Decades of persecution and a full ban on the Ahmadiyya faith has not changed the Government’s attitudes toward Pakistan’s most persecuted faith group. Ministers in Pakistan’s Provincial Assembly of Punjab continue to make sure the Ahmadis are not given any rights or recognition.
On August 31st, Minister for School Education, Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan came under fire over the alleged transfer of government schools to the Ahmadiyya community and organizations associated with it.
Ghiyas-ud-DinIn a fiery speech, Ghiyas-ud-Din said that such actions would lead to further deterioration in the standards of education. Neither the minister nor the Chair condemned the speech. Ghiyas-ud-Din is a PML-N MPA from Shakargarh.
Similarly, on September 2nd, another PML-N MPA Ilyas Chinioti spoke on his concern over a publisher identifying Pakistani Nobel Laureate Dr. Abdus Salam as a Muslim. Chinioti said Salam belonged to the Ahmadiyya community and hence was not a Muslim. He asked the chair to investigate the matter and seek a response from the publisher.
Ilyas ChiniotiMaulana Ilyas Chinioti is a supporter of the SSP (Sipah-e-Sahaba), a banned terrorist outfit and is a regular speaker at its rallies. Chinioti had also severely criticized Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif when he called the minority Ahmadiyya Community “our brothers”, to express sympathy after a gun and grenade attack that killed about 100 Ahmadis.