- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Local police stations were reportedly instructed to stop members of the Ahmadi community from carrying out ‘qurbani’ saying it is “offensive to other Muslims”.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Ahmadi community has continued to face persecution in Pakistan as the police in the country’s Punjab province has come up with directives asking them not to organise ‘qurbani’ (sacrifice) and celebrating Eid-al-Adha, one of the biggest Islamic festivals.
According to News18, local police stations were instructed to stop members of the Ahmadi community from carrying out ‘qurbani’ saying it is “offensive to other Muslims”.
Those who refused to follow the order would be jailed or made to pay penalty as it would spark tensions and help extremist elements, the order said.
Members of the Ahmadi community in Pakistan are estimated to be between 0.22 per cent and 2.2 per cent of the entire population. As they have often been subjected to religious persecution and discrimination, a Pew Research Center report said only seven per cent of Pakistanis consider the Ahmadis as Muslims.
Pakistan-based journalist Naila Inayat said in a tweet, “Freedom to practice religion, not for Ahmadis in Pakistan. Now, Ahmadi families offering Eid prayers, sacrificing animals even within their homes are threatened to be booked for blasphemy under 298-C.”
In two complaints filed with the police, the complainants cited Section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, saying that people from the community can neither call themselves Muslim nor adopt Shaair-i-Islam, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.
“Section 298-C of the PPC elaborates on the penalty for a person of the Ahmadi group calling themselves a Muslim or preaching or propagating their faith,” the report said.
The development comes after Pakistan’s supreme court ruled last year that stopping non-Muslims from practising their religion within the confines of their place of worship was not constitutional.
(With agency inputs)
