PAKISTAN: A Call to protect the life of a converted Ahmadi and his family under constant threat from religious extremists in Pakistan

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a Muslim national from the Shia community in Pakistan, the second largest sect of Islam, who has by his own choice, converted from Islam to Ahmadi religion is now facing threats to his life.  The AHRC has also learnt that family members have kidnapped his wife and his child as punishment for adopting a religion of his choosing other than Islam. The community where he resides has declared him an infidel and has deemed that he is to be killed by the community due to his religious beliefs. 

The AHRC has also received information that a nephew of the person has filed a First Information Report with the Police, accusing him of spreading hate against Muslims and for preaching Ahmedi ideology and religion in the community. According to reports the police have, in turn filed a criminal case against this person for instigating a sectarian violence. He is hiding in different cities as his name and photos have been sent to different religious groups that a Muslim has adopted Ahmadi religion which is against the basis of Islam.

The AHRC noted with concern, the persecution of Ahmadi’s by religious fundamentalists in Pakistan, which has to date continued unabated and they have viewed conversions into the Ahmadi sect as one of the biggest crimes against Islamic principles. 

CASE NARRATIVE:

According to the information received by the AHRC, Mr. Sharafat Din, 35 years of age, the son of Ahmed Mir and a resident of Gilgit-Baltistan province Pakistan, who hails from the Shia Sect of Islam, on his own choice adopted the Ahmadi faith in June last year (2013). The Shia Sect is the second largest sect of Islam. 

Pakistan has officially declared the Ahmadis to be non-Muslims and in their freedom of religion has been curtailed by a series of ordinances, acts and constitutional amendments. The Ahmadi sect was declared un-Islamic by a constitutional amendment in 1974  and all other  Islamic sects continue to discriminate against the  Ahmadiyya community so much so that they are not even allowed to perform any Islamic rituals , they are also barred by law from worshipping in non-Ahmadi mosques or public prayer rooms, performing the Muslim call to prayer, using the traditional Islamic greeting in public and or  publicly quoting from the Quran and any Ahmadi is meted with the ultimate punishment by killing if found engaging in any of these activities. 

No sooner, Mr Sharafat Din adopted the Ahmadiyya faith he had started receiving threats from his family members, including his in-laws, his employer, Muslim militant groups, from even the law enforcement agencies such as the police and security guards posted in Gilgit-Baltistan province bordering China. The AHRC also learnt that Mr. Din, his wife and son had all been kidnapped while he was travelling from Islamabad to Chanab Nagar, the former Rabwa province which was the heart of the Ahmadiyya community, after attending an Ahamdiya religious sermon. 

Mr. Din was later detained for 15 days, together with his family at a house owned by his in laws in Gilgit province. During this time of detention, it is learnt that Mr. Din was severely beaten and tortured forcing him to convert back to Islam. According to information received by the AHRC, Mr. Din had been in a severely critical state, when his wife had helped him escape the captors. Following this incident and for orchestrating her husband’s escape, Mr. Din’s wife and young child have been forcibly taken away to an unknown location and Mr. Din claims that to-date he has not seen his wife and does not know the whereabouts of his family. 

Mr. Din, worked was an employee of a commercial bank, Karakuram Cooperative Bank in Danyour Gilgit, before his conversion and as a result was forced to resign from his employment. Mr Din informed the AHRC that he was continuously being victimized by both the bank staff as well as the Manager following his conversion and according to him staff at the Bank have threatened him with inflicting physical punishment in public if he does not resign. 

The First Information report filed against Mr. Din by his nephew accused him of preaching Ahmadiyya religion, which was made a criminal offence according to the constitutional amendment of 1984 by the then military dictator, General Zia-ul-Haq. Accordingly, on September 7, 2013 Danyour police have filed a case under section 157 of PPC for investigation against Mr. Din. 

Further, the AHRC also learnt that officials of ‘National Database and Registration Authority’ (NADRA) in Gilgit, have forced Mr. Din to even withhold his National Identity Card due to his conversion from Islam to the Ahmadi faith. The NADRA is an authority which issues computerized national identity cards in Pakistan. According to Mr Din, staff at the NADRA have been hostile towards him, and have threatened him to immediately withdraw his ID Card. Succumbing to such threats and pressure Mr Din had converted his ID Card and declared himself as an Ahmadi and his passport too cannot be renewed since the conversion. Under Pakistan regulations, in applying for a passport or a national ID card, all Pakistanis are required to sign an oath declaring Mirza Ghulam Ahmad ( the founder of the Ahmadi faith) to be an impostor and all Ahmadis to be non-Muslims.

Mr. Din has also written letters to the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other human rights organizations to assist him to find his family. However to date, authorities have ignored his calls for assistance due to his faith. His calls for assistance have deliberately fallen on deaf ears of all these authorities due to an inherent fear of possible backlash from Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan.   

The AHRC learns that Mr. Din as a result is in hiding in different locations never staying in one place due to fear of attacks to his life from these Muslim fundamentalists who according to information have been in pursuit of him and he fears for his life. 

Although the Constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom to profess a religion of choice, as per Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan, contrary provisions have been enacted in the Pakistan Penal Code, which according to Section 298, which precludes this freedom to Ahmadis and any person professing the Ahmadi and ‘in any manner …outrages the religious feelings of Muslims,’ are punishable with imprisonment of either three years or a fine. Further, although, the government of Pakistan has ratified the UN Convention  on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which guarantees the right to freedom of thought religions and conscience , Pakistan has failed to enact domestic legislation nor let alone guarantee the right to freedom of conscience thought and religion, in its obligations to UN Convention.

These contradictions in law as well as practice of religious fundamentalism has accorded a free hand free hand to the extremists religious fundamentalists in Pakistan as well other powerful groups to take the law unto their own hands  and wield it as they please in punishing innocent citizens for their religious beliefs and faith. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The lives of the three others also Ahmadis, who have been accused of blasphemy, are yet in danger and the government has flatly refused to provide them with security.

Religious minorities in Pakistan are living in constant fear for their lives. In 1974 the Ahmadiyya sect was declared as Non-Muslim and the followers have been arrested for reading the Quran, holding religious celebrations and having Quranic verses on rings or wedding cards.  According to Ahmadiyya Jamat, almost 400 Ahmadis have been murdered for their faith and belief in Pakistan and thousands arrested for declaring Islam to be their religion or following the Islamic Code of worship and the Islamic Code of Conduct. 

Pakistan is today categorized amongst the failed States because of its indifferent attitude towards religious minorities. It is incapable of providing safety and security for its citizens and its irresponsible enforcement of blasphemy laws, which are grossly abused. All this has resulted in the victimisation law-abiding innocent Ahmadi Muslim citizens.

In an annual report, US Commission on International Religious Freedom said that Pakistan “represents the worst situation in the world for religious freedom” among countries that are not already on the US blacklist and that conditions in the past year “hit an all-time low.” According to the report the ‘Ahmadi minority in Pakistan live under something really resembling an apartheid-like system subject to severe legal restrictions,” compared to that of the situation in South Africa’s 1948-1994 system of forced racial separation. Ahmadis have faced a series of deadly attacks and desecration of their graves. Ahmadis boycotted last year’s election because they would have had to identify themselves as non-Muslims. The report also voiced alarm about Pakistan’s treatment of Hindus, Christians and Shia Muslims. It said Pakistan has sentenced to death or jailed for life 36 people for blasphemy, far more than any other country in the world. Mr Din is yet another victim among many thousands more in Pakistan and AHRC urges authorities in Pakistan to heed to the calls for assistance from Mr Din, for his safety and to find his family. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the authorities calling for the safe recovery of Mr Din’s wife and child and for their safety – they have been forcibly detained at an unknown location merely as a punishment for following a religious faith of his choice. Please also urge them to provide protection to Mr. Din and his family and take appropriate action against the family members of both the victims. The authorities must adhere to provisions of Article 20 of the Constitution of Pakistan, which safeguards freedom of religion. Action must also be instituted against,  all officers at the NADRA in Gilgit for acts of discrimination and intimidations against Mr. Din as well as the government of Pakistan for the blatant failure to provide safety and security to persons professing other religions and for the failure to guarantee and enforce equal treatment and protection to all citizens of Pakistan.

Please note that the AHRC has written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Freedom to Religion or Belief calling for his intervention into this matter.

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