Home Critical Analysis/Archives Report on the Situation of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan

MAJLIS TAHAFAZ-E-KHATAM-E-NABUWWAT

The Majlise Tahafuzze Khatame Nabuwwat is an organisation dedicated specifically to the persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan and to spreading hatred against them around the world.

The government of Pakistan encourages their activities by allowing them to murder Ahmadis with impunity and accepting charges brought by the organisation against Ahmadi Muslims under Martial Law Ordinance XX and the blasphemy law.

It would be impossible to give a complete description of the murderous campaign of the Khatame Nabuwwat organisation agaisnt Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan over the decades and this section of the report should be taken as being very incomplete and under construction.

The Khatame Nabuwwat organisation played a leading role in the anti-Ahmadi riots of 1952-53 during which acts of murder, arson, and assault were carried out against Ahmadi Muslims.

In recent years, they have maintained a campaign of persecution against Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan with the help and cooperation of auccessive governments.

Gen. Zia assured the Majlis Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwwat of the support of the martial law regime:

… For example President Zia, in a message to the International Khatm-e-Nabuwaat conference in London (August 1985) referred to the measures taken against Ahmadis and said "We will, Insha'Allah, persevere in our effort to ensure that the cancer of Qadianism is exterminated";
(PAKISTAN: Human Rights After Martial Law
International Commission of Jurists)

The IJC also noted that the Majlis Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwwat sought ought Ahmadis in government jobs and pressed for their removal:

… in May 1986 the Federal Government received updated lists from the provincial governments of all the Ahmadis who hold ‘key’ government posts following the demand of the Majlis-e-Khatme Nabuwaat that they be removed from their posts…
(PAKISTAN: Human Rights After Martial Law
International Commission of Jurists)

Dr. Karen Parker of Human Rights Advocates noted an incident of an attack on an Ahmadi mosque:

In mid-August 1986, the Ahmadi mosque in Mardan was attacked by a large mob, including police and the Assistant Commissioner. 90 Ahmadis who were at the mosque for Eid (a holy day) prayers were arrested. The mob spent from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. tearing down the mosque and burning books at the site. Maulana Azizur Rahman, International Spokesman for Majlis Tahaffuzz-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, announced that an agreement with the Government had been reached. “The mosque will not be allowed to be rebuilt and the government will not take any action against those who demolished the mosque, including the members of the National and Provincial Assemblies who participated.”

Human Rights in Pakistan

Anti-Ahmadi riots occurred in April 1989 in Nankana Sahib and surrounding villages. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan prepared a report in May 1989. The HRCP noted with dismay the Punjab government's justification of the riot nad its failure to accept responsibility for the protection of citizens.

The report notes that the police were in touch with the Majlise Tahaffuze Khatame Nabuwwat and had lodged charges of blasphemy against Ahmadis in an effort to appease the organisation. The organisation was permitted to arrange a demonstration against Ahmadi Muslims which turned into a riot.

The HRCP concluded in its report that the attack on Ahmadi Muslims showed evidence of advanced planning.

In Chak Sikandar the Khatame Nabuwwat organisation murdered three Ahmadi Muslims with the assistance of the local authorities. Among the murdered persons was a 10-year old girl, Nabeela. The report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan noted that Ahmadi Muslims had appealed to the authorities for help in April 1989 before violence erupted but that the authorities failed to act.

The report also notes that the anti-Ahmadi mob was led by the Khatame Nabuwwat organisation and that the version of events presented by the anti-Ahmadi agitators was contradictory.

The spokesman for the mob was Maulana Ajmal Qadri, a member of the Khatame Nabuwwat organisation and not a resident of the village.

The invesitgating committee of the HRCP notes in the report that the actions of the mob indicate extensive planning before the events.

The Majlise Tahafuzze Khatme Nabuwwat organisation pressures the government to prevent religious expression by Ahmadi Muslims and religious assemblies:

… The Punjab government rescinded its permission to Ahmadis to hold their annual convention. Some 8,000 followers had already reached Rabwah, the site of the convention. The Anjuman Khatam-e-Nabuwwat, a vocal organization with the principal object of opposing Ahmadis, had just held a conference there demanding the rescission.

(The State of Human Rights in Pakistan, 1991
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan)

The Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwwat has threatened the government with violence over this issue:

Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat announced that if the permission granted to Qadianis for their congregation is not withdrawn, all the roads to Rabwah would be blocked. According to the constitution Ahmadis have been prohibited to hold any gathering. The force of our faith should not be tested. (Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat) . The Majlis has called a meeting to make final decision.

(Daily Jang, January 16, 1995 )

It is to be noted that the majority of the residents of Rabwah are Ahmadi Muslims and that the annual convention had been held regularly in Rabwah without incident for decades.

The Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwwat plays a leading role in bringing criminal charges against Ahmadi Muslims under Martial Law Ordinance XX and under the blasphemy law.

In an attempt to extend Pakistani law internationally, the the Amir of the Khatme Nubuwwat mosque in Dera Ghazi Khan filed charges against two Ahmadi Muslims who had published, in London, a translation of the Holy Quran into Seraiki. (See News from Asia Watch , 19 Sept. 1993.)

Whipping up hatred against Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan is a common practice of the Majlise Tahaffuze Khatme Nabuwwat which apparently feels that the government of Pakistan is overly lenient with Ahmadi Muslims. This is done through meetings, processions, speeches, and literature.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan noted:

Earlier, an anti-Ahmadiyya meeting was held on June 11, 1993 at Dera Ismail Khan undere the auspices of Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Khatme Nabuwwat. Anti-Ahmadiyya mullahs addressed the meeting and accused the Government of being lenient with members of the Ahmadiyya community.

(QUARTERLY REPORT, Vol.IV No.IV October 1993)

"The Ahmadis have already been pushed to the wall," says one Khatam-e-Nabuwat activist in Rabwah. "One final jolt with the help of the government could now root out the menace (of Ahmadiyyat) once and for ever." The activist is a lieutenant of Maulvi Ghulam Mustafa who, he says, is spearheading "a jehad against the infidels in the heart of their homeland." The maulvi's bunker, from where he conducts his jehad, is his mosque; with an 80-foot high minaret, it looks down on Rabwah from the eastern end of the bank of the River Chenab. …

From the high-rise minaret of his mosque, Maulvi Mustafa delivers, through a loudspeaker, a daily sermon replete with fiery exhortations and expletives against the Ahmadis. The maulana does not stop at verbal abuse. He also arranges an annual gathering of leaders of various sects of Islam in October at the entrance of Rabwah, in a bid to keep alive the ummah's resolve to continue with its anti-Ahmadi campaign.

(Newsline, "The Price of Faith",
Tahir Mehdi and Muddassir Rizvi, April 1995)

Last modified: 20 May 1996 Sultan Sial