Home Monthly Newsreports July, 2006

Mianwali Bangla, District Sialkot; July 14, 2006: The police registered a criminal case against four Ahmadis under PPC 298C on charge of preaching. The four accused are Professor Iftikar Ahmad, the president of the local Ahmadi community, Mr Naeem Akram Bajwa, the community teacher, Mr Shehzad Ahmad and Mr Asghar Ali.

Among the Ahmadi accused, Mr Asghar Ali is a convert. His exercise of freedom to choose his belief was not taken kindly by the opponents. The accuser had it recorded that Ahmadis invited him to their home, entertained him with tea etc and offered him a visit to Rabwah. It is also relevant that this is the same district where a month ago the police cooperated with the rioters to destroy Ahmadiyya homes, mosque and businesses.

The police registered the case vide FIR No. 174/2006 u/s PPC 298C at Police Station Satrah, District Sialkot on July 14, 2006, against the four Ahmadis. If declared guilty, they could be imprisoned for three years.

Dera Ghazi Khan, July 26, 2006: Muhammad Salim, Sub-Inspector of Police, accompanied by a few constables raided the city’s Ahmadiyya mosque, noted the names of those present, collected a number of issues of the Ahmadiyya daily that he could lay his hand upon, and went back to register a criminal case. There he fabricated his report and made out a case that is baseless. It deserves to be thrown out by any court; however, its mischief will cause the unavoidable stress, effort and expense that go with such cases, for the victims.

The Sub Inspector stated in the FIR, inter alia,

“While on duty, I along with … was present at Block 3 for rounds and crime prevention when an informer informed me that there are a number of the banned copies of the Alfazal magazine in the Baituz Zikar (Mosque) that are distributed to the people, which injures their feelings. If a raid is carried out now, these banned magazines can be recovered from the Qadiani Centre…… I found there 31 copies of Alfazal that contain the teachings of their founder, and confiscated these as items in support of the charge, as the Home Department, Government of the Punjab has banned the publication and distribution of the daily Alfazal. Messers Bashir Ahmad and Muhammad Iqbal, by keeping the 31 copies of the banned Alfazal in their charge for distribution have committed a crime in terms of PPC 188….”

The Sub Inspector is wrong; the Home Department has not banned the daily Alfazl, in fact the Punjab Government has expressly permitted its publication. It is being published daily and is sent by official post to thousands of Ahmadi homes, mosques and offices, where its old copies are preserved in bulk. His opinion that these copies were kept at the Ahmadiyya mosque for distribution to non-Ahmadis to injure their feelings is presumptuous and very silly. However, very occasionally, to placate some mulla, the Home Department has banned in the past specified issues of the daily. The Sub Inspector, with after-thought will perhaps sift through the 31 confiscated copies and hope to find a banned issued. In all likelihood he will be disappointed. His raid on a house of worship was uncalled for, malicious and violation of a fundamental human right – the Freedom of Religion of Ahmadis. The two accused committed no crime – the Sub Inspector did, perhaps on behest of a mullah. By his action, the SHO brought a bad name to the government of the Punjab and Pakistan.

The applied penal code exposes the innocent accused to six months’ imprisonment. The case was registered as FIR 227/06 at Police Station City, Dera Ghazi Khan, on July 26, 2006, under PPC 188.

The Election Commission of Pakistan issued detailed instructions in a booklet for its officials who are tasked to prepare electoral lists for the forthcoming elections. It includes various Forms meant for specified purposes which have to be filled in by the voters/applicants/officials.

It is interesting that despite the spurious claim of having Joint Electorate in the country, all these (Form 2 to 6) have the religion column. The indicated religious affiliations are: Mussulman, Isaee (Christian), Hindu, Sikh, Buddh, Parsi, Qadiani/Ahmadi, Deegar Ghair Muslim (other non-Muslims). The appropriate column is required to be ticked. It is relevant to mention that ‘Qadiani’ is a pejorative term used by mullahs for Ahmadis. It is unbecoming for a government to use this term.

Again, Forms 2, 3 and 4 contain the attestation that every voter, who claims to be a Muslim, has to sign. Its language is the same as prescribed during the regime of General Zia. The certificate required is:

Pakistan is well in the thick of the medieval-age of centuries ago. This futile exercise that brings ridicule to Pakistan is there only to deny Ahmadis their right to participate in the normal political life of their country.

Forms No 2, 3, 4 and 5 contain warning that anyone who makes a false attestation is liable to be punished according to PPC Sections 182 and 199. These sections provide imprisonment and fine as penalties.

All these measures deny Ahmadis the possibility of registration as voters in the forthcoming elections. Moreover, these are obviously based upon the concept of Separate Electorates.

Copy of the letter addressed to the President and other authorities by the Ahmadiyya Community is placed as annex to this Report. No reply or even acknowledgement has been received from any addressee.

It would be recalled that in an anti-Ahmadi riot in Jhando Sahi, District Sialkot, on June 24, 2006, miscreants set fire to Ahmadi businesses, looted personal belongings of all Ahmadis, destroyed the Ahmadiyya mosque and made the entire local Ahmadi community flee from their homes to save their lives.

Five weeks later, the refugees were given the signal to return to their homes. A conscientious efficient administration should not have taken more than five days to ensure safe conditions for the evicted to return home. However, it is gratifying that the affected people who were living in a Langar Khana (community kitchen) have been able to go back to their homes, even if these homes are now empty. They have no utensils to cook their food, and their beddings and charpoys have been looted. The authorities have given no undertaking that they will receive any compensation. The molested community has lost its place of worship; they will worship under the blue sky, in the plot where only the ruins now stand. None of the rioters or riot-leaders has been arrested, although they are known to the authorities, and have been booked. No official, representing the government has visited the riot-affected community to offer sympathy and support.

Pakistan is now a member of the august UN Human Rights Council. The government should take steps to make sure that no one can point a finger at its treatment of Ahmadis, at home. The world is watching the Islamic Republic.

Rabwah, renamed wickedly Chenab Nagar during the regime of Sharif brothers, is the Ahmadiyya headquarters town in Pakistan. As such, it is exposed to the anti-Ahmadiyya prejudice and persecution in many ways. Ahmadi-bashing organizations and groups have targeted the town and stationed their mischief managers here. But, here, it is intended to refer only to the civic side of the town’s situation. The government has provided the infra-structure to ensure that the town is neglected and is deprived of its usual rights. This has been done through deliberate corruption of the local government system. Voting rules have been designed and enforced to prevent Ahmadis from not only getting elected as councilors but even to exercise their right to vote. As a result the local council has no representation of 95% of its population that comprises Ahmadis. Thus the city (step)fathers care little for the city and spend money on themselves or on the 5% whom they represent. The town therefore is in utter state of neglect. It is manifest from even press reports, which fall on deaf ears, and the local government takes no action to improve the deplorable civic facilities. Here we reproduce just a few of the headline news that were reported in the national and regional press during only the past ten weeks:

Chenab Nagar: Citizens deprived of drops of drinking water. Women and children have to fetch water in buckets from far away locations. This wastes their entire day. The daily Pakistan, Lahore; July 23, 2006

Damaged roads cause tremendous hardship to citizens of Chenab Nagar. Traffic is adversely affected due to pits all over. Dust pollution hurts the population. Repairs demanded. The daily Express, Lahore; July 23, 2006

Life is paralyzed in Chenab Nagar due to the crises caused by outages. Scores unconscious. Electricity goes off for an hour after every two hours. The elderly and the sick are worst affected. The daily Express, Faisalabad, July 24, 2006

Chenab Nagar: Dozens of telephones inoperative for two months. Business adversely affected. No improvement despite repeated protests. Officials are urged to take notice. The daily Express, Lahore; June 19, 2006

Neglect by local council. Garbage piles up in streets of Chenab Nagar. In some neighbourhoods, one has to hold one’s breath to avoid the bad smell. The local council has 53 sweepers on its pay roll but it seems that they merely register their attendance. We tried to contact the Town Chief Officer but he was not available on account of being indisposed. The daily Express, Lahore

Chenab Nagar: Artificial non-availability of driving licenses and ‘renewal of arm licenses’ register. Applicants have suffered repeated visits to the post office for four months. Official lethargy costs people undeserved late fees. The daily Aman, Faisalabad, June 5, 2006

Unfortunately there is no remedy to this state of affairs. The system is designed by the authorities and the mullah just for such results. On July 19, 2006 a local Ahmadi Mr Muhammad Yaqub, Engineer, met the District Nazim and the District Coordination Officer in his personal capacity with a public welfare request. Both the officials received him, but reminded him matter-of-factly and rather unkindly, “You people have no vote”. Mr Yaqub told them that one injustice does not justify other injustices, and his request was based on his citizenship rights and not his status as a voter. “Seventy per cent of Pakistanis do not bother to vote under the present system, any way,” he quipped.

Faisalabad. Syed Mahmud Ali Shah, Ahmadi of D-type Colony Faisalabad, owns a small factory. On June 23, he invited some of his employees to visit Rabwah and judge for themselves of what is right and wrong about the allegations concerning Ahmadiyyat. Twelve of the invitees decided to avail of the tour, and reportedly were happy about the trip.

The mullah came to know of this visit, and did not like at all that people should be facilitated to inquire into his incriminations and allegations. Mullah Muhammad Hussain Chinioti applied to the police that Shah should be booked for violating the Ahmadi-specific law. Mullah Faqir Muhammad approached, as usual, no less than the Home Secretary and the DPO, and demanded severe action against Shah and his two sons. As a result, an official of the Special Branch made the visit, undertook inquiry and interviewed the invitees. The mullah at the local mosque harangued the worshipper to agitate, but they refused to cooperate with him. In view of all this Mr Shah called on the DSP who heard him and opined that the event was a non-issue.

It is however interesting to note how the mullah co-opts the vernacular press to achieve his undesirable goals. The clerics approached, and at least three newspapers agreed to print the mullah’s version of the incident under two-column headlines. According to the daily ‘Islam’, that claims to issue simultaneously from Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Multan, Peshawar and Muzaffar Abad, in its issue of July 2, 2006 that covered this story, the Ahmadiyya way of proselytizing was as follows:

It would be interesting to ask the 12 who visited Rabwah if they were offered this heavenly package. The mullah is expert at telling lies, and believes that a lie in service of his faith is not only permissible, it is even a duty.

Bahawalpur: According to the daily Bahawalpur Post, Mr Iqbal Arshad, Ahmadi is the Librarian at the Islamic University. The mullah would like him to lose his job. So he arranged the following to be published in the Bahawalpur Post of July 11, 2006:

The poor librarian is under pressure.

Qasur; June 14, 2006: Mr Qiadat Ahmad Hashmi, an Ahmadi stopped at a restaurant for breakfast at the city’s bus station. The business is owned by Abdul Ghafur Ansari. At the time, his son was minding the shop. When Mr Hashmi started partaking his meal, a Khatme Nabuwwat organization activist Muhammad Ahmad approached the son and demanded as to why a ‘Mirzai’ had been allowed to eat there. He threatened that he would contact Maulvi Manzoor and arrange a Gherao (encirclement) of the restaurant. The boy was polite to the agitator and tried to calm him down. However, the miscreant kept simmering, and when Mr Hashmi rose to pay the bill, he broke the crockery used by the client. He warned the boy, “If you serve a meal again to a Mirzai, I shall take full action against you.” He also used foul language against the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Jamaat.

Qasur is only 30 miles from the provincial capital. The incident shows the level of respect (or disrespect) the clerics have for the anti-sectarian drive of the higher-ups.

Toba Tek Singh: Maulvi Allah Wasaya, one of the leaders of Khatme Nabuwwat organization undertook a week-long anti-Ahmadiyya tour of district Toba Tek Singh in June. He addressed a gathering at Chak No. 295 Berianwala. Here he was accompanied by Maulvi Abdullah of Toba. The police intervened and stopped his slander by switching off the loudspeaker system. Next he visited Chak No. 293 G.B. Thereafter, he addressed two meetings at Toba Tek Singh. At all these occasions, his main theme was: “If you people co-operate with us, we can precipitate once again an anti-Qadiani agitation like that of 1974”. His tour was advertised through posters.

The mullah knows how to compile a list of anti-Ahmadiyya demands. He prepared a long list in early 1950s and launched an ugly movement that fizzled out at the time, but the mullah persisted and eventually got what he demanded; and much more. However his appetite for ill-will and transgression is vast, so he is still not happy and has come up with still more demands. According to a press-report in the daily Jinnah, Lahore, of July 15, 2006, the mullahs assembled at Jame Masjid Siddique Akbar, Chiniot demanded the following in the form of resolutions, inter alia:

The mullah’s appetite for anti-Ahmadiyya fodder and political craving is limitless. Only a fortnight later, clerics added the following demands at Faisalabad to their list compiled at Chiniot only a few days earlier. According to the daily Aman, Faisalabad, of July 31, 2006, the following were also demanded by the Ulama of the International Khatme Nabuwwat Movement, inter alia:

This list included the following political demands as well at the end — another dimension of their agenda:

June 28, 2006: Mr. Jan Eliasson, Foreign Minister of Sweden and President UN General Assembly was asked a question by a Member of Swedish Parliament Ann-Marie who also asked for a written response. The ruling party of Sweden, Social Democratic Party’s Parliament Group issued the following press release to the news media:

The Daily Dawn, Lahore of July 16, 2006 in its flagship column on the editorial page produced an article titled ‘Anatomy of blasphemy laws’ by Professor Anwar Syed who is professor emeritus of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, US. The essay is of great merit and thus a recommended reading. It not only analyses the issue ably, it proposes a wise solution as well. Mr Syed, at the end of his essay refers to the impossible position of Ahmadis. An extract is reproduced below:

1.

Mr. Muhammad Iqbal was awarded life imprisonment in a fabricated case of blasphemy. He was arrested in March 2004, and is now incarcerated in the Central Jail, Faisalabad. An appeal lies with the Lahore High Court against the decision of the Sessions Court. It is registered as Criminal Appeal No. 89/2005.

2.

Three Ahmadis namely Messrs. Basharat, Nasir Ahmad and Muhammad Idrees along with 7 others of Chak Sikandar were arrested in September 2003 on false charge of murder of a mullah, at the complaint of Ahmadi-bashers. The police, after due investigation found nothing against all these accused. Still the innocent faced a ‘complaint trial’ for a crime they did not commit. Based on the unreliable testimony of the two alleged eye-witnesses (who were proven false in the court) the court acquitted seven of the accused, but on the evidence of the same two liars the court sentenced these above-named three innocent Ahmadis to death. They are lodged in death cell at Mianwali Jail, while their plea for justice lies with the Lahore High Court. It is now two and half years that they are in prison. Their appeal to the Lahore High Court is registered as Criminal Appeal No. 616/2005 dated 26 April 2005.

3.	Mr Mansur Ahmad was recently awarded imprisonment for life for allegedly burning some pages of a time-worn copy of the Holy Quran. He is in prison since December 2004. His appeal to the Lahore High Court registered as Criminal Appeal No. 1885/2005 is awaiting a hearing.

4.	Three Ahmadis are in prison in District Bahawalpur on fabricated charge of blasphemy.

5.	Two Ahmadis recently awarded two years’ imprisonment under Ahmadi-specific law are in prison

6.	Two Ahmadis of Jhando Sahi are in detention accused of burning some old pages of the Quran. They are exposed to imprisonment for life.

7.	Two converts are behind bars under the Ahmadi-specific law, for preaching.

Four booked for preaching Qadianiyyat The daily Nation, Lahore; July 17, 2006

He [Justice (R) Javed Iqbal] said the most common thing in General Musharraf and Gen Zia was that the former was not loyal to enlightened moderation and the latter was not sincere with islamisation. The daily Dawn, Lahore; July 31, 2006

US not interested in fair elections. It desires Pakistan’s break-up or making it secular. — The Qazi The daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Lahore; July 7, 2006

Decision finalized to make Chenab Nagar a Qadiani State. Separate voter lists of Muslims and Non-Muslims should be prepared as before. The government should not be soft against Qadianis, otherwise an anti-government movement will be launched from Karachi to Khyber The killers of Aamar Cheema Shaheed should be arrested, and the German ambassador should be expelled as undesired person. — Statements at All Parties Action Committee Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat by Maulanas Allah Yar Arshad, Shabbir Usmani, Abdul Waris, Ilyas Chinioti, Ghulam Mustafa and others. The daily Jinnah, Lahore; July 1, 2006

Qadianis are creating a civil-war like situation in the country. To permit Qadianis to hold their conference in London is religious provocation. — Maulvi Ghulam Mustafa The daily Pakistan, Lahore; July 14, 2006

Sargodha landscape cannot be cleansed unless Qadianis are made to flee. — Noor M. Hazari The daily Pakistan, Lahore; July 17, 2006

Qadianis should be removed from important official posts. They should be posted where they have no public-dealing. — Maulvi Faqir Muhammad The daily Aman, Faisalabad; July 11, 2006

Qadiani Movement should be quashed — demanded by the Ulema at Chiniot. The daily Jinnah, Lahore; July 15, 2006

Mirzaiyat must be destroyed, if Islam is to be saved. — Dr. Tahir Tanoli (at Counter-Qadiani Course at Faisalabad) The daily Aman, Lahore; July 29, 2006

The entire Ummah should implement social and cultural boycott of Qadianis. — Speakers (at the Counter-Qadiani Course held at Faisalabad) The daily Express, Lahore; July 25, 2006

Mirzai doctors posted at Chiniot should be transferred. — Qari Ayub The daily Nawa-i-Waqt, Lahore; July 29, 2006

83 clauses of the Hudood Ordinance have no basis in Islam. It should be repealed. — National Conference The daily Express, Faisalabad; July 31, 2006

If Hudood Ordinance is repealed, we will launch a powerful (counter) movement. — Khatme Nabuwwat Movement The daily Awaz, Lahore; July 31, 2006

577 prayer leaders to submit Rs 1m security bonds. The Daily Times, Lahore; July 30, 2006

Op-ed:Improving Pakistan’s Image – Burhanuddin Hasan (After Bhutto) the country fell in the lap of a rabidly religious General Ziaul Haq who changed the entire ideological complexion of Pakistan from a modern liberal state to a theocratic one to be run by an all powerful ‘amirul momineen’ (that is, himself) with the advice and consent of the same Ulema who had opposed the creation of Pakistan as conceived by the Quaid-e-Azam. The religious political parties, which due to their treacherous role in the past had always been rejected by the people of Pakistan, ganged up around general Ziaul Haq and became his bastion of power. The News International, July 27, 2006

Op-ed:The riddle of the life of Christ — (by Khaled Ahmed) Christianity had a better innings with Islam because both have to have faith in Christ, and Islam reveres Christ because he is the harbinger of Muhammad (pbuh). But the devil remains in the details. Where Muslims rule, Christians walk in danger, unless the world can scare the Muslim state into behaving differently. Pakistan is savage to its Christians under the Blasphemy Law. If it weren’t for world opinion, we would have given ourselves a law that can kill all of them collectively on the basis of the fact that the Old Testament blasphemes against the prophets David, Solomon, Noah, etc. One only shudders at the possibilities contained in Pakistan’s Blasphemy Law. Under clerical rule, the Federal Shariat Court would have to offer the Christians the choice of conversion, just like the Romans, or they would face death on the basis of contents of the Bible. (The Friday Times July 7-13, 2006)

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