Tribune: LAHORE: A citizen was compelled on Tuesday to move the district and sessions court after being cautioned against perusing Ahmadiyya literature.

Petitioner Bilal Munawar told the court that some individuals had threatened to kill him after learning that he was reading Ahmadiyya texts.  Munawar said he was a faithful, law abiding, enterprising and learned citizen. The petitioner said that he hailed from a moderate Muslim family. He said his elders had pledged allegiance to Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya (JA) before converting to Islam in 1974.

Munawar said he had chanced upon some books belonging to his elders lying in his house’s store. He said he had come to acquire a great deal of knowledge about theology, freedom of speech, importance of prayer and its significance when offered alongside others by reading the books. Munawar said all the texts had been authored by one Mirza Bashirud Din Mahmood Ahmad (the second caliph of the JA).

He said his mother had counselled him to desist from reading any more Ahmadiyya literature. Munawar said she had told him to consign the books to flames saying that his parents had embraced Islam and the family had no links with the community. He told the court that he had come to discover that some of his elders, including his maternal grandfather and maternal uncle were noted orators and writers who had represented the community when it was in its formative stages. Munawar said scores of their books were still read the world over.

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