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IRIN Focus on rights and religious minorities

The issues of human rights and religious intolerance are again on the agenda in Pakistan in the wake of local and international condemnation of Friday’s murder in the eastern province of Punjab of five members of the Ahmadiya community. The murders, the second attack on the minority Islamic sect in less than two weeks, demonstrates what many see as an ongoing problem with regard to religious violence in Pakistan, sanctioned by the government. Hina Jilani, Secretary-General of Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission told IRIN on Wednesday that last week’s attack was not the first time, “and given the complaints we have received it won’t be the last.” Responsibility for the situation rested squarely on the government, said the Lahore-based rights activist. Although the government had promised an investigation, the Human Rights Commission viewed the stance of the authorities as “deliberate avoidance,” Jilani said. “These are not individuals, these are organised militants and the government knows who they are and has done nothing to stop them,” she added. According to news reports, a mullah led a mob through the streets of Takht Hazara village, in the Sargodha district of Punjab province, in the early hours of Friday, shouting anti-Ahmadiya slogans. When the group reached the Ahmadiya mosque there, those inside phoned police asking for protection. As the mob grew in numbers, the attackers reportedly broke into the mosque and killed four Ahmadis, mutilating them with axes, before torching the building. One of those injured persons, a 14-year old boy later died of his injuries. The police arrived after the incident was over. The Ahmadiya community, considered heretical by orthodox Muslims in Pakistan, has long fallen victim to religious intolerance and violence, according to human rights workers. In 1974, members of the sect were declared non-Muslim and a number of laws were subsequently passed making it a criminal offence for Ahmadis to profess, practise and preach their faith. According to the human rights body Amnesty International, dozens of Ahmadis have been charged under religious sections of the Pakistan penal code. In the Sialkot district of Gujranwala division, Punjab province, 23 criminal cases had been brought against Ahmadis this year for religious reasons, it said. Moreover, 25 Ahmadis had been killed over the last seven years by those who oppose their faith, Amnesty added. Although tensions between Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis lessened in 1999, five members of the community were killed and 10 injured by unidentified gunmen in Ghatialian village, near Sialkot, on 30 October as they left their mosque after early morning prayers. The case is still under investigation and no arrests have been made. Angelika Pathak, an Amnesty International researcher for Pakistan told IRIN on Wednesday: “Communal violence between Sunni and Shi’te Muslims comes in waves, and this year there has been an increase. However, violence against Ahmadis is a permanent feature.” Asked how significant the recent attacks were, Pathak said: “These last big events indicate a new peaking of this violence.” “The police simply don’t investigate and so there are no convictions,” Pathak added. Amnesty on Monday condemned Friday’s killing and called for government intervention regarding religious violence in Pakistan. For human rights groups monitoring the situation, what remains paramount is what they consider official apathy to the situation. According to Amnesty, religious organisations advocating violence against Ahmadis are allowed to operate openly in Pakistan, and vernacular media spreading a message of hate and violence against the community are not restrained by the authorities. Hina Jilani of the Human Rights Commission was even more critical. “What we are seeing is an environment of hostility against the Ahmadiya community which has been allowed to take place in this country over the past few years as a result of state policy and the government,” she told IRIN, something the government refutes. Asked what government measures had been taken to safeguard this community or whether an investigation into the killing was taking place, a spokesman for the Human Right Ministry in Islamabad told IRIN on Thursday: “A judicial inquiry to this incident has been ordered and the present situation is reported to be normal and under control. Adequate security measures have been taken.” He said 10 people had been arrested so far, but this remains to be confirmed. Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious and Minorities Affairs in September termed as “baseless, unfounded and against the facts” allegations by members of the Christian, Hindu and Qadiani [minority Muslim] communities that they were being maltreated, and that the laws of Pakistan, a Muslim country, made them second-class citizens. It said minorities in Pakistan were equal citizens, enjoyed all fundamental rights and had the right to profess, practice and propagate their religions. The ministry was responding to reports that representatives of the three communities had told a committee of the US House of Congress that they were being maltreated, that their lives and properties were not safe, that the constitution failed to vindicate their rights, and that restrictions had been imposed on their performance of religious rites. However, many feel the government is not doing enough, thereby setting a dangerous precedent for the future. “If the government consistently fails to investigate attacks and killings of members of religious minorities, the impression will be created that taking the law into one’s hands and killing is acceptable behaviour. The government of Pakistan must publicly condemn such abuse and ensure that all steps are taken to restore the trust of minorities that they are safe in Pakistan,” Amnesty International stated. In October 1999, Pakistan’s Chief Executive General Parvez Musharraf said protection of minorities would be a priority of his new government. According to rights activists, Friday’s attack demonstrated a need for action, not words.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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