Latest news with #Ahmadis
Scotsman
4 days ago
- Scotsman
Northbound Hearts, Southborn Roads
The road to Jalsa Salana is not just a motorway lined with luggage and motorway services. It begins weeks before, in the quiet anticipation of something spiritual, something shared. From Scotland, that road is long — sometimes literally, sometimes deeply personally — but one that is always, always worth it. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Jalsa Salana, the annual spiritual gathering of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, is one of the largest Muslim conventions in the UK. Held in the open-air grounds of Hadeeqatul Mahdi – known affectionately as Jalsa Gah by community members – thousands sit shoulder to shoulder for three days of speeches and poems of the Islamic variety. Founded in 1891 with just 75 people, it now draws tens of thousands from every continent, all united not by spectacle, but under the sheltering umbrella of faith. 'It feels… It feels right, even with all the chaos of things, you know. From Scotland, at least, you have to pack your bags, you have to find a place to stay down south. My family, we take the drive. You drive down to Jalsa, maybe you stay far away from Jalsa Gah. You have to make that long drive over all three days. And if you're volunteering, then you have to go maybe a little bit earlier. But I think amidst all of that, it feels right. You feel like you're really part of something that's good. And you know that you're amongst volunteers, which is the most magical thing…' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The act of packing — the carefully folded scarves, the last-minute chargers, the fishing out of the wellies — is laced with both stress and sweetness. For many Scottish Ahmadis, the journey is not just physical, but emotional: a return to familiar faces, and a reunion with something greater. YourWorld, connecting communities. Use the 'Submit a story' link to tell us your news. 'I feel, especially coming from up here, there's a lot of packing to do. So I feel a little bit stressed about that. But mostly excited, because there's a lot of people who I haven't seen in a while, and I'll be seeing them all together. I will be seeing fellow Edinburgh and Fife community members. I'll be sitting in on the speeches. So I feel excited.' What young Ahmadis from Scotland return to, what they long for, is more than just an event. Beneath the tents, multilingual signage, and the temperate temperature of the English countryside, there's something far less visible drawing people back: renewal. Not of information, but of intention. A true spiritual rekindling. 'I think Jalsa, in reality, is a refresher. We aren't really given anything new, but we're refreshed on the ways that we should be conducting ourselves as Muslims — not just on our own, not just as standalone individuals, but as sisters, daughters, mothers — how to nourish your human relationships. And I think that attending Jalsa that way really helps strengthen your relationship with Allah because you go away and you think, okay, yes, I might be praying five times a day, I might be reading the Qur'an, but how can I make this a stronger and much deeper thing?' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad There are always speeches, oftentimes topical, such as the need for peace in a world riddled with war, but each one seems to land exactly where it needs to without fail. 'I like how there are so many speeches, so many different focuses, but they're all honing in on different ways that we can bring peace and unity to a world that is the way it is. That's a central focus.' And then, in between the prayers and poetry, come the moments of joy: a celebration of hard work — the academic award ceremonies. 'One thing I really look forward to every year is the award distributions, because I think it's such a wonderful thing to not only celebrate spiritual progress but also academic progress. Because you see Jama'at members, some of whom you know, who have worked hard. And it's lovely to know that working hard in your academics — be it at GCSE, A-Level, Higher, Nat 5, Masters, PhD — it's something that is celebrated, and that's at such an international scale. It's really a beautiful thing.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad No one attends Jalsa without giving. Each attendee gives something: time, energy, presence. And in return, they make their ways home with softer hearts. 'Last time I went, I was at security, so I'm excited to take on a new role at Health and Safety. And I think that every role you take makes you see Jalsa in a different way. For example, this year when I go, I'll go with an increased respect of the people working at security because as attendees, we come in and we pass by in a minute, but their job is day long — in the heat and the rain and the thunder and everything. So I have a newfound respect for all the volunteers at Jalsa. MashAllah.' In Scotland, where the community is smaller but tightly knit, the journey southward is also a reminder of being part of something vast and living and global at a rare scale. 'In Scotland… we have really lovely Jama'ats. It might not be as big as the ones down south, but they are really lovely. And at least my experience is that it's quite tight-knit. Everyone checks in on everybody, and we get along well. I think it's really just important because you don't get such a sense of a mass of Ahmadis up here. I believe… to go from a place in Scotland, where maybe there's not as many people who are Ahmadi, and then to go from that to Jalsa — where there are tens of thousands of people who are all brought together by this one thing that we have in common, all from different backgrounds, different stories, different goals, different aims — but united. And it's one thing I think is really beautiful.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We spend a lot of time together which really helps us be aware of what we've been given and the community that we've been blessed with, Alhamdolillah.' Sometimes the most powerful moments are small. A stranger. A somewhat shared language. A tiny act of kindness that becomes unforgettable. 'I ran into a woman there who I think was attending Jalsa for the first time. She couldn't speak English. And she was trying to find the food marquee. She had come from a French country, and with my Higher French, I tried to sort of make some small talk with her while I showed her where the marquee was… and when we got there, she was very, very grateful. And with that sort of small story, I really felt the spirit of Jalsa within me.' For many, Jalsa is a childhood memory — marquees and Shezan juice boxes and the distant hum of speeches. But age deepens the lens. What once felt ordinary becomes profound. Jalsa, after all, isn't a religious event attendees watch. It's something they live through and become a part of, holding the event close to their hearts. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I've grown up running around Jalsa Gah, and now I get to see it as a young adult — and I think that's the most precious thing, because it's all the more important to me now.' For those attending for the first time —Muslim or not — Jalsa is a doorway leading to whatever they choose. For many attendees it has been the doorway to a different faith, a different way of life, and for some, it has been a doorway to a wider and deeper world view. What you will find, only your heart will know.
Hindustan Times
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
UK parliamentary panel slams Pakistan for state-backed persecution of minorities
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG FoRB) organised a session at the UK Parliament's Committee Room 7, to expose the ongoing religious persecution of minorities in Pakistan. UK Parliamentarians, human rights advocates, and community representatives provided testimony and presented documented evidence revealing that atrocities against minorities in Pakistan are not isolated incidents. (Representational image/AFP) The gathering brought to light the systematic and state-sponsored nature of these abuses, painting a grim picture of life for religious minorities under the shadow of Pakistan's military and political machinery. Parliamentarians, human rights advocates, and community representatives provided testimony and presented documented evidence revealing that atrocities against Hindus, Christians, Shias, and Ahmadis are not isolated incidents. Instead, they are part of a deliberate strategy executed with the backing of the Pakistani state and military establishment. UK MP Jim Shannon, who is a vocal advocate for global religious freedoms, opened the session with strong condemnation of Pakistan's role, stating that these crimes represent an orchestrated campaign of oppression rather than rogue acts of extremism. One of the most harrowing issues raised was the large-scale abduction and forced religious conversion of minor girls from Hindu and Christian communities, particularly in the Sindh province. It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 girls are abducted each year, often trafficked through religious shrines run by politically connected clerics operating with the protection of the state and army. The discussion also highlighted a disturbing pattern of attacks on religious sites, including Hindu temples and dharamshalas, that are frequently burned down in coordinated assaults. These attacks, such as the 2023 rocket attack on a temple in Kashmir, are carried out with impunity and have contributed to a growing climate of fear among minority populations. The panel emphasised that these acts are not random but appear to be part of a broader effort to erase the cultural and religious heritage of non-Muslim communities. The targeting of Shia Muslims and Ahmadis was also addressed, with testimonies pointing to enforced disappearances, sectarian violence, and the systematic denial of religious rights. In many cases, law enforcement agencies are either inactive or complicit, emboldening extremist groups to operate without consequence. The resulting fear and insecurity have driven thousands of minority families, particularly in Sindh, to flee their ancestral homes. Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) Chairman Sohail Abro, along with representatives from the Christian and Ahmadiyya communities, called on the international community to hold Pakistan accountable. The session was also attended by UK MPs Fleur Anderson and David Smith, the latter of whom presented detailed statistics and firsthand accounts documenting Pakistan's human rights violations. Representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Global British League (JKGBL), including Ayub Iqbal and Hasam Rafique, lent their support and expressed solidarity with persecuted communities. The session concluded with an urgent call to action for the international community to no longer turn a blind eye to the religious persecution unfolding in Pakistan under the protection of its state and military apparatus. Delegates and experts emphasised the need for immediate international condemnation and accountability, urging independent investigations into forced conversions, child abductions, and attacks on religious institutions. The panel also called for targeted sanctions against those in the Pakistani military and political establishment found responsible for these grave abuses, in line with the UK's Magnitsky framework. Furthermore, they stressed the importance of including Pakistan's religious persecution in both the UN Human Rights Council's agenda and the UK's annual report on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
India Gazette
04-07-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Religious persecution of minorities in Pakistan exposed at UK Parliament, state and military-backed atrocities unveiled
London [UK], July 4 (ANI): The All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion or Belief (APPG FoRB) organised a session at the UK Parliament's Committee Room 7, to expose the ongoing religious persecution of minorities in Pakistan. The gathering brought to light the systematic and state-sponsored nature of these abuses, painting a grim picture of life for religious minorities under the shadow of Pakistan's military and political machinery. Parliamentarians, human rights advocates, and community representatives provided testimony and presented documented evidence revealing that atrocities against Hindus, Christians, Shias, and Ahmadis are not isolated incidents. Instead, they are part of a deliberate strategy executed with the backing of the Pakistani state and military establishment. UK MP Jim Shannon, who is a vocal advocate for global religious freedoms, opened the session with strong condemnation of Pakistan's role, stating that these crimes represent an orchestrated campaign of oppression rather than rogue acts of extremism. One of the most harrowing issues raised was the large-scale abduction and forced religious conversion of minor girls from Hindu and Christian communities, particularly in the Sindh province. It is estimated that between 500 and 1,000 girls are abducted each year, often trafficked through religious shrines run by politically connected clerics operating with the protection of the state and army. The discussion also highlighted a disturbing pattern of attacks on religious sites, including Hindu temples and dharamshalas, that are frequently burned down in coordinated assaults. These attacks, such as the 2023 rocket attack on a temple in Kashmir, are carried out with impunity and have contributed to a growing climate of fear among minority populations. The panel emphasised that these acts are not random but appear to be part of a broader effort to erase the cultural and religious heritage of non-Muslim communities. The targeting of Shia Muslims and Ahmadis was also addressed, with testimonies pointing to enforced disappearances, sectarian violence, and the systematic denial of religious rights. In many cases, law enforcement agencies are either inactive or complicit, emboldening extremist groups to operate without consequence. The resulting fear and insecurity have driven thousands of minority families, particularly in Sindh, to flee their ancestral homes. Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) Chairman Sohail Abro, along with representatives from the Christian and Ahmadiyya communities, called on the international community to hold Pakistan accountable. The session was also attended by UK MPs Fleur Anderson and David Smith, the latter of whom presented detailed statistics and firsthand accounts documenting Pakistan's human rights violations. Representatives of the Jammu and Kashmir Global British League (JKGBL), including Ayub Iqbal and Hasam Rafique, lent their support and expressed solidarity with persecuted communities. The session concluded with an urgent call to action for the international community to no longer turn a blind eye to the religious persecution unfolding in Pakistan under the protection of its state and military apparatus. Delegates and experts emphasised the need for immediate international condemnation and accountability, urging independent investigations into forced conversions, child abductions, and attacks on religious institutions. The panel also called for targeted sanctions against those in the Pakistani military and political establishment found responsible for these grave abuses, in line with the UK's Magnitsky framework. Furthermore, they stressed the importance of including Pakistan's religious persecution in both the UN Human Rights Council's agenda and the UK's annual report on Freedom of Religion or Belief. (ANI)
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First Post
14-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Pakistan: In the land they helped build, Ahmadis cannot call themselves Muslims
The discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community is not limited to isolated policies; it is a system of exclusions—written into the Constitution and enforced through laws, police, mobs, and, sometimes, bullets read more Pakistan is a nation buried under paradoxes and betrayals. And few betrayals cut deeper, or shame Pakistanis more, than the one inflicted on the Ahmadiyya community. The very people who stood at the frontlines of the Pakistan movement, who articulated its case to the world, and who helped structure its legal birth are today branded as heretics, criminals, and enemies of the state. In the land Ahmadis helped build, they cannot call themselves Muslims. The state they helped create, they are not free there. And in the land they dreamed of as a sanctuary, they live under the constant threat of death. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It begins with a signature. A young Pakistani, applying for a passport, is presented with a declaration. A simple question: Are you a Muslim? And if yes, he must then affirm that he disowns the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, believe their founder was an impostor, and confirm that Ahmadis are non-Muslims. He must lie or betray. There is no middle ground. Even faith, in Pakistan, is a loyalty test to state-manufactured theology. To be an Ahmadi in Pakistan today is to live under siege—not by war, but by law. Ordinance XX, passed in 1984, criminalised their existence. They can no longer say the Kalima, offer prayers, call their mosques 'mosques', or even greet someone with Assalamu Alaikum. They are barred from celebrating Eid publicly, from sacrificing animals, from publishing religious texts, or identifying as Muslims on legal documents. These are not isolated policies; they are systemic exclusions, written into the Constitution and enforced through law, police, mobs, and sometimes, bullets. A Nation Built by Them Now Bans Them This wasn't always so. The Ahmadiyya community were not only part of the Pakistan movement—they were its intellectual engine. Sir Zafarullah Khan, a devout Ahmadi, was Pakistan's first foreign minister and one of the sharpest legal minds of his era. He argued the case for Pakistan before international courts and served as President of the UN General Assembly and the International Court of Justice. His devotion to Pakistan was never in doubt. But today, his name is missing from textbooks. His face is hidden from public memory. His tombstone was desecrated by authorities because it dared mention he was a 'Muslim'. A man who helped build the identity of the nation was stripped of his own. This erasure is not metaphorical—it is physical. Ahmadi graves are dug up and their tombstones vandalised. Their houses of worship are attacked, sealed, and demolished. In several cities, including Lahore, Faisalabad, and Sargodha, police have stopped Ahmadis from offering Eid prayers or sacrificing animals, citing religious 'sensitivities'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Sensitivities so brittle they cannot bear to see someone pray differently. And when they are not being policed, they are being hunted. Over the past two decades, Ahmadi men, women, and children have been killed in their homes, their businesses, and their places of worship. In 2010, twin attacks on Ahmadi mosques in Lahore killed over 80 worshippers in one day. The perpetrators were hailed as martyrs by extremist groups. Not a single national leader showed up to mourn the dead. More recently, targeted killings have continued unabated. In just one month, May 2025, several Ahmadis were shot dead in separate incidents across Punjab and Sindh. Their only crime: existing while Ahmadi. And each time, the public reaction becomes more muted. Another name. Another headline. Then nothing. The horror now lies not just in the violence—but in its normalisation. In the way the country shrugs and scrolls past. In how media coverage is couched with 'alleged' blasphemy or 'community tensions', as if this were a dispute over noise, not blood. But let us not confuse the silence for peace. It is not peace. It is paralysis. It is a society rotting in its soul, one atrocity at a time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Where Does Hatred End, If It Ever Ends? The persecution of Ahmadis is not just a tragedy for them—it is a mirror held up to the nation. And what it reflects is terrifying because this hatred does not stop. It moves. From Ahmadis to Shias. From Christians to Hindus. From liberals to journalists. From women to human rights defenders. The same logic that declares Ahmadis as infidels now turns on Shia processions, Shia prayer leaders, and anyone who dares differ from the rigid orthodoxy of state-approved Islam. This is not an accident. It is a trajectory. When a state empowers religious bigotry, when it legislates against difference, when it builds identity on exclusion—it creates a society that is permanently at war with itself. It cannot breathe. It cannot dream. It cannot grow. It is trapped in a perpetual witch-hunt, always chasing the next heretic. In schools, children are taught to hate. In sermons, preachers call for violence. In courts, judges bow to mob pressure. And in Parliament, lawmakers sign away the rights of their fellow citizens in the name of faith. We must ask: where does this end? What future does Pakistan have if it continues to punish difference, if it continues to erase pluralism, if it continues to exalt one interpretation of faith as the only legitimate one? Do we really believe that God, in His vastness, is so small as to be offended by someone else's prayer? Do we really think that the path to salvation is paved with the blood of others? If Ahmadis are 'wrong', should we kill them? If Shias are 'misguided', should we silence them? If Christians are 'infidels', should we burn their homes? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD These questions are not rhetorical. They are real. Because right now, the answers playing out in Pakistan are: yes. Yes, kill them. Yes, silence them. Yes, burn their homes. And anyone who thinks differently is next. This is the logic of fascism. And Pakistan is inching toward it, day by bloody day. Yet there are those who still resist. Ahmadi leaders in exile continue to preach peace. Their followers continue to work quietly in education, medicine, and social service. Many Pakistanis—Shia and Sunni, secular and religious—speak out in defence of Ahmadis, often at great personal risk. These are the flickers of hope. The quiet flames that refuse to die. But they cannot carry the burden alone. It is not enough for a few to whisper when the nation shouts hate. It is not enough for the world to tweet condolences after massacres. There must be a reckoning. Pakistan must remember that a country cannot be purified into unity. It must be expanded into tolerance. And so the challenge is this: can Pakistanis accept difference? Can they live beside people whose beliefs diverge from our own? Can they build a country not on fear but on freedom? If the answer is no—if Ahmadis must be crushed for faith, Shias questioned for loyalty, and Christians punished for existing—then we must admit Pakistan is not a nation. Pakistan is an inquisition. But if the answer is yes—if Pakistanis can make space for each other, if they can disagree without destruction, if they can attest to the ideals of justice and dignity—then perhaps there is still a future worth dreaming of. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Until that answer is chosen, every sacrifice is meaningless. Every Eid is hollow. Every prayer is an echo bouncing off broken walls and shuttered mosques. And every child born into Pakistan is not a citizen—but a suspect in his/her own nation. The question lingers, louder each year: If those who built the house are no longer welcome in it, what kind of house have they made? Tehmeena Rizvi is a Policy Analyst and PhD scholar at Bennett University. Her areas of work include Women, Peace, and Security (South Asia), focusing on the intersection of gender, conflict, and religion, with a research emphasis on the Kashmir region, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
India Today
11-06-2025
- Politics
- India Today
No prayer, no sacrifice: Ahmadis Muslims barred from Eid prayers in Pakistan
Religious extremists, backed by local authorities, stopped members of Pakistan's Ahmadi community from offering Eid-ul-Azha prayers in at least seven cities, the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP) said on to the JAP, police in Punjab arrested two Ahmadis and booked three others under Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws for attempting to perform the traditional animal sacrifice — a core Eid ritual. In some cases, members of the hardline Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) allegedly forced Ahmadis to recite the Islamic declaration of faith under threat, claiming their 'conversion' as a were reportedly barred from offering Eid prayers in Khushab, Mirpur Khas, Lodhran, Bhakkar, Rajanpur, Umerkot, Larkana, and Karachi. JAP said the religious extremists, along with the local administrations, stopped Ahmadis from offering Eid prayers within the confines of their worship places. In Lahore, the oldest Ahmadi place of worship in Ghari Shahu was sealed on Eid day after TLP activists demanded police Nazimabad, Karachi, the JAP said Irfan-ul-Haq and his son were taken to the police station along with their sacrificial animal by the TLP activists."Fearing for their safety, they recited the Islamic declaration of faith. The TLP activists celebrated by garlanding them and claiming their conversion to Islam," it police said they arrested two Ahmadis and booked three others under Section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code for attempting to slaughter sacrificial animals. They said that under the law, Ahmadis cannot observe Islamic JAP said that this treatment is not only discriminatory but also unconstitutional and illegal. "Under Article 20 of Pakistan's Constitution, every citizen is guaranteed freedom of religion. However, Ahmadis are routinely denied this right along with other fundamental rights," it organization warned that the increasing boldness of extremist groups like the TLP poses a grave threat to the community. 'The Ahmadi community is extremely vulnerable... these forced conversions are serious human rights violations.'The crackdown follows a string of recent attacks, including the desecration of over 100 Ahmadi graves in Punjab and the killing of a senior Ahmadi doctor in Parliament in 1974 declared the community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were not just banned from calling themselves Muslims but were also barred from practicing aspects of Islam.(With inputs from PTI)
