'No qurbani for Eid,' Pak cops force minority Ahmadi community to give it in writing

Lahore: Members of the minority Ahmadi community in Pakistan are being coerced by police into signing affidavits stating they will not perform animal sacrifice on the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha, a community organisation claimed Thursday.

The Ahmadi community members cannot perform qurbani, the ritual animal sacrifice, even within their own residences and if they do, police should take action against them, a lawyers' body has demanded, prompting a human rights body to claim it violates the community's constitutional right to freedom of religion or belief.

Eid-ul-Adha will be observed on Saturday in Pakistan.

Although Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, Pakistan's 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 practising several aspects of Islam.

According to Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP), Ahmadis are being forced by police to sign statements across districts in Punjab and in some parts of Sindh.

"Punjab government officials are issuing threats and harassing individual Ahmadis," the JAP alleged and claimed that it is a blatant violation of the religious freedom of Ahmadis.

"There is no legal basis to force them into submitting such writings. These acts are not just discriminatory, they are unconstitutional and inhumane," it said.

The JAP further alleged that the authorities are depriving the Ahmadis of their lawful rights, merely to appease extremist groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan. "The government must take immediate action to stop this unlawful practice," the JAP statement demanded.

Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court Bar Association has written to Punjab police demanding that they prevent the Ahmadi community from observing Eid rituals, and take strict action against any violation.

However, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed deep concern over the issue and said the Bar Association's letter, coupled with the requirement that Ahmadis should submit affidavits disavowing their beliefs, violates "the community's constitutional right to freedom of religion or belief under Article 20, and their right to equal citizenship."

The HRCP fears that this continued institutionalised discrimination against the Ahmadi community will empower vigilante actors and extremist groups to enforce a de facto ban on the community's freedom of movement and public participation.

"On the complaint of the people that since the Ahmadis perform Islamic rituals on the occasion of Eid ul Adha, they should be stopped from this practice, that is why the police have taken affidavits from some of the Ahmadi community members named by the TLP," police said.

The HRCP has asked the Lahore High Court Bar Association to withdraw its letter and asked the Punjab government to instruct local authorities to protect Ahmadis at a time when they are especially vulnerable to vigilantism.

The Ahmadi community is extremely vulnerable at the hands of extremist elements like the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which openly targets them with impunity across Pakistan.

In early May, a senior Ahmadi doctor was allegedly shot dead in Punjab province. On May 15, around 100 graves belonging to the minority community were desecrated in the same province.

In Pakistan, most Ahmadi places of worship have come under attack by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik activists. In some cases, police – acting under the pressure of religious extremists — demolished minarets and arches, and removed sacred writings.