Amid persecution, Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan forced to migrate to other countries: report
Sep 28, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], September 28 : As the worsening law-and-order situation and the ubiquity of religious fundamentalism in Pakistan, Ahmadiyya have been forced to migrate to other countries in the hope of being treated on equal footing with other people in the society, according to media reports.
According to Islam Khabar, adults and children a like are victimized for their differing religious beliefs.
Workplaces, playgrounds and even schools are used as platforms to spread their loathing and horrific mistreatment. Educational institutes chiefly top the list of troublemakers who aim to indoctrinate young minds by filling them with hatred for anyone who does not follow their religious standards, as per Islam Khabar.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is being used as a scapegoat to score political points and malign political opponents, without any regard for the risk of life and the hatred it spreads.
On July 13, 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts to bring an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadiyya.
It urged the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan to honour its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadiyya and that perpetrators of such vicious actions should be brought to justice, to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards.
Pakistan is facing multiple fault lines that are hampering the growth of the already conditioned economy of the country, including a breakdown of law and order domestically, which poses major challenges to the establishment and sectarian violence.
In Pakistan, Sunni groups are threatening Shias, Ahmadis and non-Muslim minorities, enjoying support from the military and political leadership.
According to the International Crisis Group (ICG) in its reports published on September 5 which forecasts that sectarian violence could intensify with political instability and economic downturn creating a powder keg in Pakistan, a Canada-based think tank IFFRAS said.
ICG Report's observation that sectarian militancy now runs across the range of Sunni Islamist groups, including adherents to the more moderate Barelvi sub-sect, is believed to constitute a thin majority of Pakistan's population.
In 2020, well-known defence analyst, Dr Ayesha Siddiqa wrote about the revival of sectarian tension between Sunnis and Shias in Karachi and other urban centres in Sindh and Punjab. She pointed out that Pakistan has reportedly witnessed the killing of approximately 4,847 Shias in incidents of sectarian violence between 2001 and 2018, IFFRAS had reported earlier.