source:dailytimes-Pakistan
A myriad curses afflict Pakistan. One of them is intolerance of views — religious and other. In this intolerant climate, the news of an innocent Ahmedi’s death at the hands of bigots points at the rot in our society. Naseem Ahmed was assassinated in Faisalabad late night on Saturday. For the past few months, the All Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwat Federation has been distributing pamphlets with the names and addresses of prominent Ahmedi businessmen, senior teachers and doctors residing in Faisalabad. These pamphlets openly give a call to kill members of the Ahmediyya community in the name of Islam and wrongfully accuse the Ahmedis of “conspiracies against Islam and Pakistan”. It is not the first time that such hate campaigns have been launched against the Ahmediyya community in Pakistan. Ever since the Ahmedis were declared non-Muslim by parliament back in 1974, they have been treated with utter contempt and nauseating hate by most of their fellow Pakistanis. What is even more deplorable is the indifferent attitude of the Pakistani state. The Ahmediyya community has sustained targeted attacks by fanatics and lost thousands of members at the hands of religious extremists and yet no government has taken action against the culprits.
Categories: Human Rights