Shakoor bhai, an eighty-year-old bookseller from Rabwah, is the latest victim of persecution for being an Ahmadi. He was arrested for stocking and selling books that had either been banned through an official notification issued by the government of Punjab or were likely to cause disorder. He was prosecuted under the provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Act and sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. The books seized from his shop include copies of the Quran and the biography of the founder of the Ahmadiyyah community.
What is interesting is the way the first investigation report (FIR) registered against him is worded. It indicts Shakoor bhai of selling books that could lead to sectarian and religious discord (firqa warana wa mazhabi manafrat). Since the Constitution of Pakistan designates Ahmadis (pejoratively referred to as Mirzais and Qadiyanis) as non-Muslims, the question is how could someone be accused of promoting sectarian strife when his religious beliefs are considered to be antithetical to the religion rather than being a sect of that religion. This contradiction is only one of the many in Pakistan’s various amendments, laws and judicial verdicts dealing with the Ahmadis.
Categories: Ahmadis And Pakistan, Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, The Muslim Times