Difference and dissent are silenced in Pakistan and it starts with Ahmadis.

Valentine Wiggin

On Pakistan’s independence day, TLP (Tehreek-e-Labbai Pakistan) extremists desecrated an Ahmadi mosque in Kartarpur, Faisalabad. This group has also attacked Ahmadi homes and individuals. Footage from the attack shows several people throwing stones at the mosque. Another video, taken at night, shows the mosque burning while others continued throwing stones. Voice of Pakistan Minorities, a nonprofit based in Pakistan, condemned this act as “religious fascism”.

This is not the only time that Ahmadi individuals and places of worship have been attacked. In July of 2025, a “dangerous mob fueled by hate and intolerance” attempted to march towards an Ahmadi mosque in Lahore. They called for the mosque to be closed and shouted threatening slogans. The local police responded well during this incident by moving the worshippers to a “secure area” and arresting several individuals from the mob.

In another anti-Ahmadi incident from the same month, the police responded differently. Instead of arresting the people involved in the anti-Ahmadi mob, they “forcefully detained the Ahmadis” by removing them in police vans and taking them to the police station. The International Human Rights Committee slammed these actions as a “perverse inversion of justice” and an example of a “de facto apartheid system” in Pakistan.

Ahmadis are Muslims who believe that Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is their promised Messiah. Hazrat Mizra Ghulam Ahmad experienced revelations and spiritual dreams from an early age that continued throughout his life until his death in 1908. One of these revelations included one that he was the Messiah. In addition to that, Ahmadis follow the main tenents of Islam such as the Five Pillars of Islam, and the Six Articles of Faith. As such, Ahmadis are largely considered a sect of Islam rather than an entirely different religion.

In addition to recognizing Hazrat Mizra Ghulam Ahmad as the Messiah, Ahmadis reject militancy and favor a more “non-violent and apolitical” direction to spiritual reform. As such, Ahmadi doctrine lacks the provocative elements that other denominations of Islam have. Because “only a very narrow view” of Islamic doctrine is accepted in Pakistan, the country’s mullahs take it upon themselves to defend their position. This defense of their faith comes at the expense of others, particularly Ahmadis, who they see as “apostates and heretics”.

Despite the wide recognition of Ahmadis as another type of Muslim, Pakistani society does not treat them as such. The streets of Pakistan are often lined with signs that bear phrases such as “Ahmadis and dogs are not allowed” or “Ahmadis should enter Islam before entering this shop”. Ordinance XX of 1984 also refers to Ahmadis as “Lahoris” or “Qadianis”, terms that Ahmadis largely consider derogatory. In addition to that, Ahmadis can face prison sentences of up to three years for calling themselves Muslim, distributing religious materials, or otherwise offending the “religious feelings of Muslims”.

The infamous Blasphemy Clause Section 295-C was introduced in Pakistan’s Penal Code in 1986. This law criminalizes “defiling the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad” and is vague, leaving it open to interpretation. This leaves Ahmadis vulnerable to the opinions of mullahs and anti-Ahmadi laypeople. An anti-Ahmadi persecution report by the International Human Rights Desk revealed that, in 2024, 22 major anti-Ahmadi conferences and rallies had taken place across this country. In addition to that, 19 Ahmadis were assaulted, 12 were imprisoned, and 22 Ahmadi mosques faced attacks, vandalism, or desecration.

Even in death, Pakistan’s Ahmadis cannot find peace. In 2024, Pakistani authorities desecrated 197 tombstones and extremists desecrated 111 others. Some gravestones were painted over, destroyed, or removed altogether. These incidents indicate that the six Ahmadis murdered for their faith in 2024 could not be laid to rest in peace. The killings took place across five cities (Rawalpindi, Lala Musa, Bahauddin, Hasilpur, and Mirpur Khas) and mark a sharp increase from only one killing in 2023.

2024 also marked 50 years since the passing of the Second Amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution. This amendment declared Ahmadis non-Muslims. To commemorate this declaration, Pakistan’s Parliament building was “illuminated with green lights”. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also made a speech commemorating the decision that would lead to decades of systemic exclusion and discrimination for Ahmadis.

Human rights groups have urged the Pakistani government to introduce legislation that guarantees freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and to repeal legislation that curtails these freedoms. Not only have Ahmadis faced decades of discrimination, but activists, journalists, and political opposition have been wrongfully arrested regardless of faith. These crackdowns on difference and dissent are part of a larger pattern of “a decades-long cycle of power grabs and victimization of opponents at the expense of everyone’s rights”.

Although the current blasphemy laws are notorious for disproportionately affecting Ahmadis, they have been leveraged against other minorities such as Christians, Hindus, and Muslims who challenge the status quo. Meanwhile, anyone who dares to challenge the blasphemy laws faces the possibility of being arbitrarily arrested or killed. The systematic persecution of Ahmadis lays the groundwork for an authoritarian framework in which dissent means death.

source https://aninjusticemag.com/pakistans-ahmadis-bear-the-brunt-of-crackdowns-on-freedom-978603d8d4aa