Source & Credit: The Indian EXPRESS
By WESTCOAST Newsline | June 18, 2010
A SOMBER mood prevailed in the Los Angeles area and among the Ahmadiyya community as the horrific news of innocent people murdered trickled in. The long reach of terrorism and persecution touched all those who gathered at the Chino mosque as the congregation listened to the sermon and mourned with the families of the dead. “The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community continues to lay to rest its victims — 98 so far — from the horrific May 28 simultaneous terrorist attacks on their two mosques in Lahore, Pakistan.
A Punjab-based Pakistani Taliban group has claimed responsibility for the brutal attacks, with continued threats being made against the Ahmadiyya Community at large,” said a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyyas. Imam Shamshad Ahmad Nasir from the Baitul Hameed Mosque in Chino, California, said, “We have been victims of state-sponsored terrorism since 1974 when members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were declared a non-Muslim minority. Later, in 1984, the military dictator General Ziaul Haq, the mastermind of the Taliban movement, went a step further and criminalized all Muslim acts of worship when performed by an Ahmadi. Coincidently, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is persecuted by the same terrorists who exist to attack the US.”
Despite such bloodshed, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has responded with continued advocacy towards peace. It maintains its adherence to the Islamic tenet that there is no place for violence of any kind, since reverence for life is a part of Islam. The community has not retaliated in any manner, nor held rallies or other demonstrations despite continual persecution. A massive letter-writing campaign has begun, requesting the US government to pressure Pakistan to repeal the blasphemy laws and ordinances in its constitution that are routinely used to sanction and justify the persecution and killing of Ahmadi Muslims, Christians, Jews and religious minorities in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has faced intense government and extremist persecution for nearly 40 years. The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan remains under constant threats and persecution, while the government, police and anti-terrorist security forces stand idle doing nothing. Throughout Lahore and in many other parts of Pakistan, anti-Ahmadiyya banners and billboards remain in place today, calling for the continued boycotting, persecution and outright murder of any and all members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The May 28 incident is the worst attack to date in Pakistan since the community was declared non-Muslim in 1974 and subsequently forbidden in a 1984 constitutional amendment to preach, profess or in any way practice its Islamic faith. Countless members of the Ahmadiyya community in the US have suffered tragic loss of their family and relatives.
In a statement issued from London by the Fifth Khalifa, or spiritual leader, of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Mirza Masroor Ahmad said, “The situation in Pakistan is extremely grave. For decades, Ahmadi Muslims have not been able to live in peace; in fact, they live their lives in constant danger. In 1974, Ahmadi Muslims were declared “non- Muslims” by the government of Pakistan and then 10 years later the infamous ordinance XX was adopted [as an amendment to the Pakistan Constitution] which criminalized all forms of Ahmadi worship and the practice of its faith. These laws effectively legitimized the exclusion and persecution of our community in Pakistan. Ever since, extremists have taken advantage of these laws to target Ahmadis. Despite this cruelty, Ahmadis have remained loyal citizens of Pakistan and have never shown any form of civil disobedience. The Ahmadiyya Jama’at is a peace-loving, true Muslim Community. There will be no improper reaction from any Ahmadi. Our salvation lies in our supplications to God Almighty, and we believe that He has, and always will, help us. No terrorist and no government can ever stop the progress of our community because it is a Divine organization. May God protect all good-natured people from the evil acts of those opposed to peace.”
Read original post here: Chino Mosque mourns victims of terrorist attacks on Ahmadiyyas
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