By A.Abdul Aziz

Through an unprecedented report, the top international organization of the world lit a light of hope for a severely persecuted community.

Did the time of redress begin for Ahmadi Muslims? It is of course too early to say, but a good sign arrived, unexpected, on July 14, 2024, from the United Nations in Geneva. Or this is the way Ahmadis welcomed the news on the eve and during the (Ahmadiyya convention) Jalsa Salana UK, July 26–28, 2024. This is the annual gathering of prayer that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (jama’at” meaning community”) celebrates since 2005 on a 208-acre land, named Hadiqat-ul-Mahdi, or Oaklands Farm, it owns in the territory of the city of Alton, Surrey, some 45 miles southwest of London.

Nine independent experts openly expressed concern for the climate of violence and abuse that surrounds Ahmadis in Pakistan, where the persecution against this group, distinctively and specifically for its beliefs, is widespread, serious, and state-sponsored.

We are alarmed by ongoing reports of violence and discrimination against the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan,” the experts write. We urge Pakistani authorities to take immediate action to address this situation. Urgent measures are necessary to respond to these violent attacks and the broader atmosphere of hatred and discrimination which feeds it.”

The proximate cause of the written statement is the extrajudicial killing of two Ahmadis in Saad Ullah Pur on July 8, 2024, and of the President of the Bahwalpur Ahmadiyya Muslim Community on March 4, 2024, but of course observers understand these were just the most recent episodes of a long history of bloody harassment of the community.

Cleverly and strategically, the statement of the nine experts salutes the resolution adopted by the Pakistan National Assembly on 23 June 2024, which urges the federal and provincial governments of the country to ensure the security of all citizens of Pakistan, implicitly including religious minorities and by default also Ahmadis.

It is the first time that the UN is so direct in its judgment on Pakistan and the Ahmadis. The objective value of this statement cannot thus be underestimated. The group of experts was composed by Matthew Gillett, serving as the Chairperson, Ganna Yudkivska as Vice-Chair on Communications, Priya Gopalan as Vice-Chair on Follow-Up, Miriam Estrada-Castillo and Mumba Malila of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Nazila Ghanea, and Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association Gina Romero.

Nasim Malik, Secretary General of the International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) in London, the UK, cannot contain its satisfaction. Speaking to Bitter Winter” at the U.K. Convention (Jalsa Salana}, he said he is convinced this is a good starting point. The light on the suffering of the Ahmadis in Pakistan has been lit and it is quite an important light by the most important international organization,” he said. It is the product of fine-tuned advocacy: calm and firm, peaceful and strong. We will start from here: we need to start from here to favor a better future. Indeed, tis extraordinary international recognition sets a point of no-return. No one can now ignore what is happening to the Ahmadis, no one can continue remaining silent. We will build on this.”

IHRC, which is organizing new fact-finding missions in the world to ascertain the life conditions of the Ahmadis, promises to be even more vigilant than before. We are comforted by the report of the UN nine experts,” added Malik. Hope is on its way.”

Source: Nine UN Experts Warn Pakistani Government on the Fate of Ahmadis (bitterwinter.org)