His clinic has been illegally occupied by a Muslim leader who incited the community to punish Mr Ahmad so as to obtain possession of his property.
Source/Credit: Leicester Mercury
By Dr Habib Akram | February 04, 2014
Is it an offence to read the Holy Quran? You would have thought not, but it is – in Pakistan. That is if you are a member of my community, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Because in Pakistan, increasingly in the grip of extremist and fundamentalist thinking, there is little room for enlightened thinking or free debate. Instead, there is oppression – of women, of minorities like Shias, Christians, Hindus, Khojas and indeed of anyone who challenges the status quo.
It is in this climate that a 72-year-old British national was thrown into prison – for reciting the Holy Quran.
Mr Masood Ahmad is a member of the Ahmadi Muslim Community, that is declared non-Muslim under Pakistan's constitution and subject to widespread discrimination, violence and abuse. Mr Ahmad was arrested in Lahore, Punjab province, on December 15 last year after two people from a Muslim extremist group secretly filmed him reading a translation of a verse from the Holy Quran.
The accusers posed as patients at a clinic run by Mr Ahmad and after receiving medication stayed to ask religious questions. They questioned him about his faith and used mobile phones to secretly record him reading a verse from the Quran. Mr Ahmad was arrested when a mob, including local clerics, gathered outside a police station demanding he be arrested.
His family members fear the country's discriminatory laws are being used to persecute the widower and strip him of his pharmacy. The Muslim extremists are exerting pressure on the provincial government and judges to convict him.
...
His clinic has been illegally occupied by a Muslim leader who incited the community to punish Mr Ahmad so as to obtain possession of his property. The Pakistan government must take action to release Mr Ahmad and ensure that his property is returned to him.
We believe Islam is a religion for the whole of mankind and the Holy Quran is a guide for all. It is preposterous that in Pakistan, people are prevented from practising Islam as they wish to. If you agree, fill in the Asian Human Rights Commission petition here:
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ urgent-appeals/AHRC-UAC-006-2014
Dr Habib Akram is President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, Leicester.
Read original post here: In Pakistan: A community under threat from fanatics
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