Persecution of Ahmadi Muslims from the Cradle to the Grave

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The Issue

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan is the only religious community to be explicitly targeted by Pakistan’s laws on grounds of faith. Perpetrators are given free rein to attack innocent Ahmadis in the knowledge that they will never face prosecution for their actions. Hundreds of Ahmadis have been murdered and the targeted killing of Ahmadis continues with impunity.

Ahmadis cannot call themselves Muslims and denied the right to vote as Muslims. Ahmadis are openly declared ‘wajibul qatl’ (deserving to be killed) in the Pakistani media and by religious clerics with the state unwilling to stand up for Ahmadis and against the extremists.

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Pakistan’s Anti-Ahmadi Laws

1974: Prime Minister Bhutto amends the Pakistan Constitution to declare Ahmadis as non-Muslim for the purposes of law.

1984: Under General Zia, the Government of Pakistan enacts Ordinance XX , making it a criminal offence, punishable by 3 years imprisonment and a fine or death, for Ahmadis to:

  • Call themselves Muslims
  • Refer to their faith as Islam
  • Call their place of worship a ‘Mosque’
  • Make the call for prayers (Adhan)
  • Say the Islamic greeting ‘Assalamo alaikum’ (Peace be on you)
  • Preach or propagate their faith
  • “Pose” as Muslims

These laws and their application constitute a denial of the rights of Ahmadi Muslims to freely profess and practise their faith without interference from the state. The laws conflict with the constitutional right to freedom of religion enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution and represents a violation of international human rights treaties to which Pakistan is signatory.

The laws are also contrary to the vision of the founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, that the state has no right to interfere in the religious belief of its citizens.

The Impact

These laws have emboldened other state actors and extremists to harass, attack and kill Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.

Denied the right to life

Since 1984, hundreds of Ahmadi Muslims have been murdered on grounds of faith. The deadliest attack on the community occurred in May 2010, when the Pakistani Taliban attacked worshippers during Friday prayers at two Ahmadi mosques in Lahore, killing 86 people.

Denied the right to vote

As acknowledged by two EU Electoral Observer Missions, Ahmadis are denied the right to vote in local, provincial and national elections. The decisions of the Electoral Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in respect of Pakistan’s local body elections have further institutionalised Pakistan’s disenfranchisement of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with Ahmadi Muslims only permitted to vote under a separate register thereby having to deny their faith by the requirement to self-identify as a non-Muslims. Ahmadis are therefore the only section of the populace that are effectively deprived of the right to vote, in clear violation of Article 25 of the ICCPR.

Denied the right to worship

Ahmadi Muslim mosques across the country have been sealed and minarets have been demolished by police under pressure from extremists.

Denied the right to dignity after death

Mobs and police have destroyed and defaced graves bearing Quranic inscriptions. Even the grave of Pakistan’s only Nobel Laureate Prof Abdus Salam has been desecrated to remove the word ‘Muslim’. Perpetrators attack with impunity; as action is seldom taken to bring them to justice.

Denied the right to practise their faith

Ahmadi Muslims are restricted in building new houses of worship, holding public conferences or other gatherings, and travelling to Saudi Arabia for religious purposes, including the Hajj – one of five sacred pillars of Islam.

Summary of Attacks on Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan
(1984- November 2020)

Ahmadi Muslims, on a routine basis, are arbitrarily arrested on false charges of blasphemy, tortured in detention and subjected to vicious attacks in public.

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Ahmadi Muslims killed

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Ahmadi Muslims assaulted for their faith

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Ahmadiyya mosques demolished, sealed, burnt or forcibly occupied

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Ahmadiyya mosques banned from construction

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Ahmadi Muslim bodies exhumed after burial

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Burial of Ahmadi Muslims denied in a common cemetery