The Ahmadi students were “accused” of preaching their religious beliefs. The principal was pressured into expelling the entire Ahmadi student body by a mob of protesters belonging to Islami Jamiat e Talaba. The mob circled the Principal’s office and demanded the expulsions. The same day, a mob of about 300 college students also barged into Ahmadi students’ rooms, beat them and threw their luggage out of their rooms.Ahmadi's are treated horribly in Pakistan (here is a detailed analysis of their persecution). They are constitutionally declared "non-Muslims" - in fact, it is considered a crime if they call their place of worship (which is a mosque) a "mosque" or if they utter religious phrases from the Qur'an.The renewal of my Pakistani passport is an ordeal - as one of the main requirements on the passport form is to attest that Ahmadi's are not Muslims and that their founder is an imposter prophet. Oh you don't believe me? Just download the passport renewal form and check out the bottom of second page. To the credit of the government, they are employing these obscene discriminations in the 21st century - daring the sensibilities of every reasonable person on the planet.
What makes this incident especially troubling is the fact that the decision to expel Ahmadi students was taken by a government-run medical school, under full knowledge of the relevant Punjab ministries.
Here is more about student expulsion from the Daily Times: (PMC is Punjab Medical College)
Preaching against Ahmadis: Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya Pakistan Rabwah spokesman Saleemuddin alleged that the PMC hostel boarders and wardens launched a campaign against female Ahmadi students last month.Shameful.
He alleged that some of the boarders brought four of the Ahmadi students out of their rooms in the midnight of June 4, and locked them in another room, where they were beaten up. He alleged that local cleric Allama Junaid, invited to the college mosque to give a sermon on the same night, instigated students against Ahmadis.
He alleged that the boarders, with the consent of hostel wardens, forced 15 students – 11 girls and five boys –to leave the hostels at 4am on June 4. He alleged that on June 5, a mob of 300 college students had barged into Ahmadi students’ rooms, beat them and threw their luggage out of their rooms. He alleged that the boarders also stole valuables of Ahmadi students. He said that the PMC principal had also ordered the Ahmadi students to return home till the matter cooled down.
He said that the principal had also formed a disciplinary committee to probe into the matter, which, the spokesman alleged, gave its verdict to boot out 23 students without investigating the case. “The committee claimed to have rusticated the student under Rule iii, Clause-V, of the college prospectus,” he said.
I can't believe that the term "Muslim" is defined within the Pakistani constitution. And that there is then such a firm basis for discrimination against those belonging to a different Muslim sect.
ReplyDeleteIt seems pretty pervasive if it's included in such a mundane bureaucratic document as a passport application. I take it you would be filing under the first, rather than "Muslim Applicant" heading?
This was initially done by Bhutto (Benazir's father) in the 70's to appease some religious parties. However, the persecution of Ahmadis and this sort of discrimination really went into high gear under Zia in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteI take it you would be filing under the first, rather than "Muslim Applicant" heading?
No, that will literally be apostasy - signed and delivered...and thats what so clever about the form.
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Uphold Medical Education for All in Pakistan, Despite Cries from Clerics
ReplyDeleteRe ‘Students expelled in Pakistan because of their religion,’ I am writing to protest the expulsion last week of 23 medical students from Pakistan’s Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, only because they belonged to a minority religious group the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. In a letter issued from the College Principal naming the 15 girls and 8 boys, a vague reason cited for expulsion was ‘religious dispute’ and distribution of ‘hate material.’ Nothing could be farther from the facts. Firstly, Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan and worldwide are outstanding, peaceful, law-abiding citizens, who adhere to their motto “Love for All, Hatred for None.” Secondly, religious outcry and hate propaganda were in point of fact waged against the Ahmadi students by a mob of extremist clerics called the ‘Islami Jamiat e Talaba.’ Ironically, in executing the expulsion, the Principal and Government-run medical college complied with demands from the clerics. I remind the honorable Principal that his college is a steward of the future of Pakistani medicine. This duty requires that he should rise above the cackle of the cleric and prevent religious bigotry from overrunning decisions made by the College. By denying innocent medical students the right to completing their education, solely based on their religious affiliation, Pakistan will continue to fall not only in the eyes of the global medical and scientific community but more importantly in the estimation of God. Thus for the sake of God, country, and the universal codes of medical practice that the college claims to uphold, I humbly request that Punjab Medical College rescind its decision to expel the Ahmadi students.
Sohail Husain is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThe psychology of persecution has always been fascinating to me. Is it stem from truly theological issues, or is theology just a rationalization for clerics defending their religious monopoly by stifling dissent?
I tend to lean toward the second, and here's why: this nonsense happens in science and politics, too -- which are ostensibly secular concerns. It even happens when the established cool kids gossip and badmouth the new kid in school.
Seems to me this is less about religion than the clerics' cynical use of religious language to defend their secular power and authority.
It's not that these morons are too religious. It's that they're not religious enough to actually understand what their Prophet taught.
FWIW, anyway.
i dunno wht these students were doing and i cant comment on this incident either because i dont know the details...
ReplyDeleteBut one thing is clear that Ahmadis/Qadiyanis are not Muslims.....They donot belive in the finality of Prophet Muhammad(SAW) prophethood.....They have been declared a non muslim minority....
So plz dont get confused by calling them muslims