Credit: Nasim Malik of Sweden.
Through the hard work of Mr Nasim Malik who is very active in Swedish Politics, a question to restore the voting right of Ahmadies in Pakistan was tabled in Swedish Parliament. What reply Swedish Foreign Minister has given is appeded below. Might be effort can be made in few other countries also.
Translation of the answer from the Foreign Minister.
2011/12: 600 Universal and equal suffrage in Pakistan
Foreign Minister Carl Bildt
Shadiye Heydari has asked me what steps I intend to take and ensure that all citizens, including members of religious minorities in Pakistan, given equal voting rights.
To promote and strengthen respect for human rights it is a priority issue in Swedish foreign policy. Persecution on religious beliefs is unacceptable and repression of particular Ahmadiya Muslims in Pakistan is extremely serious. As Shadiye Heydari points out it is therefore extremely important that the international community is assisting Pakistan in efforts to ensure universal and equal suffrage in the country.
I visited Pakistan in March 2012 and complained in my bilateral talks the importance of strengthening the protection of human rights, especially for persons belonging to religious minorities. The importance of free and fair elections was pointed out specifically. Our Human Rights Ambassador, Hans Dahlgren, visited shortly after Pakistan and met, among other Ahmadiyarörelsens President Tahir Ahmed Malik.
In order to work more actively for the rights of persons belonging to minorities, the EU Delegation in Pakistan this year has included religion as one of four priority areas of work relating to human rights. At the EU level also has an engagement plan with Pakistan drawn and the question of general and fair elections has there been a high priority. It is also hoped that the EU at the planned elections in 2013 to participate in an election observation mission.
The Government shares Shadiye Heydaris concern and will continue to act bilaterally and through EU and UN to the general elections in Pakistan to live up to international standards.
Categories: Asia, Human Rights, North Korea, Sweden
An extremely encouraging effort. If Ahmadies of Paksitan are taken in to main stream, many problems will start evaporating.
Its out of question, one should be realistic. For the sake of argumnet! why should a ruling party (or a parliment) should take risk of favouring Ahmadies and on the other hand take on religious fanatics in Pakistan?
Under global pressure one can expect any thing. After all how long one way road can go.
This post makes a positively pleasant reading and for this, Mr Nasim Malik of Sweden deserves salutes for his untiring efforts/works in Swedish parliament. But here in Pakistan, the ground realities for the Ahmadiyya muslim community are such that no government, however bold or fearless it may call itself, will ever do or even think of doing such an act in favor of Ahmadis’ getting the right to vote in general elections. When General Masharraf replaced the separate electorate system( introduced by Gen. Zia to please maulvis/clerics) by the Joint electorate system and the Ahmadis felt that now they will also use their right to vote to elect their members into the parliament, the mullah forced the Election commissioner not to allow Ahmadis to use their vote as simple Pakistani voters in the general elections. So, in almost clandestine manners, the EC decided to use the vote of colored paper meant for nonmuslim minorities in the separate electorate system. The government kept mum on this clear violation of the elections. The present government is so weak and terror-stricken of maulvi’s wrath that it can not even think of asking the EC as to why it has done such a gross violation of electoral laws and has not provided Ahmadis the rightly printed vote used for joint voting system. But every one in seat of authority found it safe not to talk on this issue. So there is absolutely no hope of any positive change for the better in nearby future as far as voting right of all equal citizens of Pakistan are concerned, The Ahmadiyya community will always be excluded from the valid national list of voter.