An American University Professor has exposed a Pakistani University’s secret hiring policy that prohibits hiring of Ahmadiyya Muslims. The professor is a member of an external committee that reviews applications of faculty candidates at Pakistani Universities.

In a recent blog post, a King Edward Medical University graduate, Abbis Haider detailed how the engineering professor called him to express his disappointment on the discriminatory anti-Ahmadiyya clauses in a Pakistani University’s application for a faculty position.

He said:

“I have not seen such overt discrimination ever in my life,”

In response to the blatant discrimination, the Engineering Professor sent the following response to the registrar of the university.

I am unable to associate myself with any religion-based exclusionary practice, and therefore will not submit my assessment of  ████████  research career and accomplishments.

We can now reveal that the university which was not named in the original post is UET Lahore as the Job Application form on the University’s website has clauses which are identical to the ones mentioned in the original blog post.

The clauses in the application ask the applicant to declare the following:

DECLARATION :

  • I solemnly declare that I believe that Hazrat Muhammad (peace and
    blessing of Allah be upon him) is the last Prophet of Allah and there is and
    was no prophet after him.
  • I have firm faith in Islam and I am not the follower of any such person who claims to be a prophet or religions reformer after Hazrat Muhammad (Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon
    him).
  • I do not belong to Qadiani Group or Lahori Group nor I am called Ahmadi.

The discriminatory policy not only applies to faculty candidates but also to students who wish to apply for  bachelor degree courses at the University. In the admission application form the students are also asked to sign a similar declaration.

In addition, application forms of BZU Mutan, UET Taxila and Fatima Jinnah College all contain similar declarations.

In 1974 Pakistan officially declared Ahmadis as non-Muslim and since then Ahmadis have faced severe persecution. They are legally forbidden to call themselves Muslims or their houses of worship mosques.  An Ahmadi can be jailed for three years for merely saying Salam (Islamic greeting) to other Muslims or doing anything that can give an impression that he is posing as a Muslim.