USA: USCIRF 2016 report on Pakistan's Anti-Ahmadiyya Laws

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For years, the Pakistani government has failed to protect citizens, minority and majority alike, from sectarian and religiously-motivated violence.

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: USCIRF Report
By USCIRF | 2016 report

Ahmadis are subject to severe legal restrictions, and suffer from officially-sanctioned discrimination. September 2014 marked the 40 th anniversary of Pakistan’s second amendment, which amended the constitution to declare Ahmadis to be “non-Muslims.” Additionally, sub-clauses B and C of Penal Code Section 298 make it criminal for Ahmadis to refer to themselves as Muslims; preach, propagate, or disseminate materials on their faith; or refer to their houses of worship as mosques. They also are prevented from voting.

In November 2015, in Jhelum, Punjab province, a mob set ablaze a factory owned by members of the Ahmadiy ya community. Reportedly, the mob attacked the factory after a person who worked there was accused of desecrating the Qur’an. An Ahmadiyya mosque nearby was burned and looted the following day. Three individuals were arrested for their role in the factory attack, but no further information was available by the end of the reporting period.

In January 2016, Shakoor Shakoor, an optician and store owner in Rabwah, Punjab province, was sentenced to five years in prison on blasphemy charges and three years on terrorism charges, to be served concurrently, for propagating the Ahmadiy ya Muslim faith by selling copies of the Qur’an and Ahmadiy ya publications. His Shi’a Muslim store manager, Mazhar Sipra, also was sentenced to 5 years on terrorism charges. Both have appealed their sentences.

-- USA: USCIRF on Pakistan's Anti-Ahmadiyya Laws


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