Lahore, Pakistan - During the year 2009, eleven Ahmadis were killed while numerous others became victims of attempted killings, a recently published report titled ‘Persecution of Ahmadis in Pakistan during the year 2009’.
Since the promulgation of an anti-Ahmadi law in 1984, not a year has passed when there have been less than ten Ahmadi casualities due to religious bias. The report, which was released by Nazarat Umoor-e-Aama Sadr Anjuman Ahmadia Pakistan (Rabwa), claimed that the actions of “Ahmadi opponents” had been encouraged largely by the prejudiced attitude of the authorities.
It alleged that the federal government had been in denial of the human rights and religious freedom of the Ahmadis, especially the governments of Punjab and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from the killings, dozens of Ahmadis, including women and children, were booked for blasphemy. The report vehemently condemned the behaviour of the authorities and the “brutalities of religious fanatics” against the Ahmadi sect, while urging the federal as well as the provincial governments to take concrete steps to prevent gross abuse of human rights.