Pakistan: 1. Information on the Mohajirs; 2. Information on the Lahoris

1.        Please refer to the attached previous response on the Mohajirs (#2894).

2.             "The Ahmadiyya Movement was founded in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad... [who] claimed to have received revelations that in his person the Mahdi had become present and that he was `also the Promised Messiah and was indeed the Prophet whose advent had been foretold in the principal religions of the world.'" [ Judge Gustaf Petrén et al., Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law, (Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 1987), p. 103.] The Lahori Group is an offshoot of the Ahmadiyya Movement, and seceded shortly after Mirza Ghulam Ahmed died in 1908. "They do not accept [Mirza Ghulam Ahmed's] prophethood but they do adhere to his views regarding Jehad and the death of Christ and are always included in the legislation directed at the Ahmadis." [ Petrén, p. 105.]

Therefore, all references to Ahmadis in the following paragraphs refer to the circumstances of the Lahori Group as well.

In 1974, the Ahmadis were declared non-Muslim in a constitutional amendment by the government of Pakistan under the leadership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. [ Judge Gustaf Petrén, et al. Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law, Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 1987, p. 103; U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1988, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, February 1989), p. 1468.] In April 1984, President Zia issued Ordinance XX, which provides for prison terms of up to three years or unlimited fines for any member of the Ahmadi, Lahori, or Quadiani faith who in any way poses as a Muslim or refers to himself as a Muslim. Although the Ahmadiyya movement is a sect of Islam, it is a minority one which is not recognized as Islamic by many other Muslim groups in Pakistan because of some doctrinal differences. [ Karen Parker, Human Rights Advocates, Inc. Human Rights in Pakistan, San Francisco: Human Rights Advocates, Inc. 1987, p. 16.

 ] At least 12 Ahmadis were reportedly murdered for their religious beliefs between 1983 and 1985 and, according to External Affairs, Ahmadi property and Mosques were defaced or destroyed in April 1989. [ External Affairs communique of 10 August 1989 discusses the ransacking and burning of Ahmadi homes on 12 April; Karen Parker, pp. 28-30.] Further allegations claim that Ahmadis are discriminated against in employment, and many rights and freedoms (e.g. of association, assembly, and speech) are reduced or denied. Ordinance XX is still in effect in Pakistan under the government of Benazir Bhutto. [ External Affairs Canada, 10 August 1989.]

Only limited information regarding the treatment of Ahmadis since the election of Benazir Bhutto is available to the IRBDC at this time. In an article, "Miffed Minorities", (India Today) dated 31 March 1989, one Ahmadi businessman asserts that Bhutto will be unable to change Ordinance XX. [ M. Rahman, "Miffed Minorities", India Today, 31 March 1989, p. 160. (attached)] Another article "The Morning After", (Far Eastern Economic Review), dated 15 December 1988, briefly discusses Prime Minister Bhutto's initial moves on the human rights front, and her determination to restore the 1973 constitution. [ A. Rashid, "The Morning After", Far Eastern Economic Review, 15 December 1988, pp. 14-15. (attached)]

Prime Minister Bhutto's hold on her government is a tenuous one. Although she recently won a vote of confidence in the Pakistan National Assembly, the margin was not large, and to prevent the possible collapse of her government, she must tread

softly around issues (such as Ordinance XX and the treatment of Ahmadis) which are controversial to either the military or the Islamic fundamentalists.

Benazir Bhutto needs a two-thirds majority to overturn a constitutional amendment, and her Pakistan People's Party does not have the majority necessary to carry through legislation. [ Faride Shaheed and K. Mumtaz, "Veil of Tears", Far Eastern Economic Review, 28 September 1989, p. 129.] In addition, as Antonio Gualtieri, the author of Conscience and Coercion: Ahmadi Muslims and Orthodoxy in Pakistan (1989) observed, it is very difficult for Prime Minister Bhutto to reverse a policy instituted by her late father.

A communiqué from External Affairs discusses the criticism of the Pakistan government (by the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan) in its failure to safeguard the rights of Ahmadi Muslims under the existing constraints of Ordinance XX. [ External Affairs Canada, 10 August 1989.] Many of the violent actions against the Ahmadi community in Pakistan (burning of property, etc.) have continued under the Bhutto regime. [ Antonio Gualtieri, various reports by the Ahmaddiya Movement.]

Please refer to the attached material for more information regarding the treatment of Ahmadi Muslims (and Lahori Group) in Pakistan.

-               M. Rahman. "Miffed Minorities". India Today. 31 March 1989.

-               Ordinance No. XX, 26 April 1984, Ministry of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Pakistan;

-               United Nations Economic and Social Council. Question of the Violation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in any Part of the World, with Particular Reference to Colonial and Other Dependent Countries and Territories, Commission on Human Rights, Forty-second Session, (24 February 1986, E/CN.4/1986/NGO/30);

-               Judge Gustaf Petrén, et al. Pakistan: Human Rights After Martial Law, Geneva: International Commission of Jurists, 1987;

-               External Affairs Canada communiqué, 10 August 1989.

-               Ahmed Rashid, "Friend and Foes", Far Eastern Economic Review, 30 March 1989, p. 28.