Daily Times

Sir: Just a couple of days ago, an angry mob set a chipboard factory in Jhelum on fire. The factory was owned by members of the Ahmedi community. According to several sources, the mob burned down the factory because it believed that one of the employees had committed blasphemy. Several people were inside the factory at the time it was set on fire but were able to eventually escape and flee. While this case is one of the many examples of Ahmedi persecution in the country, the Pakistani media has been portraying it as a property dispute rather than a hate crime.
The Pakistani media’s depiction of the Jhelum factory attack as a land conflict is eerily similar to the US media’s portrayal of the Chapel Hill shootings as a “parking dispute”. In the case of the Chapel Hill tragedy as well as other Islamophobia-motivated attacks, Pakistani Muslims have been very verbal in voicing their outrage and indignation at the senseless actions towards the Muslim community. So why are these same Muslims silent in the case of Ahmedi persecution? The difference, quite simply, lies in the law of the land: the Constitution of Pakistan declares Ahmedis as non-Muslims. This allows the vast majority of Muslims to escape the moral responsibility that prompts them into solidarity in the aftermath of tragedies like Chapel Hill or the Syrian refugee crisis. With their staunch silence towards the heinous actions committed against their countrymen, Pakistani Muslims continue to fan the smoke of hatred and bigotry.
SHUMAILA AHMAD
Virginia
US