Barely had the self-congratulation following Nawaz Sharif’s directive to rename QAU’s national centre for physics after Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam petered out that police executed a raid at the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya headquarters in Chenab Nagar (Rabwah). Less than a week later, over 1,000 charged protesters laid siege to a historic Ahmadi worship place in Chakwal.
13 horrifying pictures of the siege on Ahmadi place of worship in Chakwal
Ever since the community’s inception, Ahmadis have been relentlessly persecuted on account of their heterodox beliefs. The persecution is multifaceted – manifesting itself as it does on the individual, macro and state level.
It is in this context that The Express Tribune highlights select instances of what befell the beleaguered community over 2016.
January
Peers manhandle Gujranwala-based Ahmadi electrician on discovering his confession. The man, later fired from his job, remained locked in a washroom for most of the day till an aged man took pity on him.
Separately, an Ahmadi educationist from Mandi Bahauddin is ‘counselled’ to grace a school event after preparing for ‘certain death’. Gustakhi ki sazza, sar tan sey judaa, he is menacingly forewarned.
March
Ahmadis barred from participating in auction of plots in Chiniot district. The overwhelmingly Ahmadi town of Chenab Nagar is situated in the district.
April
Former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf launches a broadside against the Ahmadiyya Community while addressing a mammoth Pakistan Peoples Party rally in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. “The 90-year-old conundrum, the Qadiani conundrum. Left them tongue-tied, broke their back and buried the controversy forever,” the PPP stalwart remarks over the diatribe.
In a first: Anti-Ahmadiyya advert in mainstream media
June
Self-styled anti-Ahmadiyya elements threaten to launch a public agitation against the establishment of a Ramazan Bazaar in Chenab Nagar on Ahmadiyya property. “Ramazan has nothing to do with Ahmadis. Only Muslims should benefit from such facilities,” Chaudhry Islam of the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the men behind the campaign, says.
September
Top cleric Muneebur Rehman calls for Ahmadis to be put to death. “According to the Constitution, Ahmadis are deniers of Khatm-e-Nabuwat. Since the penalty for treason is death, those who deny the Finality of Prophethood ought to be executed,” Rehman, the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chairman, remarks at a conference near Chenab Nagar.
October
Of late, the north Punjab city of Attock has been a beehive of anti-Ahmadiyya activity. Reported incidents of persecution from the city include the killing of two Ahmadis and another two being relieved of their responsibilities at an educational institution. In a rather preposterous tale of discrimination, two Ahmadi minors were expelled from an Attock school on October 15.
With inputs from Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya.
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