Huff Post: by Dr. Faheem Younus.
On May 11, the world’s second most populous Muslim country, Pakistan, marked a historic election. The country’s 66-year history is marred by the presence of martial laws and never before has one elected government replaced another. As Pakistanis rushed to the polling stations to cast their vote, more than 4 million people sat home, separated and disenfranchised.
They were the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a peaceful sect within Islam, who are the victims of this “separate but equal” electorate in Pakistan; a system rooted in religious discrimination.
Since the inception of Pakistan in 1947 to up until 1984, all Pakistanis voted on a joint electorate. Then Ahmadis were separated from the mainstream in 1974 when Z. A. Bhutto appeased the clerics by constitutionally declaring them “not Muslims.” A decade later, Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s military dictator, issued Ordinance XX, further silencing the Ahmadis who could then be imprisoned for up to three years for simply using Islamic terminology like “Assalamu alaikum,” meaning “peace be upon you.”
Categories: Ahmadis And Pakistan, Asia, Pakistan