Home Monthly Newsreports Year 2007 Summary

 CONTENTS 

1.   Foreword 2.   Three stories A) Authorities and the mulla desecrate an Ahmadiyya graveyard B) Ahmadis barred from participation in national parliamentary elections C) Non-return of nationalized Ahmadiyya educational institutions 3.   Ahmadis murdered - only for their faith 4.   Prisoners of conscience 5.   Tyranny and persecution continue 6.   The duet of the mulla and the state 7.   Anti-Ahmadi conferences 8.   Rabwah situation 9.   Political mullas formally propose Death for Apostasy 10. Extracts from a US Report 11. Miscellaneous 12. From the press 13. Conclusion  Annexes  I.      Particulars of police cases registered in 2007 II.     Updated summary of cases and outrages since 1984 III.    List of Ahmadis murdered for their faith since promulgation of Ordinance XX IV.    A Fact-Finding Report by Amnesty International Lahore Group, Pakistan V.      Text of the proposed Apostasy Act VI.    Rabwah: a place for martyrs. An article in the Daily Times VII.   A message from Gen. Zia-ul-Haq (London; August 4-6, 1985) VIII.   Some statistics and information for the year 2007

The year 2007 was, essentially, no different for the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan, than the preceding 23 years. The evil bred and nurtured by General Zia continued to take its toll. Ahmadis were murdered this year also for only their faith. A number of them were charged and arrested under accusations and laws specific to Ahmadis and other laws based on religion. There was not a single day when an Ahmadi was not in prison for his faith. Ahmadiyya places of worship, even graveyards were defiled — with the help of the state. Abusive and provocative anti-Ahmadiyya conferences were held by the mulla at Rabwah with official permission and support. Rabwah continued to suffer from neglect of city officials, and its residents suffered from hardships, over and above what is the lot of common Pakistanis. National parliamentary elections that were the hot issue at the end of this year brought to sharp focus the deprivations of the Ahmadiyya community in the national context.

These elections are scheduled for January 8, 2008. It is a mega event in national politics. Its vital importance forced the government to make extraordinary concessions to political leaders who had sought shelter abroad to avoid facing grave charges of murder, treason, high-jacking, fraud, corruption etc. The government claimed that it had spared no effort to ensure free and fair elections. However, despite this claim, no effort whatsoever was made to enable Ahmadis exercise their right of vote. The imposed exclusion was deliberate and complete. No politician, official, intellectual or media-person even hinted publicly at the exclusion and deprivation of Ahmadis. The quiet on this front, in contrast with the general hullabaloo over elections, is impressive. It is a mega event of collective guilt in the Ahmadiyya context.

These annual reports are becoming repetitive and routine. Some readers would perhaps show signs of ‘info-fatigue’. However, for the present, it seems that Ahmadis’ lot in Pakistan is to suffer the persecution and place it on record for the history to draw its own conclusions.

Essential statistics and a summary for the year 2007 are available at Annex VIII. The last chapter of this report, “13. Conclusion” provides a concluding comment on the events of this year.

Incidents involving Ahmadis’ persecution in Pakistan are too numerous to be described in detail and depth in this report which is essentially a ‘summary’. It is however a practice now to pick two or three incidents or anti-Ahmadi measures, and describe these in essential detail under this heading of the annual report. This year we have chosen the Handu Gujjar incident that gives an insight into the authorities’ attitude towards Ahmadis where the mulla is involved. The other topic is the Elections 2008, the major national event at the turn of this year. The third is about blatant discrimination against Ahmadis in violation of Government’s own policy of denationalization of educational institutions. These three cases are expressive of the persecution environment in which Ahmadis maintain their existence in their homeland.

A. Authorities and mullas desecrate an Ahmadiyya graveyard

Lahore: The Site Edition of the Daily Times entered the following report in its issue of April 20, 2007:

Friday, April 20, 2007

Don’t fence your graveyard, police tell Ahmadis * Ahmadis told to remove wall after clerics oppose ‘mini-Rabwah’ LAHORE: Police has asked the Ahamdiyya Community to demolish by today (Friday) a boundary wall on a piece of land it had bought to extend its cemetery, after threats by local clerics who said it was a move to build a “mini-Rabwah”. The community had bought six acres of land in the outskirts of Lahore to extend an existing cemetery, but local clerics – allegedly from Sunni Tehrik and Tehrik-e-Tahafaz-e-Naomoos-e-Risalat – began to provoke the residents of the locality to oppose the construction of a boundary wall on the land. The clerics, Daily Times learnt, also made announcements in local mosques and held a couple of demonstrations. Instead of protecting the community, the police and the local administration are pressuring it to stop the construction and demolish the part of the wall it had already built. The community had bought the land from an Ahmadi landlord at a place called Handu Gujjar, seven miles from Shalimar Gardens off the Grand Trunk Road going towards Wagah. No local authority or housing society is prepared to offer them space for a cemetery in Lahore. Part of the land has been a graveyard for 10 years, while the rest of it was vacant. The community had recently begun building a wall around it. On April 15, 2007, a group of clerics (not from the locality) began to say they would not allow a “mini-Rabwah” in Handu Gujjar. Residents say the place had earlier been peaceful and there was complete inter-communal harmony. On April 16, the Mughalpura SP summoned representatives of the Ahmadiyya Community and a group of clerics and told them to come to the Manawan police station to “show their strength” knowing that Ahmadis are a minority. This mobilised the clerics, who used loudspeakers and mosques to urge people to “unite against Ahmadis”. They were able to gather about 150 clerics and madrassa students the next day, convincing the Ahmadis to abandon the “illegal construction”. Later, the SP said the clerics now wanted the height of the boundary wall lowered from 6 feet high to 4 feet, with barbed wire on the top. In the evening, a group of clerics delivered more speeches on loudspeakers and consequently, a group of 500 to 600 men gathered to give the Ahmadiyya Community a “10-day ultimatum” to demolish the boundary wall. The SP then told Ahmadis to either demolish the wall or let the government do it, lest a mob of mullahs demolished it itself, which he said police could not stop. Two days ago, the Ahmadiyya Community received a notice from the local town authority that the construction was illegal. The police has now asked the community to remove the wall by Friday (today). Mughalpura SP Dr Rizwan was not available for comment, but the station house officer (Manawan police station) said the police could not do anything to protect Ahmadis from clerics. “Only the media can protect the rights of that community,” he said.

Two days after this report, a large contingent of police arrived at the site at about 05:30, well before sunrise, blocked all entries and demolished the boundary wall of the graveyard. Ahmadis approached the local police station to have a complaint registered, but the SHO refused to oblige.

Following is also relevant to the incident:

At the time of this outrage the province of the Punjab was ruled by Chaudhry Pervaiz Ilahi of Gujrat the chief minister and Lt General (Retd) Khalid Maqbool, the governor. The incident raised alarm in the civil society. A Fact Finding Report by Amnesty International Lahore Group, Pakistan is reproduced at Annex IV.

B. Ahmadis barred from participation in national parliamentary elections

End of the year was marked for intensive electoral activity all over Pakistan. These were the days of national parliamentary elections. In any republic in this 21st century this event would be a celebration, an occasion of great expectations and excitement — even a fete. It ought to be the same in Pakistan. However, whatever the outcome of this mega event, the state and the mulla ensured that Ahmadis are not on the list of participants. They were made conspicuous by their absence. It would be appropriate to mention here essential elements and some history of this blatant exclusion, discrimination and deprivation.

	An Update

A letter was written from the Ahmadiyya headquarters in Pakistan to the President, the Acting Prime Minister and the Chief Election Commissioner on 12 December 2007. It highlighted the discriminatory rules and procedures against the Ahmadiyya community and pleaded that “the joint electorate system should be practically implemented in its true sense and spirit and no one should be allowed to manipulate the electoral process for their own vested interests.” Letters were also written to the President, the Acting PM and the CEC for grant of an appointment to a three-member Ahmadiyya delegation at the earliest convenience. These authorities did not reply except the office of the CEC that conveyed that ‘the Hon’ble Chief Election Commissioner is awfully busy now a days’.

Amnesty International Pakistan issued its own comment on ‘the system of Electorate Rolls in Pakistan’ and fully endorsed the Ahmadiyya view and grievance. It made the following three recommendations in conclusion:

	The international community, UN, the EU and regional institutes should urge the Government of Pakistan to establish a Joint Electorate Rolls System in Pakistan, free of discrimination against cast, creed and colour.
	Amnesty International Pakistan strongly demands from the government of Pakistan to take immediate step to demolish this inhumane discrimination. President General Musharraf’s order calling for separate electorate list only for Ahmadis in 2002 is still in vogue. It is therefore urgently needed that The Chief Executive’s Order No.15 of June 17, 2002 should be withdrawn. Joint electoral lists should be prepared without any reference to religion or creed.
	Amnesty International Pakistan urges that all discriminatory certification should be done away with. Ahmadis should not be discriminated in any manner as regards the electoral process in the country.

The behavior of the national press on this issue is worth placing on record. The press release issued by Mr Saleem-ud-din, the spokesman for the Jamaat Ahmadiyya was given good coverage by the Daily Times, Lahore (on December 16). The Urdu press, for instance the daily Jang, made it one-column news. This paper spared 3-column headline space for the rejoinder issued by one mulla Allah Yar Arshad who said, “System of Joint Electorate is a deviation from the principles on which Pakistan was founded. Qadianis are making unsuccessful efforts to gain some cheap popularity; their statements are incorrect.” It is also worth a mention that the Ahmadiyya community approached the press to publish its announcement of disassociation from the elections, and offered even to pay for it, but except for two Urdu and two English newspapers none agreed to publish it.

There are only 7 days left to the Election day. It appears that the establishment has decided to pay no heed to the justified grievance of a marginalized section of population, despite what the founding father said, the voice of reason demands and the higher values of statecraft dictate.

C. Non-return of nationalized Ahmadiyya educational institutions

This is a case of gross injustice that violates basic norms of good governance, rule of law and the principle of even-handed attitude towards all sections of society. It has been going on for the last 11 years.

Briefly, in 1996 the government notified its policy that it was ‘pleased’ to transfer the nationalized schools to the Private Management, under certain terms and conditions. Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya whose 10 schools and colleges had been nationalized, met all those terms and conditions, including payment of a large sum of money, but 11 years later, for unstated reasons the authorities have not transferred the management back to Ahmadis, while they have returned numerous other institutes to many other parties all over the country. This has violated Ahmadis’ right to non-discrimination, as also the principle of equal citizenship as declared by the Quaid-i-Azam in his famous speech of August 11, 1947.

Here are some facts of the case in essential detail.

Following educational institutions were owned and managed by Sadar Anjuman Ahmadiyya, Pakistan since 1947:

These institutions were nationalized and taken over by the government in 1972. From 1972 to 1996 they had been managed by the Government of the Punjab.

In 1996, a gazette notification No: SO (A-1) SA-1-18/90-A-III dated 28-07-1996 was issued by the Government of the Punjab according to which the owners of the nationalized educational institutions were given the option to take back their institutions after fulfilling certain terms and conditions. The Sadar Anjuman Ahmadiyya wanted to avail of this governmental offer and contacted the concerned department and authorities. All the terms and conditions prescribed by the relevant authorities were complied with, and a sum of Rs. 1,10,12,483 equal to the emoluments and allowances of the staff for six months to one year was deposited in the government treasury at that time.

Again in July 2002, under the revised notification No. S.O. (R&B) 1-18/90-A-III) of scheme for Denationalization of Nationalized educational institutions to previous managements was issued. But to-date no action has been taken by the Punjab Government. Many reminders have been sent by the Ahmadiyya community to the government since 1997.

The government had taken over the management of two of the Sadar Anjuman Ahmadiyya’s colleges as well, namely (1) Talim ul Islam College, Rabwah and (2) Jamia Nusrat College, Rabwah. Subsequent to the revised notification, the Sadar Anjuman applied to the Government of the Punjab on 13.7.2002 to denationalize these as well. The government has not done so, nor given any response in writing to our request. It is almost unbelievable that during the last 11 years on this important case, and having received a large amount of money from the Anjuman, a Charity, the provincial authorities at Lahore have not responded officially even once in writing to Ahmadiyya letters/faxes/petitions. No acknowledgement either, whatsoever. Whether it is the culture of government’s impunity, a way to avoid accountability, or simply sting of conscience — one does not know. Ahmadis’ rights, however, remain denied to them.

In the absence of any official response one can only guess. There is strong indication that the basis of this ‘denial by inaction’ is political hoggishness. Powers-that-be have decided to negate their own public policy, due to self-interest and at the cost of public interest. They have found it convenient to sacrifice Ahmadis’ civic rights in response to hoax threats from militant sectarianism. The law and order is a lame excuse. It is well-known that authorities are capable of implementing the state’s writ and policy wherever and whenever they want to. Even in the field of denationalization, the case of Forman Christian College is well-known. It was denationalized in the face of severe opposition and wild threats. Nothing happened, except the fait accompli of the transfer of management.

It is also very relevant to mention that these institutions, apart from a sharp decline in their educational standards, are now suffering from gross neglect by officials, and the lack of proper maintenance has severely affected their physical state. During the past few months, two incidents have occurred in which parts of the ceiling and roof fell down resulting in injuries to a teacher and the students. The press reported these incidents. These have been reproduced in this document in Chapter 8. The only action that the authorities took was to declare the buildings ‘Dangerous’, but they failed to provide a safe class room instead. The situation is nothing short of criminal neglect. Parents are now very apprehensive regarding the safety of their children. As the government is incapable of maintaining and running these institutions, it should return these to their original owners without further delay - as per its own policy.

Pakistan aims to be a modern and progressive state in the global village. To this end, it has to cultivate a vibrant civil society that flourishes in environment of good governance and fair play among all. The authorities should not arbitrarily set Ahmadiyya institutions as ‘a case apart’.

Murder is occasionally the only argument that the mulla has against a reasoned objection to his irrationality. He has developed murder into a fine art in that very few assailants on Ahmadis could be subsequently tracked and apprehended. Since the promulgation of the Ordinance XX in 1984, eighty-six Ahmadis have been murdered for their faith. It is unbelievable that most ‘learned’ ulama not only acquiesce to these horrible acts, they openly declare these to be an obligation of their acolytes. Mullas are known to plan and supervise murders - and the state often decides to look the other way.

Convert to Ahmadiyyat murdered for his faith by a retired police officer

Seerah, District Mandi Bahauddin; March 1, 2007: Mr. Muhammad Ashraf, an Ahmadi was shot dead by an assailant, while having breakfast at about 08:00 at a restaurant. He died on the spot.

Later, the murderer ASI Riaz Gondal, surrendered before Qadirabad police. The Police Station House Officer Nazir Ahmad said that the ASI told the police that he killed Ashraf for changing his faith from a Sunni Muslim to an Ahmadi, according to the Daily Times of March 2. Later, Riaz told media men at the police station that he had done nothing wrong and applied Islamic law that prescribed death for apostasy (the daily Dawn, Lahore; March 2, 2007).

Mr. Ashraf joined the Ahmadiyya Community some years ago. He was a practicing Ahmadi. He had kept his conversion secret initially, but had disclosed it three or four years ago. Some villagers did not like his exercise of freedom of faith, and the local mullahs opposed him fiercely. They delivered hostile sermons against him and the authorities took no action against their sectarian ferocity. A week ago, at the occasion of the wedding of his niece, the opposition enforced his social boycott, and made it a hot issue. The ASI decided to summarily implement the mullah’s Shariah all by himself.

The victim was married, and is survived by his widow and three daughters. The family has lost its head and bread winner.

Fifteen months earlier, some assailants attacked an Ahmadiyya mosque in the same district, killing eight worshippers and injuring twenty more.

Another Ahmadi murdered

Adda Nur Pur Nehr, District Qasur: Chaudhry Habibullah Sial was found murdered at his home on the morning of April 8, 2007. He was 82.

Mr. Sial’s home was used as a prayers centre also by Ahmadis. He was a practicing Ahmadi. The locality is partly inhabited by activists of banned organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Dawat-o-Irshad. They occasionally agitated against Ahmadiyyat. On March 23, 2007 they set on fire the prayer mats of Ahmadis.

The dead body of Chaudhry Sial was found tied up with a string around his legs. His arms had also been tied up behind the back. Some blood had visibly oozed out of his nostrils and ears. The killers banded his face tightly with an apron. The post-mortem indicated that his death could have occurred through suffocation.

Mr. Sial was a respectable old man with very good reputation. He was pious, generous to the poor and helpful to the needy. He spent little on himself, but was free-handed to the under-privileged. May his soul rest in peace.

Two Ahmadi doctors murdered at Karachi for their faith

The daily Dawn, Jang and Express of Karachi reported on October 8, 2007 that the police arrested two men suspected to be involved in several cases of kidnapping and murder including that of a Protocol Officer (a Shia) to the Prime Minister and Dr Hameedullah, Ahmadi. The accused belong to Jaish Muhammad and Sipah Sahaba organizations that indulge in sectarian and terrorist activities. They received training in Wana, according to the police. The accused told the police that Ahmadis and Shias were on their hit list.

Yet another murder

Sheikhupura: December 7, 2007: Mr Humayan Waqar, an Ahmadi trader was shot dead by an unknown assassin at about 22:30 at his garments store in the Stadium.

It is learnt that Mr Waqar was in company of his two non-Ahmadi friends at his store at closing hours of the business when a Punjabi-looking youth came to his shop and showed interest in buying a pair of trousers. He went away, only to return a few minutes later. He entered the shop and fired two pistol shots at Waqar, and escaped. It is not known who and how many accompanied him and facilitated his escape. Soon afterwards, the owner of a nearby burger shop arranged his transfer to a hospital where Mr Waqar was declared dead after half an hour.

The deceased had no personal quarrel with any one. He had received threats to his life in the preceding weeks. It appears that religious bigots planned the murder.

His funeral was attended by a local MPA and a number of non-Ahmadis.

Mr. Waqar was an office-bearer of the local Ahmadiyya Youth. He enjoyed good reputation.

He is the 87th Ahmadi murdered for his faith since 1984. It is a common practice with mullas to openly declare Ahmadis Wajib ul Qatl (those who must be killed). The Urdu press gives publicity to such views. The government takes no action against the mulla and the press guilty of promoting criminal conduct; this results in such wanton murders.

Hundreds of law-abiding Ahmadi citizens, have suffered detention and incarceration in prison since the promulgation of Ahmadi-specific laws in 1984 by the dictator-president General Zia that made the profession and practice of their faith a criminal offence. Almost all of them never had a police record prior to their implication in religion-based accusations. Most of them were denied bails by lower courts. Some of them were refused bail by High Courts. Four Ahmadis of Mianwali suffered incarceration for four years while awaiting trial, as the Supreme Court did not spare time to hear their appeal for bail. Eventually, the trial judge heard the case and acquitted them of the fabricated charge. He reprimanded the complainant severely, and wrote: “This is case of no evidence…. The complainant party have made a tool for the worldly benefit and aim, and also used the name of Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him) for this purpose. The evidence of the prosecution is based on previous enmity, litigation, and interested and false witnesses are produced to prove this case of punishment of death…”. The protracted cruel fabrication cost the victims seven precious and prime years of their lives, four of these in prison. The stress took its toll, Mr. Riaz Ahmad, one of the accused died soon after the verdict of acquittal.

Two Ahmadis arrested under Ahmadi-specific law

Karachi, June 2, 2007: The police booked two Ahmadis, Messrs Shahid Mahmud Ansari and Amir Ahmad Ansari of Gulshan Sir Syed under PPC 298-C and 506-B, and arrested them. They were lodged in Landhi Jail.

The case was registered at Police Station Sarjani Town. Addition of PPC 506-B (threat to cause death or grievous hurt) to the Ahmadi-specific clause PPC 298-C is obviously a fabrication and malafide. If declared guilty, the two accused could be imprisoned for seven years.

They applied for bail, but the Judicial Magistrate rejected their plea. The plea was then made before the District and Session Judge at Karachi who granted their release on bail on July 23. However, the bail was approved over a sum of Rs. 100,000 each which was rather large for their means. The community then arranged the bonds for the bails, and the victims came out of the prison.

Ahmadi arrested under Ahmadi-specific law, and maliciously subjected to the anti-terrorism law

Nakdar, District Sargodha; June 8, 2007: Mr. Saeed Ahmad, Ahmadi was booked under PPC 298-C at Police Station Nakdar, District Sargodha on June 8, 2007 in FIR No 73/2007. He was arrested subsequently.

The accuser, mulla Mushtaq Ahmad is an Ushar collector. He accused Saeed Ahmad spuriously of preaching. In the written complaint for FIR, he urged the police to register the case against the Ahmadi under the Blasphemy law, PPC 295-C. Knowing that the mulla was not reliable, they down-graded the charge to PPC 298-C. Even then, the victim is exposed to three years in prison.

Later, when a plea for release on bail was moved with the magistrate, it was learnt that they had added the Blasphemy clause PPC 295-C and Clause 9 of the Anti-terrorism Act to the charge sheet. This is tyranny — pure and simple. The accused remained in prison for a while before a higher court accepted his plea for bail.

Violence precipitated by opponents at Ahmadiyya place of worship

Qambar Ali Khan, District Larkana; October 5, 2007: Interference and intervention by the opponents against Ahmadis at their prayer centre led to a quarrel that resulted in injuries, and invited police action.

Ahmadi women had come to the prayer centre for the Friday prayers that day, and an Ahmadi was posted at their gate to ensure security. A non-Ahmadi youth came there on a motor cycle stopped and stayed at the gate. He was told by the guard to leave, but he resisted that led to a quarrel. The unwelcome visitor departed in anger shouting insults and threats. His home was nearby; there, he collected a few friends and returned. In the meantime, the worshippers were coming out of the centre. The incident led to physical altercation, resulting in injuries to some individuals from both sides. The president of the local Ahmadi community, who was accompanied by his family women was attacked with heavy sticks that injured his left arm and right hand. He contacted the local administration and requested help. The police arrived at the scene and restored calm. The president was taken to the hospital where the surgeon took X-rays of his injuries, and provided first aid.

After the incident, opponents locked up the Ahmadiyya prayer centre, however the police helped in breaking open the offending locks.

The opposition tried hard to build their case as a religious cause to avail of the provisions of the anti-Ahmadiyya laws. Mullas subsequently took great interest in the incident, so as to build up on its mischief. The police took away all the licensed arms from the local Ahmadis, but returned them subsequently. The president of the district Ahmadiyya Community was threatened with harm, on telephone.

The police resisted the mulla initially; however a few weeks later Ahmadis came to know of a serious turn against them.

It is learnt that based on the complaint of Ahmadis’ opponents, the police registered a criminal case against 21 Ahmadis on December 6, 2007 under the Ahmadi-specific law PPC 298 and PPC 506, in FIR 285/2007 at Police Station Qambar. Eleven of the accused are named, while 10 others are unnamed. Out of the named Ahmadis following five were arrested by the police: Mr. Mukhtar Ahmad Chandio, Mr. Aquil Ahmad, Mr. Javed Ahmad, Mr. Nadir Hussain and Mr. Maqsood Ahmad Chandio. Mr. Maqsud Chandio was later released from the police custody.

The complainants blamed Ahmadis of blasphemy (of course, falsely) against the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and defiling Islam etc. “…In a speech blasphemy words against the Holy Prophet were being used,” wrote the complainant for the FIR. The complaint has been cooked by malicious mullas. Because of the forthcoming elections, the mullas have perhaps succeeded in commandeering support from political heavy-weights, local government officials and the administration. It is a fabricated complaint. It makes no mention of the physical altercation: it only accuses Ahmadis of blasphemy and hurting their religious feelings etc. This is how these elements shamelessly use religious laws to support their personal vendettas. And the state volunteers to co-operate, regardless of its own suffering at their hands in FATA, Swat, Islamabad, etc.

Stop Press. It is now learnt that the magistrate has upgraded the applied PPC clauses and added PPC 298-C and 295-C to the charge sheet. The poor Ahmadis are now exposed to a death sentence.

How the Judiciary functions!

Faisalabad: The village Mangat Unche in District Hafizabad has a sizable Ahmadiyya community and is thus targeted by the mullas of Majlis Tahaffuz Khatme Nabuwwat. In the year 2004 the clerics inflicted three of the local Ahmadis with an accusation of defiling the Holy Quran, under PPC 295-B. The Additional Session Judge (ASJ) found the prosecution witnesses unreliable, even liars, so he acquitted two of the accused. However, based on the testimony of those very liars, he convicted the third accused and awarded him imprisonment for life for burning pages of the holy book. He also wrote, rather unjustifiably, “It is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the accused acted in ill will manner and willfully through separate evidence if injurious act was voluntarily done without a lawful excuse, the defile is presumed and proved”. (Para 33). The ASJ thus violated a fundamental Islamic principle that ‘intentions’ are basic and crucial to acts. Also a number of Islamic scholars are of the view that the burning of old or torn pages of the Quran is permissible for their disposal.

Anyhow, this third accused, Mr. Mansur Ahmad, was imprisoned in the Central Jail of Faisalabad. He appealed against the sentence in 2005, and also applied for release on bail. There is a long waiting line of appeals at the High Court. He had to wait not for months, but years. Now he was in the third year of incarceration. At the end of May, 2007 a good judge at the Lahore High Court accepted his plea for bail.

The judge proceeded on short leave after the announcement of his decision, so it took some days’ delay before the bail orders reached the Sessions Court at Hafizabad. There, it was noticed that the name of the prisoner had been misspelt, ‘Manzur Ahmad’ instead of Mansur Ahmad. So the High Court had to be approached again for correction of the name. This was done on June 11, 2007, and the decision was conveyed again to the Sessions at Hafizabad. Surety bond was accordingly submitted. However, when the release orders were delivered to the prison authorities at Faisalabad, they raised three objections: 1) A copy of the Decision should be attached, 2) The release is indicated as that of a ‘detainee’, while the individual is a ‘prisoner’, and 3) The warrant should have at the head the name of the Court that orders release.

Accordingly, Mr. Mansur’s attorneys approached a third time the Sessions Court on June 15, 2007. The clerk pointed out that the letter of objections should be delivered by an official of the prison. So, a transport was dispatched to proceed all the way to Faisalabad to fetch the official from there. However, by the time he arrived, the session judge had departed from the court. Thus the paper work was completed the next day at Hafizabad from where the orders were taken again to the Central Jail at Faisalabad, and the prisoner was released by noon on June 16, 2007 — 16 days after the initial orders of the Lahore High Court.

It is just as well that community volunteers were doing the running around for the poor prisoner, otherwise Mansur would have stayed bogged down in the bureaucratic swamp for months before breathing the fresh air of freedom.

Follow-up of a spurious criminal accusation

District Sargodha: A septuagenarian Ahmadi was booked in June 2007 at Police Station Nakdar for preaching. The case was registered not only under PPC 298-C, an Ahmadi-specific law, but also they viciously added Clause 9 of the Anti-terrorism Act to the charges. This certainly terrorized the old man. But there was more to come.

The authorities later added the Blasphemy clause PPC 295-C to the charge sheet. The elderly gentleman had already been arrested and was denied release on bail. The new development got all concerned very worried. In a somewhat identical case at Faisalabad, Mr. Iqbal was booked, tried and awarded life imprisonment which he is now serving in the Central Prison in that city. So, Mr. Salim-ud-Din, Nazir Umoor-e-`Aama (the director of public affairs) at the Ahmadiyya headquarters wrote a letter of concern to the federal Secretary Interior at Islamabad and other authorities and requested intervention.

The Ministry of Interior responded positively, and they wrote an Immediate letter on June 30, 2007 from rather a low level (Section Officer) to the Home Secretary, Punjab in which the addressee was asked to look into the matter and to ensure visible justice “so that our national image of a tolerant and enlightened country could prevail at home and abroad”. The letter asked that “a detailed report may also be furnished to this Ministry for the perusal of higher authorities at the earliest”. This greatly improved the prospects of justice for the accused, and he was acquitted in the fabricated case on July 19, 2007.

The incident sheds ample light on the following ground realities:

	Ahmadis remain very vulnerable to the mischief of the Blasphemy law and the Anti-terrorism Act.
	The religious activists wield undeserved influence at police stations.
	The police are not careful and mindful in implementation of the controversial laws. They apply the Blasphemy clause without due and in-depth inquiry by a senior official as required by law.
	All those, regardless of creed, who are not in a position to move the Ministry of Interior are at great risk from the gross mischief of the law. It is reasonable to assume that the Ministry is not going to issue an effective letter every time an accused is detained for Blasphemy, nor are the lower echelons going to respond promptly, if the practice becomes routine.
	The international drive to urge the government of Pakistan to dampen the impact of questionable religious laws has had some effect on the authorities. However, the relief provided as a consequence is only a fraction of the required amount. The only remedy is the abrogation of the harmful and questionable clauses from the statute book. Only then “our national image of a tolerant and enlightened country would prevail at home and abroad”.

Ahmadis behind bars

The following is attributed to Martin Niemoller (1892-1984): “In Germany, the Nazis came for the Communists and I did not speak up because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak up because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I was a Protestant so I did not speak up. Then they came for me….by that time there was no one to speak up for anyone.” Something like that is happening in Pakistan. Almost nobody speaks up for Ahmadis. The noose is now getting tighter, and most are feeling the hurt. They should have spoken up in 1984 when General Zia promulgated the notorious Ahmadi-specific Ordinance XX in violation of the religious freedom granted in Article 20 of the Constitution. It is surprising and distressing that the Ordinance XX continues to be applied, and the tyranny unleashed by this ignoble law continues to afflict Ahmadis in many ways. An updated summary of criminal cases and outrages against Ahmadis since 1984 is placed at Annex II.

An attack on Ahmadiyya press — children booked

Jaura Kalan, District Khushab; January 26, 2007: At the instructions of the District Officer Intelligence Bureau Khushab, the police booked five Ahmadis, including two children aged 8 and 11 for receiving by post the Ahmadiyya monthly for children Tashhizul Azhan, in FIR No. 9/2007 dated January 27, 2007 at Police Station Jaura Kalan, under clause 17 MPO. Under this clause the accused could be imprisoned for one year.

The FIR quotes the Bureau letter No. 55-IKB dated 11 Jan 07 for alleging that this magazine is banned and it has been sent by post to 1) Mr. Abdus Sattar 2) Miss Nusrat Jehan 3) Mr. Umair Ahmad 4) Mr. Ashfaq Ahmad and 5) Mr Rafi Ahmad. The Bureau letter directs the police to ‘take necessary action and report within week without fail’.

In fact neither this magazine nor this issue has been banned. At least, the publisher has no information of this. The monthly is being issued under law, and sent regularly to its subscribers. It contains nothing objectionable. It is a periodical meant for children; its object is their moral and spiritual upbringing.

Under the circumstances, the Intelligence Bureau’s and police action was highly improper and was a confirmation of mindless harassment of the peaceful Ahmadi community. The unabashed booking of a boy and a girl, who are not even teen-agers, speaks volumes on the vicious violation of Ahmadis’ human rights. If the management of the periodical has not been told of any objection to its contents, how can the subscribing children at the receiving end be held responsible for accepting from the postman their mail? The fact that the action was initiated by an official security agency makes this incident even more regrettable and grave. Authorities of these departments should know better that Ahmadis do not indulge in offensive and hate-promoting journalism.

The prestigious Daily Times of Lahore reported the incident in its issue of February 2, 2007. It confirmed that there was no hate material in the magazine as alleged. Moreover, the accused had not yet received the magazine. The report is reproduced below:

Friday, February 02, 2007

Hate material in children’s magazine?: Cases registered against Ahmadi kids over magazine subscription By Ali Waqar LAHORE: Police in Khushab district have registered a case against five Ahmadis, including two pre-teens, for subscribing to the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya’s monthly children’s magazine Tasheezul Azhan, Daily Times has learnt. According to the first information report, the complainant, an officer of the Intelligence Bureau, submitted to the Khushab district police officer (DPO) that the magazine is “banned literature” and contains “hate material”. A brief study of the 50-page magazine showed no obvious “hate material” against any group, and the articles were restricted to discussions about Ahmadi beliefs. The IB officer reportedly learnt from the post office that the magazine was being mailed to the five Ahmadis, and named them in the FIR based on their names on the envelopes the magazines were to be posted in. They had not received the magazines yet. A case was registered under Section 17 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance in Chora Kalan police station on January 26 against 11-year-old Nusrat Jahan, daughter of Hakim Muhammad Sadiq of Ahmadabad Janoobi; 8-year-old Umair Ahmad, son of Ghulam Ahmad of Ahmadabad Janoobi; Ashfaq Ahmad, son of Muhammad Mumtaz of Khai Kalan; Rafi Ahmad, son of Muhammad Yousaf of Omerabad Majoka; and Abdul Sattar, son of Ahmad Hasan of Thathi Omerabad. The accused have not been arrested yet, and the Jamaat is trying to arrange pre-arrest bail for them, sources in the Ahmadiya community told Daily Times. Punjab Home Department officials said they did not know if the magazine was banned or not. Representatives of the Ahmadiya community said they did not believe the magazine was banned, and they always sent a copy of each issue to the government department concerned. They asked why, if the magazine was banned, no cases had been lodged in other districts. They said the Ahmadis were being unfairly victimised in this case and appealed to the government and civil society organizations to look into the matter fairly. Tasheezul Azhan, which is edited by Sajjad Mahmood Buttar from Chinab Nagar (Rabwah), is one of the oldest publications of the subcontinent. Started in 1906, the magazine has a circulation of about 10,000 across Pakistan, an official of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya told Daily Times. In September last year, police raided an Ahmadi newspaper office and arrested a printer and a journalist, charging them with offences under the Anti Terrorism Act. Ahmadi representatives condemned the raid as harassment and an attack on press freedom. Daily Alfazal opened in 1911 and is one of the oldest newspapers in Pakistan.

The news received fair coverage in the press, especially English. The monthly Herald of Karachi examined the case in depth and reported: “The 50-page January edition (of the magazine) contains articles on religion, moral issues, qualities of the Prophet (Pbuh), quotations and jokes for children, and informative features on scientists and the Great Wall of China whose picture is printed on the cover.” The Herald also mentioned Mehboob Ahmad Khan, an advocate and legal officer at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan who ‘describes the case as an act of either ignorance or prejudice’ (The Herald, March 2007). The authorities relented. They withdrew the case FIR 9/2007. However, their arrogance and sense of false pride urged them to register the same case afresh under FIR 10/07 on February 3, 2007 against two adults namely Ashfaq Ahmad and Rafi Ahmad. This time they decided to drop the names of children; however they booked two adults in the case that pertains to children’s magazine. They failed to mention the text that they consider objectionable — there is none. Hannah Arendt (1906-75) was right in saying: “Under conditions of tyranny, it is far easier to act than to think”.

Case registered against Ahmadis on community watch

Rabwah: In order to compensate, even if partially, for the inability of the state to provide security to the citizens of Rabwah, the community has established a system of neighborhood watch by the citizens on self-help basis. However, the system has its own problems and difficulties. One Khalid Mahmud of Khichiyan was accused of stealing a mobile phone. The guards delivered him to the police. At his complaint, a case was registered at Police Station Chenab Nagar against three Ahmadi watchmen and a police constable on February 08, 2007 under clauses 337 F/342, 337 L 11/34 and 155 H. The volunteer workers now face a difficult situation.

Ahmadi booked for subscribing to the community newspaper

Jampur, district Rajanpur: The police booked numerous individuals belonging to different religious denominations under religious laws. The case was registered as No. 492 dated 29 September 2007 under PPC 298, 295-A and 16MPO. Perhaps to appear even, an Ahmadi was also booked for essentially no reason.

The accused Ahmadi is Dr Mumtaz Ali of Allah Abad. He was accused of subscribing to the daily Alfazal, the community newspaper. The daily Alfazal is properly authorized by the government. It is registered by the government under Regn. No.29-FD/CPL. Thousands of Ahmadis are on its subscription list. Its copies are sent regularly to the government as well.

It is interesting to mention that Dr Ali died approximately three months ago. The criminal case was registered by the police despite their knowledge of his death; they complied with the “Agencies’ directions”, nevertheless. It would be ridiculous if the dead man is awarded 10 years’ imprisonment under PPC 295-A.

Someone could assess the police and the secret service as ‘simply crazy’, whose professional conduct calls for an intensive scrub.

Other cases and arrests

Faith related police cases were registered against Ahmadis and the accused were arrested in the following instances:

Essential details of these cases are given in the preceding chapter - ‘Prisoners of conscience’.

Particulars of all cases registered on religious grounds are tabulated at Annex I.

An exhumation

Khuda Abad, District Badin, Sindh: June 8, 2007: The mulla agitated and the administration cooperated with him to force Ahmadis disinter the dead body of an Ahmadi woman from the common graveyard and bury her elsewhere.

Ms Bambi Bibi, wife of Mr. Ilyas Ahmad died on June 5, 2007. She was buried at the local common graveyard where her husband was buried eight years ago. Other Ahmadis are also buried there for decades past.

Subsequent to the burial a few mullas started agitating. In the lead was a cleric Mulla Abdus Sattar Chawara who is a sworn enemy of the Ahmadiyya community. He mustered approximately 200 men and posed a law and order problem.

The administration formed a committee to propose a solution. The committee decided that Bambi Bibi’s remains should stay there, but in future no Ahmadi should be buried there. A few miscreants, however, refused to accept this verdict and persisted in their agitation. The administration, therefore, decided in favour of exhumation, and the police supervised the implementation of the ugly decision.

The Daily Times reported the incident on June 14, 2007, and wrote:

Since 1984, this is the 27th recorded incident of disinterment of Ahmadi dead. Such exhumations are a blot on the face of society in Pakistan.

Freedom of Religion and Assembly denied to Ahmadis

Rabwah: Ahmadis of Pakistan were denied permission, again this year, to hold their traditional annual conference at Rabwah, by the government whose declared policy is that of ‘enlightened moderation’. We present a brief on this important issue.

Ahmadiyya annual conference was instituted more than a century ago by the holy founder of the community. Its main objective was stated as: “for all friends to assemble here on this date to listen to divine words, and join in prayers.” The first such conference was held at Qadian in the province of the Punjab, British India in 1891. Since then this conference had been held regularly every year, except for one or two years when an account of force majeure it was postponed from its traditional dates in December to another month (for example due to extensive riots and the resulting exodus in the year of the Partition of the Sub-continent). However, the conference was held, nevertheless. After the Partition, the conference at Rabwah was international in character, as the Khalifatul Masih (the Caliph) resided here. This practice continued till 1984, when General Zia, who used Islam to perpetuate himself as President, struck hard to harm the Ahmadiyya community, not only in Pakistan but all over the world. His vicious plan was all-encompassing and worldwide. In his message to a Khatme Nabuwwat Conference at London in 1985, he disclosed his design as: “We will Insha Allah, persevere in our effort to ensure that the cancer of Qadianism is exterminated”. (See Annex VII). In addition to various other steps that he took to exterminate this ‘cancer’, one was to disallow holding of this annual conference at Rabwah.

Zia took a number of steps against Ahmadis in gross violation of fundamental rights and international norms enshrined in Universal Declaration of Human Rights. His evil legacy did not come to end with his death in a plane crash. Subsequent regimes found it politically convenient to maintain the obscurantist policy. Ahmadiyya community requested permission every year to hold the Conference but it was never granted. Initially, for some years, authorities would send a refusal letter, now they do not bother even to reply. However, it seems that the administration does indulge in some paper work to justify their refusal. This year when the Ahmadiyya headquarters requested permission to hold this conference, the District authorities asked the local police to give their opinion. The local Sub Inspector, incharge of the Police Post at Rabwah sent in the following rather pretentious and presumptuous report:

The above letter is typical and exposes the attitude of the administration to the Ahmadiyya community. The writer sub-inspector is a petty official of the police department. If not much else, these officials are expert in assessing the wishes of their superiors. He is firmly of the opinion that the administration’s policy is to provide no relief to Ahmadis, so he chose to write his opinion and recommendation accordingly and firmly — even beyond the call of duty. Following is also noteworthy:

However, in all fairness to the sub-inspector, he should not be blamed for his unbecoming official conduct; he is the routine product of the system of governance developed by the Pakistani establishment.

Loss of job for being an Ahmadi

Jauharabad; May 15, 2 007: Mr. Amjad Mahmud, Ahmadi was fired from service in the Atomic Energy Commission. The real and only reason for this was his faith.

Mr. Mahmud was selected as Technician, initially as temporary, among 40 others by the AEC on the basis of merit. At the time of joining, he had declared his religious denomination. Subsequent to security clearance he received the ‘joining letter’ in December 2005. While in service, he developed good reputation as a hard working dutiful technician. However, later on, his Head of the Department who belonged to a religious party came to know of his Ahmadiyyat, and reacted like a cleric. The boss used direct and indirect methods to force Mahmud to quit the service. He fabricated false accusations and issued warning letters to the Ahmadi. Mr. Mahmud was pushed in a corner, and had to apply to the chairman PAEC and Director General SPD for redress. His colleagues were given the status of permanent employees in August 2006, but Mr. Mahmud’s service was terminated on May 15, 2007.

Our records show that some years ago when students of a university were taken on a tour of the atomic plant in Rawalpindi area, a girl student was off-loaded as she was Ahmadi. Dr A Qadeer Khan was outspokenly anti-Ahmadi; he restricted Ahmadis’ induction in the service of AEC and other related facilities. That prejudice persists and the religious establishment continues to exploit the unsupportable practices to its own purposes.

Attack on Ahmadiyya Freedom of expression, belief and press

Lahore: The police raided the printing press of an Ahmadi proprietor Mr. Tariq Mahmud Panipati at Lower Mall on January 22, 2007 at about 7:00 p.m. They interrogated him, and took away some Ahmadiyya publications, pamphlets and other material in the process of printing. Moreover they sealed the press by closing the location with their own locks. They told Mr. Panipati to report to the DSP Office at Islampura the next day at 10:00 a.m. where a decision was to be taken about further proceedings.

The press is engaged in routine activity of printing. It occasionally does undertake printing of material sent in by Ahmadiyya sources as well, however the community takes care to ensure that the material is not objectionable. Even prior to this incident, security personnel had visited and were provided with samples of books and periodicals under print. Even this time they found nothing apparently objectionable, hence they did not arrest Mr Panipati. However, the mere fact that they raided the press during Muharram and sealed it exposed the proprietor to great harm. The police in Pakistan are notorious for going for easy targets and then fabricating stories to prove that they have done a great job.

Mr. Panipati was at risk. The authorities acted against whatever little space was available to Ahmadis in their freedom of expression. The press was sealed and workers had no work. The evil of anti-Ahmadi policy of the state made still another visit to the marginalized community.

Story of just one of the many Ahmadiyya places of worship transgressed by the mulla and the state

Sahiwal: The daily ‘Waqt’ Lahore splashed the following headline in its issue of October 13, 2007:

This place of worship at Sahiwal was sealed by the authorities 23 years ago after an incident in the hurtful days of Zia’s rule. Later the mullah went to the court to have it sealed by judicial order, however the court dismissed their petition. The authorities did not hand over the mosque back to Ahmadis, as they should have. Having waited for almost a quarter century, Ahmadis decided to use the residential quarters of the mosque and started offering their prayers in one of the rooms and the courtyard. The mullah who is ever on the lookout for mischief, reacted and commandeered the police. The SHO detained all the men present at the site who were busy cleaning up the place. Later, at the DPO’s orders, the detainees were released.

The question remains: when is the state going to unseal the Ahmadiyya place of worship and return it to Ahmadis? According to Art. 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan, …“(b) every religious denomination and every sect thereof shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions”.

A court verdict that raises important questions

Bahawalpur: Two years ago 15 Ahmadis were nominated by a mulla in Hasilpur, District Bahawalpur on June 17, 2005 under the blasphemy law PPC 295C and some other clauses. Essential details of this case are available in Chapter 7 of the annual report for the Year 2005. However, briefly, the mullah had come all the way from Bahawalpur on his mission of mischief to the village Chak 192 where Ahmadis were constructing their mosque. He aggressively demanded a visit to the interior of the mosque, which led to a scuffle with some youth who retained him and asked the police to collect him. The police did not, so they handed him over to the Patwari, the local revenue clerk, a government official. The mullah thereafter reported