Persecution continues for Pakistan’s Ahmadi minority, despite ongoing struggles

Sadia Amjad’s father paid the ultimate price for his faith, brutally attacked in the streets of Rabwah, Pakistan, by an Islamist assailant who discovered his affiliation with the persecuted Ahmadiyya sect. This incident sheds light on the plight of the Ahmadi minority, which has endured decades of persecution in Pakistan.

In August of the previous year, while waiting at a bus stop in Rabwah, a stranger approached Amjad’s father and demanded that he praise a radical Islamist preacher known for his vehement anti-Ahmadi rhetoric. This tactic has been used by fundamentalists in the past to identify and target Ahmadi sect members, whom they regard as heretics to be eliminated.

Amjad, who requested anonymity for security reasons, expressed the dire situation, stating, “We are treated as if we don’t exist and we are not even regarded as human beings.”

With an estimated global population of 10 million, Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, their faith closely mirroring mainstream Islam in most aspects. However, their belief in the movement’s founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as the “mahdi” or messiah, has branded them as blasphemous unbelievers in Pakistan.

Since 1974, the Pakistani constitution has officially classified Ahmadis as non-Muslims, further cemented by a 1984 law that prohibits them from claiming their faith as Islamic. This discrimination extends to restricting their ability to refer to their places of worship as mosques, perform the call to prayer, or participate in the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Astonishingly, they can even face imprisonment for three years for merely using the Muslim greeting “as-salaam alaikum” (peace be upon you).

Amjad, now 26, lamented the intensification of discrimination, saying, “We have reached a point where our very right to live is being taken away. It was once just opposition, but now our lives are no longer safe.”

Regrettably, the persecution of Ahmadis is not limited to discrimination; since 1984, approximately 4,000 Ahmadis have faced criminal charges related to their faith, including 334 under blasphemy laws that carry the death penalty. Furthermore, crimes against the Ahmadi community appear to be prosecuted less vigorously, and several of their places of worship have been attacked by frenzied mobs.

Radical political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which views the Ahmadiyya community as heretical, has led mobs to repeatedly assault Ahmadi mosques. Spokesman Shafiq Amini conveyed the party’s stance that effective policing and state institution intervention could prevent such vigilante actions.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar recently vowed to investigate allegations of police complicity in attacks on Ahmadi places of worship, emphasizing his duty to protect their lives, properties, and dignity under Islamic law. However, concrete actions have yet to materialize, leaving the Ahmadi community vulnerable to various forms of discrimination.

Their businesses frequently face boycotts and vandalism, while some stores outright deny entrance to Ahmadis. Sajjad Akhtar, a businessman who fled to Rabwah with his family after his faith was revealed, expressed his shock at the severity of the reaction.

Despite these challenges, Ahmadis continue to leave Pakistan in significant numbers, especially after the 2010 suicide attacks on Lahore’s Ahmadi places of worship, which claimed over 80 lives. Many have found refuge in Rabwah, a city that, for nearly four decades, served as the global headquarters of the community. Ironically, provincial authorities altered its name to Chenab Nagar in the 1990s due to religious sensitivities.

In Rabwah, Ahmadis partially finance their own infrastructure, boasting clean roads, well-kept parks, a prominent cardiology hospital, and exceptional sports facilities. Yet, despite feeling safer than in other parts of Pakistan, they remain cautious.

Even in death, the persecution persists. Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi Nobel laureate in physics, was originally commemorated on his tombstone as the “First Muslim Nobel Laureate” before the government ordered the removal of the word “Muslim.”

Mahmood Iftikhar Ahmad Zufar, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community, lamented, “Ahmadis are not forgiven even after their death.”

Nonetheless, some Ahmadis extend forgiveness. Azra Parveen, whose son was killed by an extremist in 2020, refuses to blame the murderer, asserting, “That young boy had no capacity. I don’t even curse him. He too is a son of a mother.”

She places the responsibility squarely on the state, stating, “It is the state’s duty to maintain control, ensure public safety, enact laws, and regulate the activities of religious leaders.” Despite enduring adversity, many Ahmadis continue to hold onto hope for a more tolerant and inclusive Pakistan.