Home Monthly Newsreports Year 2006 Summary

 CONTENTS 

1.   Foreword 2.   Three stories A) Riots at Jhando Sahi B) Attack on Ahmadiyya press C) Rabwah as a safe haven ! 3.   Murders and attempts to murder — only for faith 4.   Prisoners of conscience 5.   Tyranny and persecution go on 6.   Attacks on person and property 7.   Rabwah situation 8.   Agitation all over 9.   Freedom of expression — only for extremists 10. Miscellaneous 11. International community takes notice 12. Three articles from the English press 13. From the press 14. Conclusion  Annexes  I.      Particulars of police cases registered in 2006 II.     Updated summary of cases and outrages since 1984 III.    Qadianis: Pakistan’s death wish — a Review from the Daily Times IV.    Ahmadi families unable to return home — a press report V.      Letter to the President regarding Joint Electorate VI.    Chief Executive’s Order No. 15 of 2002 VII.   Some statistics and information for the Year 2006

The present regime that installed itself in Islamabad in October 1999 can be arguably credited for being ‘consistent’ on the issue of Ahmadis - by keeping the issue off its radar. Only a few weeks after the take over, the Chief Secretary of the Government of the Punjab issued a letter on November 20, 1999, addressed to all the Commissioners, in which he urged them in the Ahmadiyya context to accord ‘due regard and respect to the religious sentiments of fellow Muslims’ — yes, ‘fellow Muslims’, as if those who are not Muslims or are not legally considered Muslims, are not fellow citizens in the province of the Punjab or the state of Pakistan. He unwittingly betrayed that Pakistan would remain a confessional state. There were other signals in quick succession. Dr. Ghazi, who was in fact a mullah, was inducted in the Federal Cabinet and nominated on the National Security Council, although he was on record in having formally recommended earlier that the penalty of death be imposed on apostates. On December 30, 1999, a mullah Ghulam Murtaza was permitted to make slanderous and highly provocative remarks on state television against the holy founder of Ahmadiyya Community. The government also refused permission to Ahmadis to hold their traditional annual conference at Rabwah. Next year, more Ahmadis were murdered for their faith than in any year of the preceding quarter century. One hundred and sixty Ahmadis were made to face criminal charges on religious grounds as compared to 80 during 1999. The government maintained its active support to tyranny, in that state prosecutors vigorously and successfully opposed bail applications of Ahmadis in courts. Encouraged by the government’s attitude, sitting judges like Nazir Akhtar of Lahore High Court publicly urged the common man to kill Ahmadis on the pretext of blasphemy.

The year 2001 was no different for Ahmadis. A judge, in one spurious case, awarded 118 years’ imprisonment to each of the two Ahmadis who, on their own land, had simply demolished a dilapidated one-room mosque made of mud and replaced it with a new one made of bricks.

The overthrow of Taliban in Afghanistan changed the regional politics considerably, and the President made his great anti-extremists policy speech on January 12, 2002. However, only a month later, during his visit to the U.S., when someone asked him if Ahmadis would be allowed to become part of the mainstream through joint electorate, he replied that he had not thought of that so far and that he had so many bullets to bite. He was consistent. On this issue he would not walk the way he would talk. He was not conscious that injustice lacks long term stability.

About this time, Chaudhry Shujaat entered the scene. Elections were being talked about and political battle lines were being drawn. The Chaudhry called on the President. Emerging from a successful meeting he told the press that the President had undertaken that while amending the constitution no amendment will be made to any clause of Islamic laws. In one get-together with clerics, an indignant mullah Saleemullah stood up and questioned the President on the Islamic status of Ahmadis in the newly implemented Joint Electorate. The President placated the mullah and assured him that the needful would be done. And surely enough, a few days later a Chief Executive’s Order was published in an Extraordinary Gazette that not withstanding the Joint Electorate, Ahmadis would be put on a Separate List of Non-Muslims. Ahmadis will remember the year 2002 in their history as the year when the state of Pakistan and its president chose, once again, to reassert the wrongs for which there was no excuse or moral basis whatsoever. In that year of elections, the regime decided to facilitate mullahs of the MMA to participate and win plenty of seats in the national and provincial assemblies. The general thus shot himself in the foot, as the later events now manifestly show. The stated policy was that of ‘enlightened moderation’; the failure to apply policy was an abuse of power.

The fragile state continued to be manipulated in the subsequent years by the fossilized forces of religion. Any attempts to dilute the impact of religious laws were frustrated by the so-called custodians of faith who were by then firmly entrenched in the arena of political power. For instance, a great deal of hullabaloo was made on an Amendment in 2004 to the procedure of registration of an FIR of the Blasphemy law. Later, everyone saw that the wording of the Amendment was designed to make it toothless. No wonder, just in one case, 15 Ahmadis were charged at Bahawalpur under the Blasphemy law, simply on the complaint of a mullah who, on a mischief mission, had a personal grievance against two or three Ahmadis. Despite the Amendment, Mullah Hamadi had no problem in getting a Blasphemy FIR registered against the Supreme Head of the Ahmadiyya Community and three pressmen and one Ahmadi woman on the published report that the Quran had been recited in a sermon. The regime persisted in allowing generously for the demands of Islamist thugs. Implementation of the ‘enlightened moderation’ remained a pipe dream.

In the year 2005, 11 Ahmadis were killed only for their faith, the highest total of the preceding five years of the regime. These assassinations were the brain child of men about the like of whom Fanny Parker once aptly wrote, ‘externally he is a saint but, internally a devil’. This was the year when the government decided unnecessarily to retain the religion column in the machine readable passport. The government of the Punjab felt no embarrassment in advertising an auction of residential land in Chenab Nagar (Rabwah) to only those who believed in ‘complete and unconditional end of Prophethood and who was not a follower of anybody who claimed to be a prophet in any sense of the word or was an Ahmadi/Qadiani/Mirzai/Lahori’. This happened in the 7th year of the present regime. Its consistent commitment to the politics of religion and strident religiosity is amazing.

This year, 2006, was hardly any different. Ahmadis were murdered and attacked for their faith. They were made to flee from their home and hearth by sectarian zealots - in the police presence, who refused to restore calm on the excuse that it might spread the riots to other villages. Innocent Ahmadis remained incarcerated in prisons serving life terms. Tyranny and prosecutions continued all over the country on religious grounds. Freedom of Press, a flagship human rights policy of this regime was selectively denied to only the Ahmadiyya press. Mullah remained free to congregate in numbers at Rabwah and indulge in gross abusive rhetoric, but Ahmadis were not allowed to hold a single open-air community event in their own town. This report describes all that in essentials. Also included are a few reports on the situation of Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan by some international organizations, and also a few published articles by fair-minded intellectuals. This report could be called ‘essential reading’ for anyone who is interested in the Freedom of Faith in Pakistan in general, and in the Ahmadiyya situation in the country in particular.

A. Riots at Jhando Sahi

THIS happened on June 24, 2006 in village Jhando Sahi, near Daska in the Punjab. It is a big village with a population of about 5,500. There are approximately a dozen Ahmadi households in the village; their population is approximately 100, women and children included.

Two or three Ahmadis undertook cleaning of their mosque after the mid-day Zuh’r prayers. In order to protect the sanctity of old religious literature and papers they put them in a sack, dug up a small pit inside the mosque and set them on fire. A hostile neighbor noticed the activity from a nearby roof, and without any further inquiry or information shouted that copies of the Holy Quran were being burnt. The village was hosting a fair on that day. This man hurried there and raised the cry. This agitated the crowd who rushed to the Ahmadiyya mosque, occupied the place, got hold of some Ahmadis and beat them up severely.

The local anti-Ahmadi mullah of the End of Prophethood (Khatme Nabuwwat) faction, called Multani came to know of the incident and proceeded to add fuel to the fire. The police had arrived by then (of Police Station Bambanwala; SHO Mr. Sanaullah Dhillon), but they made no attempt to restrict the clerics from spreading the mischief. They only arrested Ahmadis, and let the religious zealots do what they did.

These vandals, who were in hundreds, attacked Ahmadis’ homes, and set fire to their shops. In order to avoid physical harm, Ahmadi women and children fled from their homes. The mob looted all the expensive belongings from their homes and set fire to the rest. The stock of two shops owned by Ahmadis were also set blaze. Two motor-cycles were burnt and two tractors belonging to an Ahmadi were damaged. Three thousand liters of fuel was ruined, and these thugs looted thousands of rupees cash. In some homes, children scared to death hid themselves under charpoys (traditional beds) in unlit and unventilated rooms for hours to escape detection. These families were denied refuge by some neighbours while some others afforded them protection till the mullah announced on the mosque’s loudspeaker that those who provided refuge to ‘Mirzais’ would have their houses demolished. Mr Muhammad Nawaz, an influential Ahmadi agriculturist, was held by a scarf twisted around his neck. He was pulled around through the streets, and was beaten up severely on the face. He was hit on cheekbones; his eye-sockets barely escaped damage. They manhandled his septuagenarian father who is a respectable elder and president of the local Ahmadi community. All this was undertaken by religious bullies in police presence that was present in strength including the Elite Force, all under the overall charge of District Police Officer (DPO Sialkot) Mr. Tariq Khokhar. As a culminating act they destroyed the Ahmadi mosque and took away its girder and beams as plunder. It is funny that only three days later, the Federal religious minister Ijazul Haq could assert, “all minorities enjoy equal rights in Pakistan, and their places of worship are fully protected by the government” (The daily Dawn, Lahore; June 28, 2006).

The role of the police calls for special mention and censure. It was apparent to all that the police had given freedom of action to the rioters. In fact, some Ahmadis reported being chased jointly by rioters and constables. The crowd felt greatly encouraged by the permissive attitude of the police, and indulged in criminal behavior. The mullahs and riot leaders felt free to issue instructions to the miscreants on loudspeakers. It was announced that Ahmadis were Wajebul Qatl (liable to be killed). The police heard it and took no action. It is odd that those who decry in full throat the destruction of the Babari mosque in a neighboring country, themselves destroyed still another mosque. They took away from the debris whatever they found of value.

While the mob leaders were in complete control of the Ahmadiyya mosque they rigged the disposal pit, the bag containing the disposable papers, the Holy Qurans from the closets (but added by them to the disposal bag) etc, and prepared an incriminating video of the alleged activity of Ahmadis. The police simply witnessed the proceedings. Mullahs prepared dozens of CD copies of this fabrication for distribution, and sent them mostly to neighboring villages and nearby Daska town to inflame the public and spread the riots further. The next day a procession was planned at Daska, but it was a failure due to the visit of a VIP political mullah to Sialkot.

At the moment all the Ahmadi families, a dozen or so, are displaced. One of these has a farm outside the village; it has shifted there. Their plea to visit their home in the village was turned down, and they were threatened of serious harm if they attempted again. Couple of families have taken refuge elsewhere with their relatives. Most of them have come to Rabwah and have taken up temporary residence in the Langar Khana (the community kitchen). They have been visited by only a few human rights concerns and members of the press, but no politician or official has come to see them and sympathize. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and National Commission of Justice and Peace (NCJP) were good enough to send their representatives to look into their plight. Only the Daily Times and The Post sent their reporters to talk to them. (The Daily Times news report is available in news section). The Daily Times was sensitive and thoughtful enough to make a prompt editorial comment on the incident in its issue of June 26. The Associated Press team also came and talked to the victims. The homeless men, women and children had distressing and touching stories to tell the visitors.

Nr Nasir Ahmad, aged 39, stated: “……Soon came along the Imam Masjid, Multani Sahib, and he immediately took to the loudspeaker and shouted that Mirzais are Wajebul Qatl; set their houses on fire. …….The mob included Azmat Qadri, Rana Azhar, Liaquat Ali, Rana Sher Sulehra, Amjad Dar, Khurram Riasti, Qamar alias Badshah Sahi etc. They all were howling insults and tried to break open the outer doors. My wife fled over the roof along with the kids, and sought refuge with a relative who initially refused. But when asked in the name of Allah and the Holy Prophet, they agreed to it for a short duration. At about that time, the mob set fire to two of the shops belonging to me and my brother… These stores were the only source with us to support our families. Now we are deprived of these. …”

Mrs. Zubaida Shakil narrated: “…….Participants of the procession entered my home and went right into the back room from where they got hold of Shakil (my husband) by the hair, dragged him out and beat him up severely. …….. The police were present when they beat up the Muallim Sahib (the religious teacher) and our president’s son; the situation was as if that of the doomsday. My elder daughter was with me, and I was extremely worried on her account rather than my own. My house was like a Karbala (the site of Imam Hussain’s ordeal). My younger sons wilted under the stress of the situation, and went torpid.………”

Mrs. Parveen Akhtar, wife of Mr Abdur Razzaq stated: “………. When the mob attacked, I hid my son under the Charpoy and cried and prayed to God repeatedly: ‘O Lord, enable us to bear up with this ordeal in grace, and support us to remain steadfast (a scriptural prayer in Arabic)’. So God sent us his angels to protect us, so that we remained safe and quit our refuge sobbing at about 0200 at night. It felt like facing a doomsday or a Karbala.…………”

Mr Tariq Mahmud, 42, son of Mr Abdul Hamid told his story: “………. When the procession came over to my house, they were chanting insults and slogans. They set fire to some of my belongings and looted the rest. They severely damaged my home, and were going to set fire to it when they (the neighbors) dissuaded them. Thereafter they announced that those who gave refuge to Ahmadis will have their houses destroyed. After nightfall the miscreants destroyed our mosque in police presence, and took away the useful debris. At about 0100 at night, I fled from the village and reached Daska with great difficulty, where I went to a relative’s home.………”

The distressing event was a witness to some human decency as well. Most Ahmadis were given refuge and protection by some neighbors and non-Ahmadi relatives, even at risk and under threat. A number of non-Ahmadis kept the victims informed of what was happening outside. This helped them to remain out of harm’s way, and flee at appropriate time. The ‘Elite Force’ police was helpful in giving lift to some families, and drove them out to Daska.

Having relented in the first phase of the riot, the authorities could have undertaken the damage-control exercise during the night and the next day. If the authorities had then enforced law and order, they could have created suitable conditions during the next two or three days only for the evictees to return home in safety. However, they decided not to do so; and now, even two weeks later, the victims of the disturbances remain homeless.

The DPO Sialkot, Mr. Tariq Khokhar told the print and the electronic media that: “Criminal case will be registered against Ahmadi workers under the religious laws…. It is to be ascertained who were implicated in the incident of burning the Holy Quran…. The police had ‘strong evidence’ against three of the seven arrested men…. Bambanwala police has arrested all the three accused and the situation is ‘under control’.… ” etc. What he did not say was the action he failed to take against the criminals who destroyed property, physically assaulted their victims, looted their belongings and forced them to flee from their homes. He also did not assure the victims that they would return home soon in safety. In all fairness, the DPO should not be singled out for criticism; no political leader or government official, big or small, had the moral courage to utter a word of sympathy in public for the victims or to condemn the criminals. The authorities appear to appease and support the bigots and fanatics, and shun the molested and victimized. This is outright discrimination, persecution and violation of human rights amounting to criminal by international standards.

An interesting comparison can be made in governmental response in two different cases of almost similar nature — the Sangla Hill incident in November 2005 and this Jhando Sahi incident. At Sangla Hill the affected community was Christian, while at Jhando Sahi, the Ahmadiyya community was under attack. The post-incident response of the authorities was quite commendable at Sangla Hill, while it is plainly condemnable at Jhando Sahi. Briefly:

	Sangla Hill

A mob comprising members of the majority community attacked church properties at Sangla Hill and destroyed buildings including two churches. Subsequently, as per press reports:

	An FIR was registered against 2000 persons, and one hundred and seventy arrests were made by the police.
	The prime minister ordered a probe, and undertook that the federal and provincial governments will compensate the losses to the church.
	The chief minister suspended the District Police Officer of Nankana and the DSP for poor administration and dereliction of duty.
	The chief minister personally visited Sangla Hill and assured the Christian community of full sympathy and security.
	A judicial enquiry was ordered.
	Bishop of Lahore Dr Alexander J Malik stated that the chief minister was taking concrete steps to ensure (civic) rights of Christians. Christians returned home thereafter, and eventually criminal cases were withdrawn on both sides.

	Jhando Sahi

	No FIR has been registered against the rioters or their leaders.
	An FIR has been registered against 4 Ahmadis. They were arrested and are detained at Sialkot.
	No perpetrator of assault, desecration, arson, loot or eviction has been arrested.
	No political leader or official of any level has uttered a word of sympathy for the victims of the riot. The political leadership both at the federal and the provincial level have preferred to remain dumb, although the UN Human Rights Commission is explicit: “… the practice of forced eviction constitutes a gross violation of human rights….”
	No steps have been taken for the evictees to return home. The government has not apparently inquired as to, after deprivation of their home and hearth, whether they have some shelter and something to eat. The affected families constitutionally have equal rights, and they are tax-payers like others. If the authorities failed to protect their properties and their place of worship, there was greater reason to provide them essential support in the following days. These people are suffering persecution while they need protection.
	Even two weeks later, no Ahmadi can even visit the place. Apparently the government has voluntarily handed ever its writ to the mullah and the miscreants. The government has ignored and violated basic principles of good governance.

As for registration of the riot case, when Ahmadis approached the SHO to register an FIR against the rioters, he replied that he would do that only if ordered to do so by the DPO. The DPO in turn ‘advised’ Ahmadis to ‘exercise restraint’. It seems that according to the police, disposal of old pages of scriptures respectfully by burning is a major crime to be punished with imprisonment for life, while arson, loot, destruction of a place of worship and forced eviction of people from their homes and the village is not worthy of registration in a police report. This is amazing attitude to civil affairs. It also shows that the authorities are sensitive only to the drummed up sentiments of the majority, while the extreme plight of members of a small community is hardly worth placing on record. Whither human rights!

It would also be noted that the provincial government, the local government and the federal government all showed little interest in the plight of Ahmadis. They left it all to the DPO who was interested only arresting Ahmadis and making announcement to that effect, as if it was a great success story. Under what social and moral justification, the political authorities absolved themselves of the responsibility to mind the security and human rights of the Ahmadi community? Are the authorities not accountable for all citizens of the state to God and to the national and global civil society? The global village got the news of the incident by next day through internet. Ahmadis are now found in 184 countries of the world; and the international community regardless of nationality, colour or creed is mindful these days about human rights and freedom of religion and faith – concerns and concepts that know no borders. If the government wants Pakistan’s image as a ‘moderate and enlightened’ country, will such incidents and their such handling by authorities verify and fortify such an image? Quite the reverse, frankly.

It is noteworthy that as late as only a year and half ago the Lahore High Court took note of the opinion of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on the issue to give a decision in a case of alleged desecration of the Holy Quran (PPC 295-B). This opinion records, inter alia:

The case was registered against four Ahmadis, namely Messrs Zaheer Ahmad, Waqar Ahmad, Shakil Ahmad and Fayyaz Ahmad at Police Station Bambanwala in FIR NO. 165/06 dated 24 June 2006, under PPC 295-B. The accused are incarcerated in Sialkot.

(It appears that someone from the victims did betake to the ‘Powerful Support’ hinted by Prophet Lot. One bigwig responsible for their suffering, the District Police Officer, Mr. Tariq Khokhar was hauled up by the Supreme Court a few days later, in some other case, and, according to the press report, was ordered by the Chief Justice of Pakistan to, inter alia: “Go and sit down on the rear seats of the court room and write a report stating that you are incompetent and not fit to continue in service. And present this report to the Inspector General of Police”. The court observed that the I.G.P. should fire such officers (The daily Jang, Lahore; July 6, 2006.)

Essentials of the riots stated above were subsequently authenticated by non-Ahmadiyya independent sources. Some of these are quoted below for record.

Inquiry Report by a team of 9, organized by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan , was published in its monthly Jahad e Haq, August 2006. It mentions the following inter alia:

	In response to the question as to why did the police not stop the rioters from arson, the SHO replied that had he done so, the agitation would have spread elsewhere.
	The SHO stated that a committee was formed under the chairmanship of the local Assistant Nazim. Some Ahmadis had departed while the majority were present in the village. People told us that all the Ahmadi families fled from the village except one family who lived partly outside the village.
	The team saw in the village that two shops owned by Ahmadis had been entirely burnt, two of the houses owned by Ahmadis had been torched and damaged while the Ahmadiyya place of worship had been completely destroyed.
	Nawaz, an Ahmadi victim, with injuries on his face and deep black scars of injury under his eyes told us that he too along with his father who is the president of the local Ahmadiyya community was arrested, but released subsequently.
Conclusions:
1.	The law enforcing agencies’ conduct, in controlling the riot, was discriminatory against Ahmadis.
2.	The discrimination is apparent in not invoking the law against people guilty of loot and arson in the village. As such, Ahmadis, who were under no blame, also fled from their home and hearth, concerned with their safety.
Recommendations:
1.	The investigation of the case should be impartial and transparent, so that no injustice is done.
2.	The administration, Members of the National and Provincial Assemblies and the local government are duty bound to take immediate steps to resettle the families that were forced to flee from the village.
3.	Action should be taken according to law against those who undertook arson, damage and destruction of citizens’ properties.

The Friday Times of August 4-10, 2006. It published an article by Ms Sadaf Arshad and titled it: Daska doomsday (with reference to the nearby town of Daska). It printed photographs of the destroyed Ahmadiyya mosque and the burnt-out stores. The article mentioned, inter alia:

The daily DAWN, in its issue of August 6, 2006 published an article on the Jhando Sahi incident, under the title: Religious laws — mob violence. Following comment therein is noteworthy:

The monthly Herald of Karachi covered the Jhando Sahi story in its issue of August 2006, written by Azmat Abbas under the title: Strangers at Home. A few excerpts:

	During this incident the local police stood by as disinterested observers.
	Next, they (the rioters) set fire to the Baitul Zikr (Ahmadiyya mosque) and destroyed it completely. Wooden planks and other valuable items were also stolen by the mob from the debris.
	Meanwhile, the police took four Ahmadis into custody and booked them under Section 295(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code, relating to the Holy Quran’s desecration. The case was registered on the complaint of two members of a religious organization who were not even present when the alleged crime took place.
	It has also been alleged that the policemen joined the mob in chasing the beleaguered Ahmadis. The frenzy continued for several hours and became more organized after the arrival of members of various religious organizations from neighboring villages and Daska town. Some locals claim that announcements were made through loudspeakers shortly after sunset warning people not to provide refuge to the Ahmadis as it would result in attacks on their houses. The same warning was also issued by the police.
	Apparently, some of the people among the mob had a financial interest in attacking Ahmadi businesses. For example, some people took the pain of locating the borrowers’ register from the general store of Mohammad Ahmad and setting it on fire. “The register had the names of those who had borrowed various items from the shop and the collective amount exceeded 45,000 rupees,” he said.
	A local police officer, when contacted by the Herald, confirmed that the police was unwilling to provide safe passage to Ahmadis wishing to return to the village. He added that Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Dr Tariq Khokhar had given instructions that no Ahmadi should be allowed to return home without explicit prior approval. Khohar could not be reached for comment despite several attempts.

The Video CD produced by Mullahs. Mullahs noticed fairly early during the disturbance that the police was on their side and would let them proceed with their criminal proceedings unhindered. So having undertaken a great deal of loot and arson, they settled down to prepare a video of the incident. In this they were at liberty to rig the scenes and mix facts and fiction as suited to their purpose. They produced many copies of this video and distributed them to other communities to spread the violence. The CD shows the following, inter alia:

	The police and the rioters in close vicinity acting and moving about in complete harmony
	The police taking no action while the Ahmadiyya property was on fire nearby
	Video was produced unhindered by police presence.
	The mullah delivered a speech to those present, wherein he said that those guilty of blasphemy were Wajab-ul-Qatl (must be put to death). He said, “Superintendent of Police (the DPO) has assured us that he will not spare such accused. The SHO also said that he was a man of the Khatme Nabuwwat and he had links with the Khatme Nabuwwat Movement, and that he will not spare the guilty and will ensure full penalty.”
	The mullah spoke at great length in support of Aamar Cheema, ‘Shaheed of Germany’.
	The video showed that the leadership of the disturbance was allowed to pass on to those with a higher agenda, as the crowd was shown chanting slogans mostly about Aamar Cheema and against the Federal Republic of Germany.

While all this was happening through commission and omission in the months of June and July, the Home Secretary Mr. Khusro Pervaiz Khan, the senior most bureaucrat in the provincial capital who should have assured expeditious return of the homeless Ahmadis back to their village, only issued a governmental notification No SO (IS-III) 1-4/2005 dated 19th July 2006 that he was pleased to forfeit an issue each of the daily Al-Fazl, the weekly Alfazl International and the monthly Tashheez-ul-Azhan, with immediate effect. These issues were published prior to the Jhando Sahi incident, and the worthy Secretary made no exact mention of the matter therein that he found objectionable. It is certain that he was acting only to comply with spurious demand of some mullah.

Till August 31, no riot leader nor any of the arsonists had been arrested. Two Ahmadis remain in prison exposed to serious risk of ‘life imprisonment’ through the bad system that is quiet effective in dispensing injustice. The molested members of the Ahmadiyya community are trying to restart their homes, and the government has given them no financial help for that. No promise has been forthcoming to rebuild their place of worship for them. Such is the state support to Freedom of Religion in the land of enlightened moderation.

Men, women and children of the Ahmadiyya community, who suffered greatly and unjustly in Jhando Sahi on June 24, 2006 and in the following weeks, place their trust in Allah, however, they are keenly watching how the provincial plenipotentiaries, Governor Maqbool, Chief Minister Pervaiz Ilahi, Chief Secretary Salman Siddique, Home Secretary Khusro Pervaiz Khan, IGP Ziaul Hasan and the District Nazim Akmal Cheema bear their noble burden of duty placed on their shoulders at this time and space in the Punjab. God and history will keep a record of that, as they did in the case of Mian Brothers’ conduct in Chak Sikandar riots in 1989. DPO Khokhar has been judged already when he faced his tormenting angels in the Supreme Court, a few days after the riots. And there is more to follow as told by the Holy Quran: What! Did you think that We had created you without purpose, and that you would not be brought back to us? 23: 115/116.

The action taken by the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Ilahi should be placed on record here. The Ahmadiyya Community headquarters sent a detailed letter to the Chief Minister on the tragedy at Jhando Sahi and requested intervention, relief and support for the riot-stricken. More than two weeks after the incident, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat wrote a brief letter to DPO Sialkot that is readable for its (lack of) concern, and is worded to ensure the desired action (or inaction). The entire body of this letter, No: CMS/AS(M) 25/2006/6602 dated 11 July 2006 is the following:

This letter arguably deserves no further comment.

An Amnesty International team of three, led by the president of the Pakistan chapter, visited Jhando Sahi on 13th August and made on-the-spot in-depth inquiry. The team produced a Fact Finding Report and sent its copy to the President of Pakistan with a covering letter on September 2, 2006. The Report, more or less, confirmed what we have already reported above, so we reproduce here only: 1 Comments/Recommendations, and, 2. The Important Points Needing Immediate Action of the A.I. Report, inter alia:

	Comments/Recommendations

	The Important Points Needing Immediate Action

	During attack on Ahmadiyya Community by a mob of extremist Muslims in Jhando Sahi town near Daska, District Sialkot, the mob set two shops and 3 homes on fire with looting, torture and humiliation of the peaceful Ahmadiyya population in the town, no perpetrator has been arrested even after 2 months of the incident.
	The police, instead of arresting the violators, have arrested 4 Ahmadis, 2 of those are still imprisoned with no bail.
	No act of reconciliation has been made by the government, neither a visit by the responsible authorities nor any financial compensation to the victims of the religious extremism.

The drop scene. Many weeks later, there was a press report that the Inspector General of Police asked the DPO for a report on the status of the Jhando Sahi case. The officialdom handled the criminal clerics like a hot potato unnecessarily. No arrests were made, however a criminal FIR was registered against some named rioters and riot-leaders. They were threatened with further action. As a result a compromise was made which suited the criminals as well as the administration. Ahmadis, as the victimized group who had suffered greatly at their hands, had to cut their losses and agree to an unequal agreement. Both sides agreed to withdraw their complaints against each other. As a result, the two Ahmadis who were still in prison and whose application for bail had been rejected, were released on bail on November 8, 2006, three and half months after the attack on them. It is easy to discern that the net result of the entire episode was that the criminals who rioted, looted and burnt, and their mentors, all got away without paying any price for their excessive criminal conduct, while Ahmadis were made to feel obliged for cutting their losses and being spared from the risk of life-imprisonment for an act which is not a crime by any standard.

Those who harm simple people/and who laugh at their injuries/will not be safe./ For the poet remembers. (Inscription at the martyrs’ monuments, Gdansk shipyard, Poland)

At this late stage, the administration distributed some money to the victims of these riots and donated Rs 25000/- ( equivalent of US $ 418) for reconstruction of their mosque; this money would just suffice to construct a one-man shower & WC in the mosque. Ahmadis of the village are considering return of this charity to the authorities.

B. Attack on Ahmadiyya Press

Rabwah: It happened on September 9, 2006. Two days earlier mullahs of the Khatme Nabuwwat Movement had held a provocative and slanderous conference at Rabwah by permission of the authorities. Among their other demands, highly prejudicial to human rights of Ahmadis, one was against the Ahmadiyya periodicals undoubtedly the most docile and modest of religious journals in Pakistan. Nevertheless, the police, under orders from the provincial capital, struck on the forenoon of September 9.

They raided the office of the daily Alfazl, and searched for the editor, the publisher and the printer. Not finding them, they picked up Messrs Qasim Ahmad and Abdus Sattar who have nothing to do with the Alfazl, took them to the police station, and locked them up. Subsequently the police continued with their raids, and arrested Mr. Sultan Ahmad Dogar from his residence. By nightfall they registered a serious criminal case vide FIR No. 480/06 dated September 9, 2006 at Police Station Chenab Nagar, District Jhang, under PPC 298B, 298C, 16MPO and the terrorism clause 9ATA. The FIR mentions Messers Agha Saifullah and Sultan Ahmad Dogar by name and includes ‘others’ in the business of the Press. Thus the net has been kept wide open maliciously. The FIR states that the Alfazl promotes hatred and injures the feelings of Muslims. The accusation is mullah-inspired, false and pure fabrication. They have not specified any ‘extracts’ or excerpts that are hate-promoting; there are none.

The mullahs’ conference at Rabwah on September 7 was so highly sectarian and even anti-government that the authorities decided to book four mullahs. Perhaps to look even-handed, they booked the Ahmadi pressmen. But while they have on record the highly objectionable diatribes of mullahs, it is certain that authorities will not have the audacity to quote from Alfazl any passage that is objectionable, so as to avoid being absurd. It is noteworthy that they arrested no mullah, but they arrested an Ahmadi and are looking for the other. The victims committed no terrorism; it is they and their families who are terrorized.

Both the named accused are old and on medication. Mr. Dogar is 60 years old, suffering from diabetes, and is taking insulin injections morning and evening. He does not know what wrong he has committed except that of being an Ahmadi pressman. Two days after the arrest, he was presented at the Anti-terrorism Court at Faisalabad. The judge told the police to bring him up a week later, so they sent him to the far away prison at Jhang. On September 18, the judge rejected Mr. Dogar’s plea for bail, and gave the date of September 25 for commencement of the trial. On September 25, the judge gave no hearing, and gave him the next date of October 4. He was under acute stress and his nervous condition visibly deteriorated. If declared ‘guilty’, he could be imprisoned for seven years.

The charge is false. There is no formal complainant or the accuser; the case is at government’s initiative. As per FIR, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (Operations) ordered the action. It is a serious violation of the flagship policy in the field of human rights of the present regime — “Freedom of Press”. Why the government decided to undertake the unjustified and unworthy action is not exactly known. The application of the terrorism clause was preposterous.

Mr. Dogar is old, not in the best of health, and under medication. They put him in prison. He asked as to what exact excerpts or passages the authorities object. They had no reply. “The whole lot”, said a mullah. But is that the way the present government has decided to function?

The defence told the trial judge that 9ATA was not applicable. He agreed, and told the state to take it off. Mr Dogar could not avail of the relief of bail earlier, because of the ATA clause. He remained in prison. Now he has applied again for the bail. It is now almost two months that this senior citizen from the domain of press is still in prison (on 31 October 2006). He does not know what wrong he has done. If this is not tyranny, what else is? And as for Freedom of Press in Pakistan, it is obviously selective and discriminatory. It reminds one of the concluding speech, made by the state prosecutor of China in 1979 at the trial of a dissident Wei Jingsheng:

Reportedly there are official agencies, groups and parties who commit accesses against pressmen, but they do it discreetly, mindful of the state’s declared policy of freedom of press. For example, the recent abduction, disappearance and detention for a day of Mr. Dilawer Khan Wazir, a reporter of the daily Dawn; no one claimed responsibility. However, the Ahmadiyya pressmen are not accorded any such privilege, caution or pretense; the Home Department or the Police Head Office issues written orders to commit the violation of fundamental freedoms.

Reportedly there are official agencies, groups and parties who commit accesses against pressmen, but they do it discreetly, mindful of the state’s declared policy of freedom of press. For example, the abduction, disappearance and detention for a day of Mr. Dilawer Khan Wazir, a reporter of the daily Dawn in November 2006; no one claimed responsibility. However, the Ahmadiyya pressmen are not accorded any such privilege, caution or pretense; the Home Department or the Police Head Office issues written orders to commit the violation of fundamental freedoms.

Although the judge removed the terrorism clause from the charge sheet, the prison authorities kept Mr. Dogar in the special cell meant for dangerous criminals. Here, he was allowed open-air time of only one hour during twenty-four hours, as compared to much longer hours allowed to ordinary prisoners that he was now as per rules. That was tough. Mr. Dogar then put up his plea for bail before the Addl. Session Judge, who accepted the plea. As such, he was released from the prison on December 2, 2006, almost three months’ incarceration for no valid reason. The daily Alfazl is extra careful in minding the rules. It carries the notice on its front page: ‘Meant only for the education of Ahmadis’. Its management makes sure that none of the subscribers is an Ahmadi. So the accusation of hurting the feelings of Muslims is fallacious and contrived.

Mr. Dogar has ten children, of which 6 still live with him and are his dependents. They suffered a great deal because of his ordeal. His wife bore the brunt. Mr. Dogar instructed the family women folk not to visit him in prison, as the procedure and the environment of meeting a prisoner is greatly inconvenient and even forbidding. Mr. Dogar has served 35 years in the world of publications. His undeserved persecution by the state is unbecoming and in violation of its own policy on print media. The discrimination against anything Ahmadiyya is excessive and unsupportable — to put it mildly.

And lo and behold, the authorities registered still another criminal case under Ahmadi-specific PPC 298B and 298C against the same team including ‘others’. The government apparently believes in ‘hit them, hit hard and keep on hitting’ — its own citizens, and for no good reason whatsoever. Who says only the Mullah is to be blamed for the sorry state of the ‘land of the pure’? The FIR was registered as No. 602/06, at Police Station Chenab Nagar, on November 17, 2006 under PPC 298B and 298C against Messrs Sultan Ahmad Dogar, Agha Saifullah and others, in pursuance of Official letters No. 7576-PA dated October 28, 2006 and 7846-PA dated November 7, 2006.

Eventually Mr. Dogar was released on bail. However, he will face prosecution in court for the two criminal cases against him under the Ahmadis-specific laws. He is at risk of imprisonment for years — for what, he does not know.

C. Rabwah as a safe haven!

Introduction: On account of the prevailing institutionalized persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan, many victims tend to flee from their homeland and seek shelter elsewhere in the world. In some countries the authorities raise a simplistic but formal question: Why don’t these Ahmadis shift to Rabwah rather than come that far to other countries? A special Mission, in fact came over to Pakistan to see the situation on the ground.

Ahmadiyya ‘assessment’ of the situation at Rabwah, with particular reference to the Mission’s task and its specific questions, was presented on October 9, 2006. It is reproduced below for its import and archival value.