Latest news with #Ahmadiyya
Hans India
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Pakistan: Radical Islamists set ablaze two Ahmadiyya places of worship
A leading minority group on Monday condemned the violence against religious minorities in Pakistan, highlighting the recent torching of two Ahmadiyya places of worship by a mob led by leaders of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). The Voice of Pakistan Minority (VOPM) mentioned that on the occasion of Pakistan's 78th Independence Day, extremists turned the country's streets into battlegrounds of hate. In Faisalabad district of Punjab province, two Ahmadiyya places of worship were set ablaze by the mob serving as an ugly reminder that in Pakistan, religious freedom remains an illusion. Citing police reports, the rights body revealed that more than 300 attackers, armed with rods and bricks, descended on Ahmadiyya worshippers under the cover of Independence Day processions in the Dijkot area. The VOPM highlighted that their main target was the two mosques built decades before Pakistan criminalized Ahmadiyya worship in 1984. They tore down minarets, delivered fiery hate speeches, and torched the buildings while hurling stones at nearby Ahmadiyya homes. The rights body stressed that the violent incident left families, including women and children terrorised, while several sustained injuries. According to the VOPM, the mob was reportedly led by TLP ticket-holder Hafiz Rafaqat, exposing once again how mainstream extremist groups openly incite violence under political and religious banners. It stated that TLP, notorious for its violent street power, enjoys immunity in Pakistan's political and judicial system while minorities pay the price. 'This was no spontaneous riot — it was organised terrorism, with cases now registered under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. Yet, history shows such cases rarely lead to real accountability. Arrests are made, but justice seldom follows, as extremist groups continue to act as untouchable power brokers,' read a statement issued by VOPM. The rights body emphasised that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had, a day before the violent incident, warned about rising hate speech from clerics against non-Muslims. However, it said the warning was ignored and the Pakistani police response was reactionary, not preventive. Although 25 arrests were made, the VOPM noted that the police officials refused to confirm whether those detained included the nominated suspects. 'The silence of Faisalabad's police chief further reflects the institutional reluctance to confront extremism head-on,' said the rights body. Raising concern, the VOPM stressed that this is not an isolated incident but is part of a systemic, decades-long campaign against Ahmadiyyas and other minorities in Pakistan. 'From discriminatory laws to mob violence, the Pakistani state has allowed extremist ideologies to flourish unchecked. Every time the state bends to clerical power, it emboldens groups like TLP to dictate who belongs in the 'Islamic Republic' and who does not,' the VOPM stated. If Pakistan wants to have any credibility as a modern nation, the rights body demanded, then the authorities must crush extremist groups like TLP rather than appeasing them. Additionally, the VOPM called on to enforce Supreme Court rulings against hate speech and mob violence and also protect minorities as equal citizens, not "sacrificial pawns in a theocratic power game".
India.com
29-07-2025
- Politics
- India.com
UN, Rights Group Slam Pakistan For Ongoing Persecution Of Religious Minorities
Shocked at reports of increasing violence against vulnerable communities on grounds of their religion or belief in Pakistan, a panel of United Nations (UN) human rights experts has called for immediate investigations, prosecutions, and reforms to protect the country's religious minorities. Only last week, the UN human rights experts issued an unusually sharp rebuke to Pakistan, expressing that they were "shocked at reports of increasing violence against vulnerable communities on grounds of their religion or belief". Their statement, published on July 24, carried the weight of decades of frustration, a 'One World Outlook' report cited. "Pakistan must break the pattern of impunity that has allowed perpetrators to act without restraint," the UN panel urged, calling for immediate investigations, prosecutions, and reforms to protect the country's religious minorities. The minorities in Pakistan - including Ahmadiyya Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Shia Muslims - continue to be neglected and increasingly subjected to targetted state-backed persecution. The latest reports from Amnesty International and New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch have also highlighted the "systemic repression" and called the violence stemming from blasphemy allegations in 2025 "intensified terror against communities who have nowhere to turn". According to the report, the ongoing violence against minorities is deliberate rather than "sporadic or random". The recent UN report held Pakistan responsible for "tacit official complicity", arguing that law enforcement's failure to act has emboldened extremists. Raising concern, the UN experts stated, "The cycle of fear prevents both people and institutions from upholding the rights and dignity of these minorities". Pakistan's Ahmadiyya community, the report highlighted, continues to face severe persecution, having been constitutionally declared non-Muslim in 1974. They are prohibited by law from identifying themselves as Muslims, practicing their faith publicly, or referring to their places of worship as mosques. Human Rights Watch documented multiple incidents of violence against Ahmadiyya in 2024, involving desecration of their mosques, vandalism of their cemeteries, and burning of their religious texts. "Even in death, they are denied dignity as graveyards are routinely vandalised," the report stated. Pakistani authorities place Ahmadiyya voters on separate electoral rolls, their religious sites are frequently sealed by police, and they are often charged with "fabricated" blasphemy cases leading to detentions, disappearances, and escalating extrajudicial killings. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also described the blasphemy laws as "a mechanism of ethnic cleansing", and has repeatedly suggested designating Pakistan a "country of particular concern". According to the 2025 report of the Commission, "religious minority communities — particularly Christians, Hindus, and Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims — continued to bear the brunt of prosecutions under Pakistan's strict blasphemy law". Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have recorded several cases of sexual violence against women who were detained under fabricated blasphemy charges by Pakistani authorities. On the other hand, forced conversions and marriages remain a persistent crisis with Hindu, Christian, and Sikh girls — some as young as 12 — being abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and married off to their abductors. Earlier this year, during a UK Parliamentary debate, lawmakers criticised these practices as a "serious abuse of human rights that robs women and girls of the right to choose their own future". The UN, in its July 2025 statement, also called on Pakistan to abolish blasphemy laws, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure the protection of religious sites.
Scotsman
15-07-2025
- General
- Scotsman
Scottish Ahmadi Muslims Inspire National Unity at UK's Largest Islamic Convention
Volunteers from Scotland young and old, have stepped up to lead key operations across the three-day event, symbolising service, discipline, and harmony. A few of the duties to highlight span across: · Flag Hosting Ceremony: A moment of pride as Scottish youths help coordinate the Flag Raising Ceremony alongside the worldwide Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. · Muslim Television Ahmadiyya (MTA): Supporting international broadcasting efforts with behind-the-scenes coordination, technical setup, and multilingual assistance. · Food Marquee Security: Playing a vital role in meal logistics, helping serve over 300,000 meals with efficiency and grace. · Water service: Young children from Scotland help serve water with love at Jalsa Salana, it's the quiet gestures of service that leave the deepest impact, none more so than the sight of young children tenderly offering glasses of water to thousands of guests at Jalsa Salana UK 2025. These contributions not only empower the youth through leadership and collaboration but also build bridges between Scotland's diverse communities. Members from Aberdeen to Glasgow have reported feeling a deeper sense of unity and purpose, an opportunity to reconnect spiritually while being part of something truly global. 'This isn't just about logistics, it's about legacy,' shared one senior youth organiser from Scotland. 'To serve in the presence of His Holiness the Global Head of the Worldwide Leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and be part of a movement that champions peace in a troubled world is something that stays with you forever.' The Jalsa Salana offers Scottish attendees a unique platform to engage with faith leaders, parliamentarians, and social activists many of whom voice continued admiration for the unity and volunteerism displayed by young Scottish Muslims. Follow the event live on Sky 731 MTA International and Voice of Islam Radio, with updates via @AhmadiyyaUK and #JalsaUK. 1 . Contributed Scottish members at Jalsa Salana UK Food Serving Marquee Photo: Submitted Photo Sales 2 . Contributed Scottish Youths Giving Duty at Jalsa Salana UK Photo: Submitted Photo Sales 4 . Contributed Scottish Members of the Community at Jalsa Salana UK Photo: Submitted Photo Sales Related topics: HampshireVolunteers
News18
11-07-2025
- Politics
- News18
UK MP Flags Threats To Hindus, Other Minorities In Bangladesh, Urges PM Starmer To Act
Last Updated: UK MP also criticised Bangladesh's interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, for failing to announce the dates of its general election British Conservative Party MP Bob Blackman on Friday raised concern in the UK Parliament over rising threats to religious minorities in Bangladesh, including Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and members of the Ahmadiyya community. In his speech, he urged the Keir Starmer-led government to act and press Bangladesh to uphold democratic values and protect minority communities. Sharing a video of his remarks on social media platform X, Blackman said he had again brought the issue of minority rights in Bangladesh to Parliament's attention. I raised my concerns in about the rising threats on Hindu, Christian, Buddhist & Ahmadiyya minorities in Rath Yatra celebrations were recently attacked. The Govt must press Bangladesh to protect minorities and uphold democracy. — Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) July 11, 2025 He recalled hosting a recent seminar where representatives from the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and Ahmadi communities spoke about the growing attacks and hostility they face in Bangladesh. Blackman said these groups are 'under direct attack" and called for stronger international pressure to ensure their safety. Referring to recent incidents, Blackman highlighted how the peaceful celebration of rath yatra in Bangladesh was targeted by Islamist groups. 'The were attacked by Islamist thugs, and I absolutely disgracefully destroyed that wonderful, peaceful procession." Raising a formal request, the MP urged the Leader of the House to arrange for a statement from UK Foreign Office Ministers next week. 'Could the Leader arrange for a statement from Foreign Office Ministers next week on what action the UK will take to press Bangladesh to safeguard its minority communities?," he asked. Blackman's comments came just a day after a prominent Bangladeshi rights group accused Dhaka's government of ignoring more than 2,000 crimes against religious minorities and excluding them from its planned reforms. The Hindu–Buddhist–Christian Unity Council reported it had recorded 2,442 incidents between 4 August last year and 30 June this year. These included murders, rapes, gang rapes, and vandalism of temples, homes, and businesses. Speaking to the media, Monindra Kumar Nath, the council's general secretary, said the government had dismissed their concerns as 'false, fabricated, and exaggerated," while alleging that those responsible for the attacks were 'enjoying impunity." The council also criticised the government for excluding religious minorities from its reform commissions, which are tasked with ending discrimination in society. (With inputs from agencies) view comments First Published: July 11, 2025, 22:18 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Pakistan: In the land they helped build, Ahmadis cannot call themselves Muslims
The discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community is not limited to isolated policies; it is a system of exclusions—written into the Constitution and enforced through laws, police, mobs, and, sometimes, bullets read more Pakistan is a nation buried under paradoxes and betrayals. And few betrayals cut deeper, or shame Pakistanis more, than the one inflicted on the Ahmadiyya community. The very people who stood at the frontlines of the Pakistan movement, who articulated its case to the world, and who helped structure its legal birth are today branded as heretics, criminals, and enemies of the state. In the land Ahmadis helped build, they cannot call themselves Muslims. The state they helped create, they are not free there. And in the land they dreamed of as a sanctuary, they live under the constant threat of death. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It begins with a signature. A young Pakistani, applying for a passport, is presented with a declaration. A simple question: Are you a Muslim? And if yes, he must then affirm that he disowns the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, believe their founder was an impostor, and confirm that Ahmadis are non-Muslims. He must lie or betray. There is no middle ground. Even faith, in Pakistan, is a loyalty test to state-manufactured theology. To be an Ahmadi in Pakistan today is to live under siege—not by war, but by law. Ordinance XX, passed in 1984, criminalised their existence. They can no longer say the Kalima, offer prayers, call their mosques 'mosques', or even greet someone with Assalamu Alaikum. They are barred from celebrating Eid publicly, from sacrificing animals, from publishing religious texts, or identifying as Muslims on legal documents. These are not isolated policies; they are systemic exclusions, written into the Constitution and enforced through law, police, mobs, and sometimes, bullets. A Nation Built by Them Now Bans Them This wasn't always so. The Ahmadiyya community were not only part of the Pakistan movement—they were its intellectual engine. Sir Zafarullah Khan, a devout Ahmadi, was Pakistan's first foreign minister and one of the sharpest legal minds of his era. He argued the case for Pakistan before international courts and served as President of the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice. His devotion to Pakistan was never in doubt. But today, his name is missing from textbooks. His face is hidden from public memory. His tombstone was desecrated by authorities because it dared mention he was a 'Muslim'. A man who helped build the identity of the nation was stripped of his own. This erasure is not metaphorical—it is physical. Ahmadi graves are dug up and their tombstones vandalised. Their houses of worship are attacked, sealed, and demolished. In several cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sargodha, police have stopped Ahmadis from offering Eid prayers or sacrificing animals, citing religious 'sensitivities'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Sensitivities so brittle they cannot bear to see someone pray differently. And when they are not being policed, they are being hunted. Over the past two decades, Ahmadi men, women, and children have been killed in their homes, their businesses, and their places of worship. In 2010, twin attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore killed over 80 worshippers in one day. The perpetrators were hailed as martyrs by extremist groups. Not a single national leader showed up to mourn the dead. More recently, targeted killings have continued unabated. In just one month, May 2025, several Ahmadis were shot dead in separate incidents across Punjab and Sindh. Their only crime: existing while Ahmadi. And each time, the public reaction becomes more muted. Another name. Another headline. Then nothing. The horror now lies not just in the violence—but in its normalisation. In the way the country shrugs and scrolls past. In how media coverage is couched with 'alleged' blasphemy or 'community tensions', as if this were a dispute over noise, not blood. But let us not confuse the silence for peace. It is not peace. It is paralysis. It is a society rotting in its soul, one atrocity at a time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Where Does Hatred End, If It Ever Ends? The persecution of Ahmadis is not just a tragedy for them—it is a mirror held up to the nation. And what it reflects is terrifying because this hatred does not stop. It moves. From Ahmadis to Shias. From Christians to Hindus. From liberals to journalists. From women to human rights defenders. The same logic that declares Ahmadis as infidels now turns on Shia processions, Shia prayer leaders, and anyone who dares differ from the rigid orthodoxy of state-approved Islam. This is not an accident. It is a trajectory. When a state empowers religious bigotry, when it legislates against difference, when it builds identity on exclusion—it creates a society that is permanently at war with itself. It cannot breathe. It cannot dream. It cannot grow. It is trapped in a perpetual witch-hunt, always chasing the next heretic. In schools, children are taught to hate. In sermons, preachers call for violence. In courts, judges bow to mob pressure. And in Parliament, lawmakers sign away the rights of their fellow citizens in the name of faith. We must ask: where does this end? What future does Pakistan have if it continues to punish difference, if it continues to erase pluralism, if it continues to exalt one interpretation of faith as the only legitimate one? Do we really believe that God, in His vastness, is so small as to be offended by someone else's prayer? Do we really think that the path to salvation is paved with the blood of others? If Ahmadis are 'wrong', should we kill them? If Shias are 'misguided', should we silence them? If Christians are 'infidels', should we burn their homes? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD These questions are not rhetorical. They are real. Because right now, the answers playing out in Pakistan are: yes. Yes, kill them. Yes, silence them. Yes, burn their homes. And anyone who thinks differently is next. This is the logic of fascism. And Pakistan is inching toward it, day by bloody day. Yet there are those who still resist. Ahmadi leaders in exile continue to preach peace. Their followers continue to work quietly in education, medicine, and social service. Many Pakistanis—Shia and Sunni, secular and religious—speak out in defence of Ahmadis, often at great personal risk. These are the flickers of hope. The quiet flames that refuse to die. But they cannot carry the burden alone. It is not enough for a few to whisper when the nation shouts hate. It is not enough for the world to tweet condolences after massacres. There must be a reckoning. Pakistan must remember that a country cannot be purified into unity. It must be expanded into tolerance. And so the challenge is this: can Pakistanis accept difference? Can they live beside people whose beliefs diverge from our own? Can they build a country not on fear but on freedom? If the answer is no—if Ahmadis must be crushed for faith, Shias questioned for loyalty, and Christians punished for existing—then we must admit Pakistan is not a nation. Pakistan is an inquisition. But if the answer is yes—if Pakistanis can make space for each other, if they can disagree without destruction, if they can attest to the ideals of justice and dignity—then perhaps there is still a future worth dreaming of. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Until that answer is chosen, every sacrifice is meaningless. Every Eid is hollow. Every prayer is an echo bouncing off broken walls and shuttered mosques. And every child born into Pakistan is not a citizen—but a suspect in his/her own nation. The question lingers, louder each year: If those who built the house are no longer welcome in it, what kind of house have they made? Tehmeena Rizvi is a Policy Analyst and PhD scholar at Bennett University. Her areas of work include Women, Peace, and Security (South Asia), focusing on the intersection of gender, conflict, and religion, with a research emphasis on the Kashmir region, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
