HELLO, and a very good morning
to you. I wish I could begin by saying “may peace be on you” in Arabic but
unfortunately, I’d risk being thrown into jail besides having to pay a very
heavy fine. So we’ll drop that idea for now...
I won’t go into the details
of what happened because you already know them by now. I’m going to tell you
what you may not know.
One, threats of violence have been being hurled at us for a very long time. Just recently Amnesty International released a report on minority issues in Pakistan and urged the government to take strict corrective action. Two, the government, whatever it may say, did not provide adequate security even though it was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Three, we — Ahmadis — are not agents of the CIA, Blackwater, Israel, RAW, Mossad or any other organisation or network. We are a religious community without any political affiliations, with no history of violence and are engaged in charity work throughout the world. Our official motto is ‘love for all, hatred for none’. -- Ahmad Mustafa
One, threats of violence have been being hurled at us for a very long time. Just recently Amnesty International released a report on minority issues in Pakistan and urged the government to take strict corrective action. Two, the government, whatever it may say, did not provide adequate security even though it was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Three, we — Ahmadis — are not agents of the CIA, Blackwater, Israel, RAW, Mossad or any other organisation or network. We are a religious community without any political affiliations, with no history of violence and are engaged in charity work throughout the world. Our official motto is ‘love for all, hatred for none’. -- Ahmad Mustafa
By Ahmad Mustafa
HELLO, and a very
good morning to you. I wish I could
begin by saying “may peace be on you” in Arabic but unfortunately, I’d risk
being thrown into jail besides having to pay a very heavy fine. So we’ll drop
that idea for now.
Within the boundaries of this land, as per the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, I am not by any definition a Muslim. I am a member of the community that came under intense attack by armed zealots on Friday, May 28. And yes, I witnessed the entire tragic episode firsthand.
It was a normal Friday morning, just like all the other Fridays that come and go. I woke up unusually early by my standards, at 10am. Had a decent breakfast, read the paper, took a shower and was off to pray. That was 1:20pm. Fifteen minutes later, I and four or five others were frantically trying to break the lock to a small room. That achieved, I was holed up in a tiny cabinet with an older gentleman beside me, listening to gunfire and hand grenades exploding while praying to God and furiously dialling the emergency helpline 15 again and again. I won’t go into the details of what happened because you already know them by now. I’m going to tell you what you may not know.
One, threats of violence have been being hurled at us for a very long time. Just recently Amnesty International released a report on minority issues in Pakistan and urged the government to take strict corrective action. Two, the government, whatever it may say, did not provide adequate security even though it was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Three, we — Ahmadis — are not agents of the CIA, Blackwater, Israel, RAW, Mossad or any other organisation or network. We are a religious community without any political affiliations, with no history of violence and are engaged in charity work throughout the world. Our official motto is ‘love for all, hatred for none’.
Let’s get back to what happened that black Friday. I witnessed the Model Town carnage and can testify that there were three, maybe four, policemen in all who had been stationed there for many months. I saw them in their dhotis and slippers, smoking their hookahs, whenever I went to pray. That is what the state saw as ‘adequate’ security. What is the point of policemen being there when all they are going to do is smoke and chew paan? We were offered a false, token sense of security.
Most of the security cover on the day of the attacks was comprised of unarmed volunteers from our own community. Friends and relatives who were outside tell me that the police and the Elite Force, on their arrival at the Model Town site, did not even attempt to go inside and showed signs of fear (last time I checked, weren’t all Elite Force jawans wearing shirts inscribed with ‘no fear’?). Seeing this, members of the community who were outside tried to convince them that they had to enter the premises: the clock was ticking and lives were at stake. On the law enforcers’ refusal, some Ahmadis tried to take their weapons so that at least they could go inside themselves and try to deal with the gunmen.
It was only after the worshippers inside had subdued two of the attackers that the law-enforcement personnel found the confidence to go in. The terrorists, by the way, had an easy passage of entry: they came through the cricket ground which is directly in front of what is called Bait-ul-Noor. Five gunmen. Fully armed. Two with suicide jackets. Do unarmed people in their teens and twenties stand a chance against them? You decide. I hope the honourable khadim-i-aala of Punjab takes note of what I’m saying here. Sir, I’ll be direct for your convenience. There wasn’t enough police and please don’t give us lectures on police bravery.
And yes, you need to dial 15 literally 40 times before you get through. And by the time you do, you’re probably on your way to heaven along with the suicide bomber — or in our case, hell. If news channels can reach the spot 15 minutes earlier than the law-enforcement agencies, then I wonder where the billions of rupees set aside for the police force go.
If we are to revisit the history of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, numerous events and occurrences expose the deep prejudice and discriminatory attitude that the state and religious extremists hold against them. 1953: anti-Ahmadi riots with the call to oust Sir Zafrulla Khan, the country’s first foreign minister and a prominent Ahmadi. 1974: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the country’s first elected prime minister, ensures the passage of a resolution declaring the community non-Muslim. 1984: Ziaul Haq promulgates an ordinance that specifically prevents them from calling themselves Muslim and from using Muslim descriptions and titles. In a nutshell, they cannot refer to themselves as Muslims.
Say the Islamic greeting, publish your books or give out the call to prayer and you’ll be incarcerated in the blink of an eye. Eid-ul-Fitr last year: yahoos try to disrupt the offering of Eid prayers in the very same prayer house in Model Town. And please take note that these prayer houses cannot be called ‘mosques’ under the law (it’s a shame that it’s even called a law), which is why anchorpersons and other journalists use the word ibadatgah (place of worship).
So, on the one hand, we have the constitution and Article 20 which guarantees the right to freedom of worship and the propagation of one’s religion. And on the other hand, you have the Ziaul Haq ordinance. Notice any contradictions? The state first tells us we are allowed the freedom to pray openly. Then it tells us it’s a crime to do so. Oxymoronic? Moronic as well. Honourable chief justice, if the anti-Ahmadi ordinance does not violate the said article and the very basic structure of the constitution of the country, then what does?
Within the boundaries of this land, as per the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, I am not by any definition a Muslim. I am a member of the community that came under intense attack by armed zealots on Friday, May 28. And yes, I witnessed the entire tragic episode firsthand.
It was a normal Friday morning, just like all the other Fridays that come and go. I woke up unusually early by my standards, at 10am. Had a decent breakfast, read the paper, took a shower and was off to pray. That was 1:20pm. Fifteen minutes later, I and four or five others were frantically trying to break the lock to a small room. That achieved, I was holed up in a tiny cabinet with an older gentleman beside me, listening to gunfire and hand grenades exploding while praying to God and furiously dialling the emergency helpline 15 again and again. I won’t go into the details of what happened because you already know them by now. I’m going to tell you what you may not know.
One, threats of violence have been being hurled at us for a very long time. Just recently Amnesty International released a report on minority issues in Pakistan and urged the government to take strict corrective action. Two, the government, whatever it may say, did not provide adequate security even though it was aware of the seriousness of the situation. Three, we — Ahmadis — are not agents of the CIA, Blackwater, Israel, RAW, Mossad or any other organisation or network. We are a religious community without any political affiliations, with no history of violence and are engaged in charity work throughout the world. Our official motto is ‘love for all, hatred for none’.
Let’s get back to what happened that black Friday. I witnessed the Model Town carnage and can testify that there were three, maybe four, policemen in all who had been stationed there for many months. I saw them in their dhotis and slippers, smoking their hookahs, whenever I went to pray. That is what the state saw as ‘adequate’ security. What is the point of policemen being there when all they are going to do is smoke and chew paan? We were offered a false, token sense of security.
Most of the security cover on the day of the attacks was comprised of unarmed volunteers from our own community. Friends and relatives who were outside tell me that the police and the Elite Force, on their arrival at the Model Town site, did not even attempt to go inside and showed signs of fear (last time I checked, weren’t all Elite Force jawans wearing shirts inscribed with ‘no fear’?). Seeing this, members of the community who were outside tried to convince them that they had to enter the premises: the clock was ticking and lives were at stake. On the law enforcers’ refusal, some Ahmadis tried to take their weapons so that at least they could go inside themselves and try to deal with the gunmen.
It was only after the worshippers inside had subdued two of the attackers that the law-enforcement personnel found the confidence to go in. The terrorists, by the way, had an easy passage of entry: they came through the cricket ground which is directly in front of what is called Bait-ul-Noor. Five gunmen. Fully armed. Two with suicide jackets. Do unarmed people in their teens and twenties stand a chance against them? You decide. I hope the honourable khadim-i-aala of Punjab takes note of what I’m saying here. Sir, I’ll be direct for your convenience. There wasn’t enough police and please don’t give us lectures on police bravery.
And yes, you need to dial 15 literally 40 times before you get through. And by the time you do, you’re probably on your way to heaven along with the suicide bomber — or in our case, hell. If news channels can reach the spot 15 minutes earlier than the law-enforcement agencies, then I wonder where the billions of rupees set aside for the police force go.
If we are to revisit the history of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, numerous events and occurrences expose the deep prejudice and discriminatory attitude that the state and religious extremists hold against them. 1953: anti-Ahmadi riots with the call to oust Sir Zafrulla Khan, the country’s first foreign minister and a prominent Ahmadi. 1974: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the country’s first elected prime minister, ensures the passage of a resolution declaring the community non-Muslim. 1984: Ziaul Haq promulgates an ordinance that specifically prevents them from calling themselves Muslim and from using Muslim descriptions and titles. In a nutshell, they cannot refer to themselves as Muslims.
Say the Islamic greeting, publish your books or give out the call to prayer and you’ll be incarcerated in the blink of an eye. Eid-ul-Fitr last year: yahoos try to disrupt the offering of Eid prayers in the very same prayer house in Model Town. And please take note that these prayer houses cannot be called ‘mosques’ under the law (it’s a shame that it’s even called a law), which is why anchorpersons and other journalists use the word ibadatgah (place of worship).
So, on the one hand, we have the constitution and Article 20 which guarantees the right to freedom of worship and the propagation of one’s religion. And on the other hand, you have the Ziaul Haq ordinance. Notice any contradictions? The state first tells us we are allowed the freedom to pray openly. Then it tells us it’s a crime to do so. Oxymoronic? Moronic as well. Honourable chief justice, if the anti-Ahmadi ordinance does not violate the said article and the very basic structure of the constitution of the country, then what does?
An aspect that is worth looking at is the refusal
of Ahmadis to vote in the elections as a mark of protest against the passage of
the 1974 resolution. Therefore, it is pretty obvious that politicians do not see
any direct interest in fulfilling the demands or wooing the members of this
community.
Under these circumstances, where very few people
have the courage to speak for such a persecuted people, journalists and
columnists such as Irfan Husain, Kamran Shafi and Arif Nizami have spoken — and
spoken loudly — against this discrimination. Sirs, we applaud your audacity and
your courage.
The underlying questions that remain to be
answered are: why was it the Ahmadi community that was targeted in particular
and who is responsible for these attacks? As to the first part, to say the least
we’re considered heretics; even worse than kuffaar, as the so-called journalist,
who has since denied it was him, on the leaked audiotape put it. Dr Aamir Liaqat
Hussain declared us wajib-ul-qatl on his television show because of our beliefs
relating specifically to prophethood.
There is no doubt that this society has become
intolerant. We neither have the patience nor the courage to listen to each
other. You don’t need more Fridays the 28ths to prove it. Pick up the paper and
it’ll scream ‘Honour killing takes life of another woman’ and ‘Friend kills
another over petty issue’ to your face.
The problem runs deep within the veins of this
society and has the potential to tear down the entire social fabric of this
nation. If this continues, we’ll end up destroying our own country. We must not,
we cannot let that happen. It would be advisable for the government to start
focusing on religious persecution in its own backyard before criticising the
West for the same thing. Thumbs up to the state and the government! We certainly
are on the path to resurrecting Jinnah’s Pakistan (Jinnah, by the way, called
himself the protector-general of the minorities).
As far as the second question of who was
responsible for the attacks is concerned, many claims have been made and blame
has been apportioned as well. Within an hour of the attacks the Tehrik-i-Taliban
Pakistan (TTP) reportedly declared itself to be behind them. An eminent
religious scholar later said on a television show that there was no religious
angle to this attack. Some have gone to the extent of placing the blame on CIA,
RAW and foreign actors.
That utterly beggars belief. First we are
labelled agents of such agencies. Then we are told that they led the attacks on
us. So … we killed scores of our own people? So much for conspiracy theories!
Here’s what’s obvious. There was definitely a
religious element to the attack if we are to take pointers from history (which I
am sorry to say, we don’t). The fact that ‘Eradicating Qadiyaniat’ courses are
reportedly being taught in seminaries and mosques only serves to prove the
point.
This was indeed a terrorist attack which occurred
because of religious differences and aimed to further expand these differences.
Nobody just picks up a gun, goes haywire and starts shooting people. Mad
crackpots do that. Yet if that is indeed the case, then Pakistan has the largest
number of people suffering from insanity than perhaps anywhere in the world.
And please, we are Ahmadis. Not Qadiyanis and not
Mirzayees. Plain, simple Ahmadis.
The second thing is that eyewitnesses report that
those who carried out the attack were Pakistani, born and bred. Their
appearances indicated that they were from southern Punjab and the northwestern
parts of the country.
I only speak of the same problems that political
commentators have been tirelessly writing and talking about for so long: the
predominance of conspiracy theories, the rise of intolerance and our need to
start recognising that we ourselves are to blame, instead of simply pointing
across the border.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I have presented an
account featuring my own opinion. I was not paid by any agency nor was I asked
to write this by any entity or person. I write this of my own free will. The
Ahmadi community doesn’t force you to accept its beliefs. We merely ask you to
give us a chance to show you what we think is right. Is the price for this the
blood of innocent civilians? Is this why we are treated as second-class citizens
in our own country?
We are human, just like you. We have the same
flesh and blood (that was spilled in Model Town and Garhi Shahu). Just like you.
We have mothers, sisters, wives and children who wait for us to come home every
evening. Just like you.
At least, in the name of humanity, condemn these
attacks and raise your voice against this gross injustice.
Postscript: Those who were injured in these
attacks, may you have a speedy recovery. And those who died, your memories shall
remain embedded in our hearts and minds for ever. You shall never be forgotten.
Rest in peace and God bless.
The writer is a
student.muztafaa9@gmail.com
Source: Dawn, Pakistan
10:14 PM
Sultan Shahin
0 comments:
Post a Comment