Make no mistake about it: a physical and cultural genocide of Ahmadis is under way in Pakistan. There is no other way to describe it. The world must take note of this before precious lives are lost. There are all indications that Pakistan has crossed the threshold of the “preparation” stage, and is now well into the “extermination” stage.
This Eid ul Azha has seen incidents of persecution treble. Deputy Commissioners in Chakwal and Sialkot in Punjab have ordered detentions of Ahmadis because they were planning to carry out their religious rites on Eid ul Azha. Elsewhere, Ahmadis have been restrained physically from doing so by the police. This is happening despite the Supreme Court’s orders in the Tahir Naqqash case stating clearly that Ahmadis, being citizens of Pakistan, were free to practise their religion and that this exercise of religion, if done in Ahmadi places of worship and on properties owned by Ahmadis, does not violate the anti-Ahmadi provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code. The current Punjab government has very deliberately turned a blind eye to the Supreme Court’s orders and have flouted all convention to persecute the Ahmadis in Punjab.
The Ahmadi issue cuts at the heart of the question of Pakistani identity. It must be remembered that the founder of Pakistan, Mr. Jinnah, to his credit had resisted pressure from both within and without to denounce Ahmadis in his life time. This is worth repeating because eventually the blame for the ill-thought-out actions of the Pakistanis will be quite unfairly laid at his door.
Dr. Ayesha Jalal writes in Self and Sovereignty: “But the more controversial demand and one that Jinnah wisely resisted was that provincial assembly candidates taking the Muslim League oath should vow to expel the Ahmadis from the Muslim community. A courageous stand to be taken, it reflects Jinnah’s understanding of constitutional law and the imperatives of citizenship in a modern state. Exclusion in any case was not going to help Muslims keep pace with, far less win, the numbers game. At his behest the Muslim League resisted demands to oust the Ahmadis from the Muslim community. By adopting the logic of inclusion, not exclusion, Jinnah gave breadth to League’s notion of citizenship rights.
Moreover, setting the standards of inclusions in a community that was utterly disjointed in the legal and the political sense amounted to suicide. If Jinnah had been a Punjabi, he might conceivably have taken a different position. That he was not made all the difference. He saw no reason to strip Ahmadis of their Muslim identity simply on account of a doctrinal dispute. At Jinnah’s behest the All India League resisted demands to oust the Ahmadis from the Muslim community. By adopting the logic of inclusion, not exclusion, Jinnah gave breadth to League’s notion of citizenship rights, which some of his regional associates seemed set on restricting to suit their own narrow purposes.
In November 1944 the Ahrars offered to support the League against Unionists provided it denounced the “Mirzais” i.e. the Ahmadis. In July the All-India Muslim League at Jinnah’s insistence had scuttled an attempt by Maulana Abdul Hamid Badayuni to debar Ahmadis from membership in the organization. If not for Quaid-e-Azam’s clear understanding of the political and constitutional implications, the Ahmadis may well have been excommunicated from the Muslim community before the dawn of independence. No small victory for Ahmadis, it was vital for a relatively balanced discourse of identity, sovereignty and citizenship during the twilight hours of the British raj in India.”
Unfortunately, Pakistan abandoned Jinnah’s wisdom and instead chose to follow the path of exclusion that Jinnah had warned against. In doing so, Pakistan has unwittingly played into the hands of those elements which were opposed to the Pakistan movement. The whole anti-Ahmadi issue first came to the forefront through the efforts of Majlis-e-Ahrar-e-Islam – a bigoted sectarian party of the erstwhile Khilafatists founded at the behest of Gandhi and Azad in 1929. Majlis-e-Ahrar’s most emotive issue was the excommunication of Ahmadis throughout the 30s.
This is happening despite the Supreme Court’s orders in the Tahir Naqqash case stating clearly that Ahmadis, being citizens of Pakistan, were free to practise their religion and that this exercise of religion, if done in Ahmadi places of worship and on properties owned by Ahmadis, does not violate the anti-Ahmadi provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code. The current Punjab government has very deliberately turned a blind eye to the Supreme Court’s orders and have flouted all convention to persecute the Ahmadis in Punjab.
Unable to prevail over Jinnah, the Majlis-e-Ahrar started attacking Jinnah calling him “Kafir-e-Azam” (the great infidel) and Pakistan “Kafiristan” (the land of infidels). In this campaign – both against Jinnah and the Ahmadis- Ahrar were supported by Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind and the Congress’s nationalist Muslims. The Barelvis similarly engaged in politics of takfir, most notably against Jinnah himself who they described as “badtareen kameena aur kafir” in 1938 stating that anyone who doubted this position was also a kafir.
Congress under Gandhi and Nehru were quite content to see this implosion of the Muslim community as a means to divide the Muslim vote and defeat Jinnah. After partition Majlis-e-Ahrar resumed its campaign against Ahmadis and soon afterwards assorted variety of Ulema including the Barelvis joined in. The second constitutional amendment in 1974 declared Ahmadis Non-Muslim for the purposes of law and constitution and General Zia-ul-Haq promulgated the notorious Ordinance XX, which proscribed Ahmadis’ religious freedom.
When the question of the religious belief of Ahmadis came up in the Supreme Court in the aforementioned Tahir Naqqash case, the Supreme Court held:
“Article 260(3) of the Constitution though declares the Ahmadis/Qadianis as non-Muslim, it neither disowns them as citizens of Pakistan nor deprives them of their entitlement to the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The Constitution treats, safeguards and protects all its citizens equally, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims. Article 4 of the Constitution is an inalienable right of every citizen, including minority citizens of Pakistan, which guarantees the right to enjoy the protection of law and to be treated in accordance with law... Article 20(a) of the Constitution provides that every citizen shall have the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion subject to law, public order and morality. Article 20(b) provides that every religious denomination or sect shall have the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. Under Article 22, the Constitution provides that no person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction or take part in any religious ceremony or attend religious worship if such instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own. Article 22(3)(a) provides that no religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community in any educational institution maintained wholly by that community or denomination. Article 25 underlines that all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of law.”
If the TLP succeeds in carrying out a genocide of Ahmadis – which is the logical next step - it will forever doom Pakistan to the wrong side of history. This is precisely what the enemies of Pakistan want.
In the presence of this clear judgment by the Supreme Court, the government’s crackdown on Ahmadis carrying out religious rites on Eid ul Azha is patently illegal and unconstitutional. However, the constitution and judgments by the Supreme Court mean very little in Khadi practice. There is an active genocide of Ahmadis right now. Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) has vowed to burn down every last Ahmadi in Pakistan and yet it continues to be a registered political party in violation of all laws and rules of conduct governing political parties in Pakistan. This is because TLP – which Qazi Faez Isa’s Faizabad Dharna case convincingly showed to be a creation of Pakistan’s shadowy agencies- is seen to have some utility in keeping the democratic forces in Pakistan under check.
The Pakistani establishment still hasn’t learnt its lesson of rearing snakes in its backyard. What it doesn’t understand is that if the TLP succeeds in carrying out a genocide of Ahmadis – which is the logical next step - it will forever doom Pakistan to the wrong side of history. This is precisely what the enemies of Pakistan want. Who gains from a genocide in Pakistan? Certainly not Pakistan. It will not only make Pakistan a pariah state globally, but international donor agencies on which Pakistan is so dependent for its economic and political survival will pull out. That GSP+ status in EU and other such trade preferences will be the first to go. Next the IMF will withhold funds. The US – Pakistan’s largest trading partner – is unlikely to continue to turn a blind eye to such a genocide because let’s face it: Pakistan is no Israel. Don’t expect China to support you either. China has supported Pakistan in the past but it too will draw a line at this genocide.
The treatment of Pakistan in the aftermath of such a genocide will be far worse than what was done to post-war Germany and Pakistan is in any event not half as developed and resourceful as Germany was.
Pakistan’s powers that be have to make a decision. Do they continue to tolerate these outrages by TLP and lead Pakistan down the path of genocide and ultimately defeat and destruction or will the powers that be shake that stupor and act before it is too late? Choosing TLP and what it represents will only lead to the utter and total destruction of our homeland.
It is not a question of a few hundred thousand Ahmadi lives – though that in of itself should matter to any country - but the survival of the country itself. TLP and the mindset that fuels it represent the foremost existential threat to Pakistan. You’ve been warned.