Daily Times

I rub my eyes and read again. And again, then sniff my morning tea, thinking the Pathan has mixed something not so kosher in it. Read again. Yes, apparently it is what it is. A roundtable was held at the ministry of planning, development and reforms this week, presided over by the honourable minister himself. If the ‘traitor’ media report is to believed, the ministry, at least for that one meeting, really became the centre of development and reforms. I am not sure about the planning part just yet.
So, what happened, you ask. A meeting to discuss inter-faith harmony was organised. ‘Yawn’ — that would be your first reaction but do not skip my rambling just yet. There were the usual suspects but what is baffling to me, a Zia generation product, is the presence of an Ahmedi member there. Not only that, but also one representative “highlighted the plight of the Ahmedi community” in Pakistan. In all my years of reading newspapers and reporting on sarkari (government) meetings, this is the first time that I have read that Ahmedis were considered, not only discussed, at the official ministerial level, and that too with sympathy. The Pakistani Ahmedi community — whatever is left of it — is either ignored or lamented for its lack of faith. At the governmental level, I have never experienced a discussion that focuses on their difficulties as a community and, moreover, their institutionalised persecution in the state of Pakistan. Even at the societal level, there seems to be so much ingrained hatred for them that it is difficult to digest. Just this week, I had lunch with a gentleman who remarked that he does not like his wife’s new tailor because he is an Ahmedi. If the food were not as good as it was, I would have walked away.
Pakistani Ahmedis are ignored during each successive elections. In a country where Hindus are being compelled to become Momin (true) Muslims, the Ahmedis are denied the right to label themselves according to their faith. As citizens of Pakistan, they cannot proceed to perform Hajj. They are considered a religious minority. Labelling or even starting a whispering campaign about someone being an Ahmedi is a sure shot way of denying him/her social and economic mobility, whether in government or the private sector. This was not always the case. As I have previously also mentioned in my scribbles here, a close aide of Jinnah, Muhammad Zafrullah Khan, was an Ahmedi by faith, a prominent jurist by profession and the one who incidentally drafted the Pakistan Resolution. He later went on to become the first foreign minister of Pakistan. Today he would not be able to become even a babu (officer) in the foreign ministry. He also served as a judge in the International Court of Justice, The Hague. Things changed, as we learn from history. The man who declared that he drinks alcohol but not the blood of the poor, for political reasons, declared them to be non-Muslims. This year in September it will be 40 years since the passing of the Second Amendment, which pronounced Ahmedis as non-Muslims. Given this context and that officially everything Islamic is kosher, it is no surprise that the only Pakistani Nobel Prize winner, Dr Abdus Salam, is not recognised. In the heart of Islamabad, there is a ‘shaheed’ (martyr) Osama bin Laden library but ask even a 30-year-old who Dr Abdus Salam was and he/she will struggle to answer.
Adding fuel to the fire, last year, September 8 was ‘celebrated’ by true-blooded Muslims of all shades and shapes. Whether it was Dr Aamir Liaqat Ali Khan or my neighbourhood mullah, all ranted against the Ahmedis who dared to even consider themselves Muslims. The media, which I am told is the symbol of freedom of expression in this country, could not bring itself to give coverage when Ahmedi Pakistani citizens became victims of terrorist attacks. Such is the life of a Pakistani Ahmedi.
Death brings no respite either. In 2012, the tombstones of more than 100 graves were razed by 12 to 15 armed men. The graveyard belonged to the Ahmedi community and the verdict given by the terrorists was that the use of verses of the Quran on tombstones by Ahmedis, who are considered heretics and even entitled to be murdered by extremist groups in the country, is forbidden. Thus, Pakistan is a country where being part of the Ahmedi community means you are not allowed to rest in peace even after you are dead. It is not just extremists but also a large majority of Muslims in the country that believes in a similar ideology. The only difference is that extremists actually kill and persecute members of the Ahmedi community, and the rest of the people make sure that members of this community are socially excluded in every possible manner.
However, is there a ‘new order’? Is there a Saadat Hasan Manto’s New Constitution in the offing? Is there finally a realisation in at least one ministry, in the mind of at least one federal minister, that Ahmedis are also Pakistani citizens and “their plight” is also the responsibility of the state? If this is true, then kudos to Ahsan Iqbal. If it is wishful thinking on my part, then more power to my dreams.

The writer is a development consultant. She tweets
at @GulminaBilal and can be reached at
coordinator@individualland.com