Prejudice unlimited – by Abdul Nishapuri
I know our semi-literate elitist urban class writers and bloggers (with a very few notable exceptions) are least bothered about this topic (except when they are forced to because of a populist wave). However, consistent with our vision of an inclusive and democratic Pakistan, we at the LUBP will keep highlighting the plight of religious and ethnic minorities in the land of the pure.
Let me refer to Dawn’s (exceptionally) bold editorial on 30 May which states that:
Friday’s gruesome attacks on Ahmadi worshippers in Lahore were a tragic reminder of the growing intolerance that is threatening to destroy our social fabric. Bigotry in this country has been decades in the making and is expressed in a variety of ways. Violence by individuals or groups against those who hold divergent views may be the most despicable manifestation of such prejudice but it is by no means the only one. Religious minorities in Pakistan have not only been shunted to the margins of society but also face outright persecution on a regular basis…..Tackling the terrorists who kill almost at will isn’t the only job at hand. The culture of intolerance has become ingrained in Pakistan and wide-ranging measures are required to change our collective mindset. Textbooks need to be revised and the perils of both brazen and covert narrow-mindedness must be publicly debated.
Here is a news report from daily Express 31 May 2010, which once again confirms the level of intolerance and prejudice in Pakistani society, thanks to our mullahs, military, bureaucracy, media and the acquiescent middle class:
یہ پہلا سبق تھا کتاب ہدأ کا
کہ ہے ساری مخلوق کنبہ خدا کا
(مولانا الطاف حسین حالی )
Shame on us. Shame on Pakistan.
Pak ministers prefer to keep away from Ahmadiyyas’ funeral
LAHORE: Pakistani ministers, politicians and other prominent figures were conspicuous by their absence at the funeral prayers for 95 members of the minority Ahmadiyyas sect killed in terror attacks on two mosques in Lahore.
Most sections of the electronic media too did not cover the burial ceremony at Rabwah in Chenab Nagar yesterday and today.
Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif, governor Salmaan Taseer and some politicians visited the injured at different hospitals in the city.
Though there were statements of condemnation of the Friday attacks on two Ahmadiyya mosques from all prominent politicians and political and religious parties, they preferred to keep a low profile during the funeral.
Observers said this was largely due to fear of a backlash as Ahmedis have the legal status of “non-Muslims” in Pakistan.
“Only to call a dead Ahmedi a martyr is enough to send you behind bars for three years under the laws of the land,” a politician told PTI when he was asked why he did not attend the funeral of the slain Ahmedis though his party had issued a statement condemning the attacks.
The politician, who did not want to be named said, “Such religious matters are quite complicated here. On the one side, there are religious extremists and on the other are the persecuted ones.”
There were also complaints that authorities did not provide adequate security for the funeral ceremony at Rabwah.
“The government must take measures to provide security to minorities in Pakistan,” Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesperson Qamar Suleman said.
Meanwhile, doctors said about 25 people injured in the attacks on two Ahmedi mosques were still not out of danger.
http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report_pak-ministers-prefer-to-keep-away-from-ahmadiyyas-funeral_1389669
The funeral prayers of 40 people killed in Friday’s attacks in Lahore was held in Chenab Nagar area near Chiniot on Saturday while the death toll rose to 93.
A large number of people hailing from the Ahmadi Community attended the burial. A heavy contingent of police personnel was also deployed across the area to avoid any untoward situation.
Moreover, the local authorities have ordered the closure of all trade centres including markets on the occasion.
At least 93 people were killed and over 200 injured as terrorists attacked Friday congregations of the Ahmadis in twin assaults in Lahore.
An FIR has been registered against six terrorists for attacking the worship place of the Ahmedi community in Garhi Shahu, Lahore. Police sources said that the FIR has been lodged under the anti-terrorism act, explosive act, and includes other serious charges.
An FIR into the Model Town attack has not been lodged yet.
Talking to the media, Commissioner Lahore Khusro Pervez said that three suicide bombers in Garhi Shahu and one in Model Town blew themselves up. He said that two terrorists have been arrested from Model Town and a suicide jacket has also been seized from one of them.
The commissioner said that the links of the captured terrorists have not been ascertained yet, though the involvement of India’s spy agency RAW can not be ruled out.
Head of Jamaat-e-Ahmedia Mirza Khursheed Ahmed said that the government should provide security to all minorities.
Talking to the media in Chanab Nagar, Khursheed Ahmed termed the attacks in Lahore unfortunate. He said that their community has been receiving constant threats but no security was provided.
Khursheed Ahmed ruled out the involevemnt of foreign elements in the attacks. He added that as citizens of Pakistan, it is the duty of the state to provide them with security.
Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik, while talking to Express, said that his ministry sent two alerts to the Punjab government about attacks in Lahore.
The United States has condemned the attacks on the worship places in Lahore.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told the reporters in Washington that the attacks are a brutal form of violence against innocent civilians.
Jacques de Maiohas , Head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in South Asia, said that such attacks against civilians are carried out to spread terror. He added that the attacks are highly alarming and unacceptable.
European Union diplomatic chief Catherine Ashton said she was appalled.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/17134/lahore-mayhem-death-toll-mounts-to-93-burial-underway/
May 30, 2010, 5:57 PM
A Tragic Day for a Faith Under Siege
By SAMRA HABIB
TORONTO — “Let’s put our tears into our Sajda and pray that God may give the Taliban hearts,” the leader at my local Toronto Ahmadiyya mosque said during Friday prayer. He was urging the congregation to shed their tears during the critical Sajda step of prayer, while kneeling down and touching their foreheads to the ground.
And that was all we could do as we Ahmadis sat next to each other on the floor, shoulder-to-shoulder, seeking comfort just hours after getting the devastating news that Ahmadis in two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan, had been attacked during the sacred Jummah prayer — not unlike the one we were conducting at the moment.
While we at the Toronto mosque had been fortunate enough to flee the country and escape regular violent attacks by militants. But many of our family members and friends were among the victims of Muslim extremists brought grenades and rifles into two mosques and killed 80 and wounded 95 Ahmadi Muslims.
In 1991, I left Pakistan with my family and moved to Canada. We feared attacks by Muslim extremists and packed our bags in the middle of the night and managed to leave. Hiding our religion from non-Ahmadis had become part of our daily lives.
Our sect was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, who wanted to reform Islam and remind Muslims of the beliefs and laws laid out by the Prophet Muhammad. He emphasized non-violence and stressed increased tolerance of other faiths. Ahmadis saw Mirza Ghulam Ahmad as the Promised Messiah, while mainstream Muslims refused to accept this belief and forbade us to call ourselves Muslims. We became the most discriminated-against community in Pakistan.
Ahmadis have had a long history of being treated poorly, especially at the hands of the Pakistani government. In 1974, the Pakistan Peoples Party promised Ahmadis that if they supported the party, the bloc would work to end discrimination against the sect. My grandfather, father and uncles worked tirelessly campaigning and volunteering for the PPP in the hopes that they, along with millions of Ahmadis, would be able to live freely. But when the party won and came into power, the Ahmadis were declared “non-Muslim” after the new leader, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, faced pressure from mullahs. This further escalated the violence and injustice that the sect had been facing for decades.
As I sit here in my Toronto home and news trickles in from family members about who decided to pray at home on Friday and who decided to join the congregation — including news that my cousin managed to gather 40 people and hide in the basement of the Model Town mosque and thus survive — I can’t help but feel the pain and frustration of being unable to help. I fear that this won’t be the last time my friends and family will be subjected to brutal attacks simply because religious extremists don’t accept them as Muslims.
I’ve spent most of my life here in Toronto and have become accustomed to being accepted by my friends and peers and sharing my thoughts and beliefs without fear of repercussion. I often forget that years ago, things were different for me and I, too, feared identifying myself as an Ahmadi. People I love in Pakistan still don’t have the luxury to celebrate their religious differences or even publicly greet friends in a traditional Arabic greeting because they’re considered non-Muslims by religious extremists.
I fear that this won’t be the last time the government fails to heighten security for Ahmadis despite repeated security threats. I fear that this won’t be the last time I wait by the phone, hoping to find out whether or not my family members have been spared death after being attacked simply because of their faith.
Samra Habib is a Toronto-based writer and has written for the Globe and Mail, National Post and Financial Post magazine.
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/a-tragic-day-for-a-faith-under-siege/
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