CIA and Raw, India's intelligence service.

In 2008 a prominent preacher on Geo, the country's largest channel, suggested that right-minded Muslims should kill Ahmadis. Within 48 hours two Ahmadis had been lynched. The television presenter has prospered.
Last year a banner appeared outside the high court in Lahore, declaring "Jews, Christians and Ahmadis are enemies of Islam". Few complained.
The silence that followed the Ahmadi killings was broken last week by a tsunami of outrage at the Israeli commando raids on boats headed for Gaza. Commentators and politicians fulminated at the treatment of the Palestinians – a minority that suffers state-sanctioned, religiously driven discrimination. Nobody got the irony.
It makes one realise how small the constituency of true liberals is in Pakistan – not Pervez Musharraf-style liberals, who drink whisky and attend fashion shows, but people who believe the state should cherish all citizens equally. That, after all, was the publicly expressed desire of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, 63 years ago. Today it lies in tatters.

Ahmadi massacre silence is dispiriting | Declan Walsh | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

No more of this EMO . i dont know y are u bent upon connecting the killing of ahmadis with minority killing . It is a wave of terror killing every one in it way it dont see any religion or belief .
so y it is not a terrorist attack than potraying it as a very well planned scheme to finish Ahmadis from Pakistan .

 

[Comet]

No more of this EMO . i dont know y are u bent upon connecting the killing of ahmadis with minority killing . It is a wave of terror killing every one in it way it dont see any religion or belief .
so y it is not a terrorist attack than potraying it as a very well planned scheme to finish Ahmadis from Pakistan .

She is a conspiracy theorist


My Chawwanni!!!

 

[DaRk WaVe]

No more of this EMO . i dont know y are u bent upon connecting the killing of ahmadis with minority killing . It is a wave of terror killing every one in it way it dont see any religion or belief .
so y it is not a terrorist attack than potraying it as a very well planned scheme to finish Ahmadis from Pakistan .

I ain't doing that, the recent happening on 28th May brought into view the oppression Ahmadis are facing & double faced bigoted attitude of society towards Ahmadis along with state

thats the point to be discussed

 

[Awesome]

No more of this EMO . i dont know y are u bent upon connecting the killing of ahmadis with minority killing . It is a wave of terror killing every one in it way it dont see any religion or belief .
so y it is not a terrorist attack than potraying it as a very well planned scheme to finish Ahmadis from Pakistan .

Without a doubt, everyone is being killed. But there are different reasons for these killings. While we are united in eliminating terror's root causes that harm the rest of us, we're acting like pansies when it comes to doing what is necessary to make Ahmedis as equal Pakistanis.

Why is it enough anyway? If someone is highlighting the woes of your fellow Pakistani why do you want it to stop? What is your gain in it? How does Pakistan gain from burying this up?

The number one step to resolve a problem is to accept that a problem exists.

 

[rohailmalhi]

Without a doubt, everyone is being killed. But there are different reasons for these killings. While we are united in eliminating terror's root causes that harm the rest of us, we're acting like pansies when it comes to doing what is necessary to make Ahmedis as equal Pakistanis.

Why is it enough anyway? If someone is highlighting the woes of your fellow Pakistani why do you want it to stop? What is your gain in it? How does Pakistan gain from burying this up?

The number one step to resolve a problem is to accept that a problem exists.

Highlighting the problem is one thing but connecting a terror act with planned conspiracy is sumthing else.Im just saying discuss the problem , dont not portray tht attack on Ahmadis has anything to do with the sectarian violence.

 

[Awesome]

Highlighting the problem is one thing but connecting a terror act with planned conspiracy is sumthing else.Im just saying discuss the problem , dont not portray tht attack on Ahmadis has anything to do with the sectarian violence.

A conspiracy is hidden, subtle and deniable. The fact that Pakistan is filled with bigotry against Ahmedis is none of those.

We shun Ahmedis openly and Proudly as sub-humans!

 

[kugga]

A conspiracy is hidden, subtle and deniable. The fact that Pakistan is filled with bigotry against Ahmedis is none of those.

We shun Ahmedis openly and Proudly as sub-humans!

I don't know in which pakistan you people live where ahmadis are treated as subhumans..... after this terror attack in Lahore most of the blocks in DHA were mourning their loved ones in their houses freely and most of these ahmadis were from the elite class of pakistan.... Do you think pakitanis treat their elite class in sub-human way???

A doctor killed of Services hospital was killed in attack he lives in DHA, A govt. employee who was working in wapda and has his own house in a very expenive society of Lahore was killed......

both of them were working as government employees means the departments of "state which considers them sub humans and which does does not give them good positions in their repective departments just because of their religion"....

I've mentioned it many times that my foreigner brothers should visit Pakistan instead of making a statement on the bases of some crap article.

 

[kugga]

Last night I had a dinner with a "sub-human" who lives in Wapda town Lahore again posh area........

"and I treated him very badly just because of his religion"

why I am still not able to see a poor ahmadi or an ahmadi who is bieng treated sub humanly.....

I see lots of chritians been treated sub-humanly why no body talks about them???

Just because they do not form the elite class of Pakistan??

 

[T-Faz]

There is another problem with these laws that others can use these to criticise Pakistan, such things allow them with opportunities to take pot shots at us and then we ask 'why us'.

In doing so (highlighting the problems of minorities) we can easily be demeaned in the eyes of others, a couple of articles about the bigoted mindset of 'some' people and the persecution faced by the minorities can alter the mindset of others. Such can be very damaging and would make it seem to others that what they read is the mindset of the each and every person of our whole nation.

Of course no one will menion the successes of minority groups in Pakistan, neither will they interview those who are content because it does not make for a story worth writing about. We cannot do that too becuase some of our people (Mullah baradaran and their followers) would get irritated when they see the succesful minorites while they themselves struggle. They will utilise this to negatively influence the minds of others by producing conspiracies on why a minority s doing well and they are not.

All such actions further negate our image and as you all should know that image is an important aspect of foreign relations.

All things aside, we have to think independently and start to undo the wrongs done by some of our leaders, it will take time but I beleive we have set ourselves on the right path and have begin to question these foolish laws. These attacks have a silver lining in allowing the people of our nation to question these laws and the prejudice that exist, surely we all know by now who is responsible for spreading hate and violence.

We as the people on one nation must stand together in such times becuse together we are stronger, if apart we can easily be played against each other. Its a matter of 'United we stand, Divided we fall'.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Last night I had a dinner with a "sub-human" who lives in Wapda town Lahore again posh area........

"and I treated him very badly just because of his religion"

why I am still not able to see a poor ahmadi or an ahmadi who is bieng treated sub humanly.....

I see lots of chritians been treated sub-humanly why no body talks about them???

Just because they do not form the elite class of Pakistan??

I commend you for respecting the Ahmadis and treating them as equals on a personal level, but the point is that they are not treated at an equal level by the State when the State restricts how they can practice their religion and even what they can say.

Surely most practicing Muslims on this forum, who hold their faith dear to them, would realize how painful restrictions on calling yourself a 'Muslim' would be, or restrictions on calling your place of worship a 'mosque'. Ahmadis are human beings like us, and many of them too no doubt believe strongly in their faith, so practicing Muslims above all should realize why these laws are immoral and what emotional suffering they cause to the community whose rights they restrict.

 

[khuramonline]

Last night I had a dinner with a "sub-human" who lives in Wapda town Lahore again posh area........

"and I treated him very badly just because of his religion"

why I am still not able to see a poor ahmadi or an ahmadi who is bieng treated sub humanly.....

I see lots of chritians been treated sub-humanly why no body talks about them???

Just because they do not form the elite class of Pakistan??

This is the exact example of how Ahmedies are really being treated as sub humans. After attacks on Ahmedy mosques, no doubt many govt. officials and religious figures condemned those attacks. But neither of those tried to use such words of belongingness like brother or like.

Yes ... almost all said that govt. was responsible for their security and those attacks were the failure of govt. in this regard etc. etc. But the way all were saying all this was like securities of dogs is also responsibility of govt. and govt fails if some dogs are attacked. Actually many of them had not enough courage to call them brothers. Lack of courage was not because of any fear of God. Mostly it was due to fear of Mullahs.

Issue of terrorists attacks on ahmedies is not just the issue of terrorism. Other muslims are also a victim of terrorism. In the context of recent terrorist attacks on ahmedies, it is also an issue of social hatred and discrimination. Mr. Nawaz Sharif who showed enough courage to call them brothers has been negatively taken up by religious figures. May be this attitude be right as per Islam. But surely this attitude is "inhumane"...!!!

And ... I know a poor ahmedy ... for instance ... whose son in law has been murdered in these attacks. He is just a peon in an office.

But why to tell it to you...??? Who thinks only rich people have been killed and it is all ok....!!!

 

[rohailmalhi]

This is the exact example of how Ahmedies are really being treated as sub humans. After attacks on Ahmedy mosques, no doubt many govt. officials and religious figures condemned those attacks. But neither of those tried to use such words of belongingness like brother or like.

Yes ... almost all said that govt. was responsible for their security and those attacks were the failure of govt. in this regard etc. etc. But the way all were saying all this was like securities of dogs is also responsibility of govt. and govt fails if some dogs are attacked. Actually many of them had not enough courage to call them brothers. Lack of courage was not because of any fear of God. Mostly it was due to fear of Mullahs.

Issue of terrorists attacks on ahmedies is not just the issue of terrorism. Other muslims are also a victim of terrorism. In the context of recent terrorist attacks on ahmedies, it is also an issue of social hatred and discrimination. Mr. Nawaz Sharif who showed enough courage to call them brothers has been negatively taken up by religious figures. May be this attitude be right as per Islam. But surely this attitude is "inhumane"...!!!

where is it can u show me . they are non - muslims and if muslims try to differentiate , thn u say its discrimination .

Yar it was no doubt a tragic incident. but telling the world tht it was planned to finish us as a minority is wrong . very wrong it aint gonna do anything better for Ahmadis or Pakistan.

i think Ahmadis are given there freedom in Pakistan. they are not discriminated in jobs or else where , see a retired general died in the attack .
abt the poor Ahmadis Allah know in my whole life of 24 years i have not seen any poor Ahmadi and FYI in my village the a former MPA was also a Marzi .......and u say dicrimation .

 

[rohailmalhi]

Self deleted

 

[rohailmalhi]

Surely most practicing Muslims on this forum, who hold their faith dear to them, would realize how painful restrictions on calling yourself a 'Muslim' would be, or restrictions on calling your place of worship a 'mosque'. Ahmadis are human beings like us, and many of them too no doubt believe strongly in their faith, so practicing Muslims above all should realize why these laws are immoral and what emotional suffering they cause to the community whose rights they restrict.

Agno Do I need to tell you y are they stopped from using the terms same as used by Muslims.

I think it is jusstified tht they should not be allowed to use these terms. and as far as tht freedom of Ahmadis is concern they are enjoying it . except sum sitting outside Paksitan and trying to potray tht Ahmadis in Pakistan are in real danger.

actually these people they dont know ground reality so they are just bringing bad name to Pakistan.

We have given many lives in this war of terror . it is sad every human life counts but no one make any mess out the killing , our generals , Cols , there sons and countless people died but no one said anything
so y this tym ..................it was a tragic incident . Many pakistanis died in tht event ,but showing all this as planned attack on minority is wrong.

 

[apophenia]

Our media tends to portray a negative image and ignore all the positive sides. Apparent its seems Pakistani masses are a ****** dent and liberals are spouting Ahmadiphobia every chance they get. Liberal Pakistanis have a strange sense of arrogance in being liberal, yet insecurity in being the called from moslims.Ironically religious tolerance is a myth these days be it east or west. You can pick and choose the ideas that you like best, but their applicability to societies which have fundamentally different historical contexts has always been non-viable.

For over a twenty years, not a single decent, original argument or thesis has been presented by anyone against the judgment passed by against Qadianis, why?