Under these circumstances, where very few people have the courage to speak for such a persecuted people, journalists and columnists such as Irfan Husain, Kamran Shafi and Arif Nizami have spoken — and spoken loudly — against this discrimination. Sirs, we applaud your audacity and your courage.
The underlying questions that remain to be answered are: why was it the Ahmadi community that was targeted in particular and who is responsible for these attacks? As to the first part, to say the least we’re considered heretics; even worse than kuffaar, as the so-called journalist, who has since denied it was him, on the leaked audiotape put it. Dr Aamir Liaqat Hussain declared us wajib-ul-qatl on his television show because of our beliefs relating specifically to prophethood.
There is no doubt that this society has become intolerant. We neither have the patience nor the courage to listen to each other. You don’t need more Fridays the 28ths to prove it. Pick up the paper and it’ll scream ‘Honour killing takes life of another woman’ and ‘Friend kills another over petty issue’ to your face.
The problem runs deep within the veins of this society and has the potential to tear down the entire social fabric of this nation. If this continues, we’ll end up destroying our own country. We must not, we cannot let that happen. It would be advisable for the government to start focusing on religious persecution in its own backyard before criticising the West for the same thing. Thumbs up to the state and the government! We certainly are on the path to resurrecting Jinnah’s Pakistan (Jinnah, by the way, called himself the protector-general of the minorities).
As far as the second question of who was responsible for the attacks is concerned, many claims have been made and blame has been apportioned as well. Within an hour of the attacks the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) reportedly declared itself to be behind them. An eminent religious scholar later said on a television show that there was no religious angle to this attack. Some have gone to the extent of placing the blame on CIA, RAW and foreign actors.
That utterly beggars belief. First we are labelled agents of such agencies. Then we are told that they led the attacks on us. So … we killed scores of our own people? So much for conspiracy theories!
Here’s what’s obvious. There was definitely a religious element to the attack if we are to take pointers from history (which I am sorry to say, we don’t). The fact that ‘Eradicating Qadiyaniat’ courses are reportedly being taught in seminaries and mosques only serves to prove the point.
This was indeed a terrorist attack which occurred because of religious differences and aimed to further expand these differences. Nobody just picks up a gun, goes haywire and starts shooting people. Mad crackpots do that. Yet if that is indeed the case, then Pakistan has the largest number of people suffering from insanity than perhaps anywhere in the world.
And please, we are Ahmadis. Not Qadiyanis and not Mirzayees. Plain, simple Ahmadis.
The second thing is that eyewitnesses report that those who carried out the attack were Pakistani, born and bred. Their appearances indicated that they were from southern Punjab and the northwestern parts of the country.
I only speak of the same problems that political commentators have been tirelessly writing and talking about for so long: the predominance of conspiracy theories, the rise of intolerance and our need to start recognising that we ourselves are to blame, instead of simply pointing across the border.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I have presented an account featuring my own opinion. I was not paid by any agency nor was I asked to write this by any entity or person. I write this of my own free will. The Ahmadi community doesn’t force you to accept its beliefs. We merely ask you to give us a chance to show you what we think is right. Is the price for this the blood of innocent civilians? Is this why we are treated as second-class citizens in our own country?
We are human, just like you. We have the same flesh and blood (that was spilled in Model Town and Garhi Shahu). Just like you. We have mothers, sisters, wives and children who wait for us to come home every evening. Just like you.
At least, in the name of humanity, condemn these attacks and raise your voice against this gross injustice.
Postscript: Those who were injured in these attacks, may you have a speedy recovery. And those who died, your memories shall remain embedded in our hearts and minds for ever. You shall never be forgotten. Rest in peace and God bless.
Concluded
The writer is a student.muztafaa9@gmail.com
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