For years CAP Freedom of Conscience has joined with IRHC to expose the inhumane treatment of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan. Once again, we join the IRHC in calling on the international community to urge the Pakistani authorities to comply with their international human rights obligations to stop the persecution of the Ahmadiyya community.
A nauseatic act of barbarism took place in village Sangu, near Peshawar, Pakistan on the night of 19th May 2022, when some religious vagabonds dug the grave of Ashfaq Ahmad son of Dr Sarwar, and threw his dead body out.
IHRC has been informed that Ashfaq Ahmad while studying medicine in Ukraine, died in a car accident on 29th March 1997 and was buried on 10th April 1997 in his native village. So far there is no information about those behind this attack. In 2008 his father Dr Sarwar was brutally shot dead at the doorsteps of his house.
IHRC reported a few days ago, a young Ahmadi man was murdered in front of his minor children, rendering them forever impacted by this trauma. Most recently, anti-Ahmadi assailants dug up the dead remains of an Ahmadi. Exhuming the dead remains of Ahmadi Muslims is among the most unspeakable cruelties a persecuted community can ever face.
IHRC has been reporting regularly earlier, many Ahmadi graveyards have been attacked & tombstones have been vandalized. Many times, people of various areas have refused to let Ahmadis bury their dead in their local graveyards.
It is important to note that there has been an increase in physical attacks on Ahmadis recently. Even dead Ahmadis are not safe. The exhumation of an Ahmadi from his grave is being reported just a few days after a young Ahmadi was stabbed to death in front of his minor children in District Okara, Pakistan.
IHRC condemns this religiously motivated action in the strongest possible terms. We firmly urge the government of Pakistan to ensure that each and every assailant is put behind bars urgently and swift and fair judgement is served.
These escalating, horrifying acts bespeak of an insidious mindset fomented by state & non-state actors in Pakistan. That these extreme acts were committed with brazen abandon — without any arrests of the perpetrators — is beyond shameful.
Such disgraceful, despicable behavior has become the norm of the persecutors of Ahmadis in Pakistan. IHRC is aware of the trail of this persecution which threatens the very existence of Ahmadis in Pakistan. It is spread along the whole spectrum of their lives, depriving them of every opportunity to live a normal respectable life.
Ahmadis are paralyzed economically. Their children are robbed of education, and they are hated and discriminated at all levels of the society. This has been going on ruthlessly since the 1984 Ordinance XX. Hundreds of Ahmadis have been murdered for their faith and belief. Thousands have been prosecuted and jailed, several under the blasphemy law the punishment for which is death.
IHRC keeps on raising its voice against such ruthless violations of freedom of religion and fundamental human rights with the hope that the World Community will heed to our call and take action as appropriate to stop the killing of the members of peaceful community in Pakistan.
We request your support, along with your friends and contacts, for a powerful action to call for Freedom of Religion and safeguard of Fundamental Human Rights from the government of Pakistan. The world should pressurize the Government of Pakistan to harness each and every culprit, who has been nurturing hatred and inciting violence resulting in the brutal persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan. This is utmost critical to save the image of Islam and the image of their own country, which they profess to be an Islamic democratic state.
There is an increase in faith-based attacks on Ahmadis residing all over Pakistan. Despite such incidents the government and law enforcement agencies have failed to protect members of the Ahmadiyya Community and in curbing the hate speech. This continuous persecution testifies to the utter disregard of the Community‘s rights in Pakistan and creates a deep sense of insecurity within the Community.
The fact of the matter is that there is alarming increase in hate campaign activities against the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan. The killing and murder of Ahmadis has become the norm in Pakistan of which the government hardly takes any notice. Threats and attempts to kill Ahmadis have increased in virtually in every part of Pakistan.
These murders, attacks and threats have created a sense of deep insecurity amongst members of the community while the Ahmadis everywhere in Pakistan are living in a deep atmosphere of fear. Now, even the dead Ahmadis are not safe from Anti-Ahmadi actions in Pakistan.
We keep the world community informed in the hope that it will take a stern view of these horrific acts of barbarism in Pakistan and assure the safety and security of law–abiding members of the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan.
On 13 July 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
We strongly urge the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility, to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, that perpetrators of such vicious attacks should be brought to justice, and to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 20, United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 2, 18 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25, 26.
More information
UK Home Office Country Policy and Information Note Pakistan Ahmadis
UN three SRs joint statement issued on Ahmadiyya Persecution worldwide issued on 13 July 2021
USCIRF 2021 Ahmadiyya Persecution Factsheet
ICJ Violations of the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Pakistan