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Glasgow:  A UK-based human rights organisation is calling on the authorities in Pakistan to release a 72-year-old doctor who was arrested for ‘posing as a Muslim’ after being secretly filmed by a patient at his surgery. Global Minorities Alliance, a Glasgow-based human rights organisation which advocates for the rights of minority communities the world over, denounced the imprisonment as a further example of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws being used to persecute minorities and whip up religious hatred rather than seek justice in a country which is increasingly being divided by violence. Mr Masood Ahmad, a member of the Ahmadiyya community, was charged under Pakistan’s anti-Ahmadiyya blasphemy legislation after a religious leader posing as a patient attended his homeopathy clinic in Lahore and secretly recorded him reading a verse from the Quran. Mr Ahmad, who has dual Pakistani/UK nationality and previously lived in London, was arrested shortly after and is now in pri...

A 17 year old Ahmadi boy, Arsalan Sarwar, was shot fatally in Satellite town area of Rawalpindi yesterday, it is reported. According to the Sadr Anjuman Ahmadiyya Pakistan spokesperson, Saleem-ud Din, the circumstances surrounding the youngster’s killing are not yet clear. Mr Din said he did not want to speculate without full and accurate information. “I will have further details and I will update tomorrow.” "Please bear with me in the meantime and do not speculate without facts," the Ahmadiyya spokesperson further cautioned. According to some unconfirmed reports in the social media, the victim was seen installing decorative lighting on the day of Eid Milad-un-Nabi, the Holy Prophet Muhammad's birthday, when he was killed. Many rights groups say the Ahmadi killings are the direct result of a reckless disregard by Pakistani authorities of the hate-materials routinely published against Ahmadis which openly provoke and incite public to kill Ahmadis. “Governmen...

A one-and-a-half-year-old infant was buried four days after she died from pneumonia in Toba Tek Singh, Punjab province.   The girl, who was from an Ahmadi family, died on December 19, and was taken for burial the following day. At the cemetery the local clerics gathered with approximately fifty men who were armed with sticks and batons. The girl belonged to the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam, declared non Islamic through constitutional amendments. The men refused to let the Ahmadis bury the girl in the common graveyard and prevented them from digging the grave. In Chak 312-JB Kathowali, Gojra, Toba Tek Singh, the Ahmadi and local Muslim population have lived together for six decades after the creation of Pakistan and the graveyard was used by both communities without dispute. However, from the last year the Muslim fundamentalist tried to introduce some families, particularly unmarried persons, who became busy instigating the people to agitate against the Ahmadis in order to dislodge...

The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to forward this statement regarding persons who chose to join the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam and the treatment they received thereafter. It is extremely perturbing that we have to bring to the notice of the world’s community the plight of two innocent, loyal citizens of Saudi Arabia who had committed no offence at all, were arrested on 14 May 2012 just because they had chosen to join the The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to forward this statement regarding persons who chose to join the Ahmadiyya sect of Islam and the treatment they received thereafter. It is extremely perturbing that we have to bring to the notice of the world’s community the plight of two innocent, loyal citizens of Saudi Arabia who had committed no offence at all, were arrested on 14 May 2012 just because they had chosen to join the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community for the betterment of their understanding and practice of the teachings of Islam. It is a heart rendering...

Christianity is the world's largest religion, yet being a believer can be dangerous: A report finds that Christians are discriminated against in 130 countries - and the situation is only getting worse. Three years ago, Asaia Bibi was a farm worker in Pakistan when she became subject of a dangerous accusation: "You insulted the Prophet!" In no time, the mother of five had been shepherded to the district court in the town of Nankana Sahib in Punjab province. The judges found Bibi, a Christian, guilty of blasphemy and imposed the death sentence. It turned out Bibi was the victim of character assassination. Nonetheless, she remains in prison, and execution still looms. Blasphemy legislation in Pakistan makes it easy to put unpopular people behind bars, be they Christian, Muslim or atheist. There is a growing number of similar stories, according to the "Ecumenical Report on the Religious Freedom of Christians Worldwide" which was published recently as joint resear...

Twenty Ahmadiyah followers have missed work and school, remaining holed up in the Al-Misbah Mosque in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, since local officials sealed it off on April 4. The security coordinator for the Ahmadiyah Indonesia Congregation, Deden Sudjana, said on Saturday that the Ahmadis were in good condition and would stay in the mosque until the city administration allowed the followers of the minority Muslim sect to practice their religion and remove the fence sealing the mosque. However, officials appear unlikely to honor that request. Deden said that Bekasi Mayor Rahmat Effendi invited the Bekasi Ahmadiyah congregation members to a dialogue on April 11, which he said ended in deadlock and was attended by representatives of the Bekasi branch of the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI). The administration, according to Deden, had agreed to open the mosque only if the Ahmadis removed Islam from their congregation’s name or allowed officials to arrange all services at the mosque, includ...

Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan  News Report December 2012 Report...

An Ahmadi Muslim who was shot in the head in Pakistan has arrived in the UK for treatment and will now claim asylum here in order to avoid returning to his home country. Ummad Farooq, who was in the UK studying in Sunderland on a student visa, had gone home to Karachi for his brother Saad's wedding on the 19 October when the same brother was killed in the attack. He came back to the UK with the bullet still lodged in his head and is now getting treatment at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham - the hospital treating Taliban victim Malala Yousafzai. Ummad Farooq says his family were targeted because his father is the president of the Ahmadiyya community in his locality. Ahmadis are a Muslim sect whose views differ from mainstream Islam. They suffer persecution because of this and in 1974 the Pakistani government declared the sect non-Muslim. He spoke to BBC Asian Network reporter Catrin Nye. You can hear more on this story on  Asian Network Reports  at 13:00 ...

KARACHI:  Tragedy struck an Ahmedi family in Nawabshah once again when the son was shot at by an unidentified man only a few years after his father was killed. The victim A*, who is a lawyer, was at his brother’s shop – taking a break from his morning work at the district courts – when a man walked up to him, opened fire and disappeared into the crowd. The incident took place at Liaquat Market Road on April 2, according to the victim’s cousin, K. “I heard a gunshot and when I reached on the spot a few people were trying to take him to the hospital in a rickshaw,” the cousin recalled. “He might have been targeted because of his religious beliefs as he had no personal enmity.” Initially, A was rushed to Civil Hospital, Nawabshah, but was later moved to Karachi. “The bullet pierced his liver and the doctors have removed the affected part in a surgery,” said MA Khan, a spokesperson for Ahmediya community, “The bleeding hasn’t stopped until now.” The doctors feel, however, ...

Yet another attack on Pakistan’s minority Shiite sect – this time in Karachi on Sunday night, killing at least 45 people – further exposes the failure of the government to rein in a growing wave of sectarian violence. Sunni militants killed more than 400 Shiites in targeted attacks in Pakistan in 2012 – the largest annual total – according to Human Rights Watch. An attack on a billiard hall in southwest Baluchistan province in January  killed over 90 Shiites . Five weeks later a blast in a Shiite-dominated area of Quetta  killed a further 84 people. In response, Pakistan has put Baluchistan under direct government control in an attempt to curtail the action of the al-Qaeda linked militant groups that have operated freely there. The government also has clamped down on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the militant group that claimed responsibility for January’s attack and is widely believed to be behind the latest bomb attacks on Abbas Town, a Karachi suburb. Police arrested Malik ...

Recently an Ahmadi couple were denied permission to get married by the Religious Affairs Office in Indonesia’s West Java province, unless they agreed to convert to mainstream Islam. And last week, a blood donor event held by a group of Ahmadiyah in the same province was stopped by the authorities. Indonesia’s 200,000 Ahmadiyah people identify themselves as Muslim but hardline Islamic organisations have attacked them for not following mainstream Islamic practices. And in 2008, the Government announced a joint ministerial decree freezing the activities of Ahmadiyah followers. Many blame the decree for series of attacks against the Ahmadiyah. The United Nations’ Human Rights Chief has continuously urged the Indonesian government to tackle the problem. Citra Prastuti has more from Jakarta. Atep Upriyatna’s brother was recently refused permission to get married in the Religious Affairs Office in Tasikmalaya. The officials would only allow the marriage to go ahead if he converted...

The anti Ahmadiyya hate campaign has claimed another life on this Muslim holy day, Friday, in the city of Karachi in Sindh province of Pakistan. According to a report released by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community in Pakistan, an Ahmadi man of Baldia Town area of Karachi was killed and his father, brother, and father-in-law were critically injured when they were attacked while returning home after Friday prayer services. The group was travelling in a family caravan that was targeted by unknown assailants. According to the external affairs’ office of the community, the victim, Saad Farooq, was riding a motorcycle and following his other family members in a car when the caravan was sprayed with gunshots fired from behind. Saad Farooq on his motorcycle, and his father, Farooq Ahmad Kahloon, brother Amaad Farooq, and father-in-law, Chaudhary Nusrat, in the accompanying car, were all injured.

LAHORE: Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday directed federal government to block all blasphemous sights and material on Google and other websites. The judge placed this order on petition filed by Jamat-e-Islami. The judge ordered federal government to file its reply by November 08. The petition was filed by JI leaders Liaqat Baloch and Farid Ahmed Paracha seeking ban on all internet sites containing blasphemous material. Meanwhile, on another petition seeking directions for federal government to take the matter to the international court of justice, the LHC issued order to federal government to submit reply within three weeks. Justice Sagheer Ahmad Qadri of LHC was hearing the case. As proceedings started in the court advocate A K Dogar, the counsel for the petitioners contended that US president Barak Obama however, strongly condemned the anti-Islam movie but also stressed upon the supremacy of the constitution that allowed all such activities and...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a Muslim I have noticed how the recent upheaval about the film trailer which aimed to insult our beloved Prophet (pbuh) has taken over the news, Internet, twitter and blogs worldwide. It is difficult to not be offended as comments about the film are dominating every conversation everywhere. After being bombarded by rhetoric about the disgraceful film I felt compelled to watch it on YouTube. To be honest, the film seemed to be a pathetic attempt to deface the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) and after watching about 30 seconds of it I turned it off. Understanding that many people over the course of history have tried their very best to deface the Prophet of Islam (pbuh) I wanted to know how I should react to this situation. Looking to the Middle East I saw Muslims who stood up to challenge the production of the video yet they seemed barbaric in the way they expressed their hate...

French police enforced a ban on on protests over an anti-Islam film and cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed, made 21 arrests in Paris and thwarted plans for a march in a northern city. French police enforcing a ban on on protests over an anti-Islam film and cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed made 21 arrests in Paris on Saturday and thwarted plans for a march in a northern city. Those arrested in the capital, who included several veiled women, were detained near the Place de la Concorde, where a week ago an unauthorised demo against the film led to 150 arrests. Riot police were deployed in several areas of Paris Saturday to enforce the ban on protests over the US-produced film "Innocence of Muslims" and the cartoons published in a French satirical magazine.