Pakistan: ‘Heavy police contingent’ arrests Ahmadis on blasphemy charge for allegedly burning pages of Qur’an
The lives of the accused men are now in serious danger, for in Pakistan, the accusation is enough to enflame angry mobs. Often Muslims use blasphemy charges to settle scores or gain an advantage over a member of a minority community. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are an international disgrace, but no one cares, as stories about it don’t fit the media paradigm in which Muslims are always victims.
Ahmadi man held, three booked on blasphemy charge in Narowal
Dawn, August 21, 2024:
NAROWAL: Narowal police arrested an Ahmadi man and registered a case against three other members of his community on the charge of burning pages of the Holy Quran. (I really want to misspell Holy here, but I dare not!)
A local leader of the Jamaat Ahle Sunnat Pakistan at village Dharg Miana of Narowal district told police he was present at a mosque in the village square on Monday night when he heard a noise. When he came out, he saw four men allegedly burning some papers on a garbage heap.
He claimed that he and other locals turned on the lights of the mobile phones and saw the pages of the Holy Quran had been set on fire. He said the four men who burned the pages had fled from the spot. He said information was immediately given to police emergency 15.
On receiving the information, a heavy police contingent reached the spot and recorded the evidence as well as statements of the eyewitnesses.
On the request of a member of the religious outfit, police registered a case against four members of the Ahmadiyya community, identified by him….
Pakistan’s top court withdraws part of ruling about Ahmadis’ rights after Islamists vowed protests
Associated Press, August 22, 2024:
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday removed a controversial part of its recent verdict concerning minority Ahmadis, apparently yielding to criticism from religious groups and clerics who had threatened nationwide protests.
Not to mention, threatening the life of the Supreme Court Justice.
The ruling was quickly praised by Islamists who had earlier sought the resignation of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Qazi Faez Esa, for his alleged support for the minority Ahmadi community.
Pakistan’s Parliament declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. Since then, they have been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists, drawing condemnation from domestic and international human rights groups.
The controversy began in February when the court overturned the conviction of Mubarak Sani, a member of the Ahmadi community who had been convicted by another court in 2021 on charges of insulting Islam.
Initially the Supreme Court ruling went unnoticed but last month Zaheerul Islam, a deputy chief of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan party, was arrested after he issued a call for the killing of the chief justice over his alleged support for the Ahmadis….
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