Hate speech: Conference calls for boycott of Ahmadis

Participants were told to wage holy war against the community.

LAHORE:

Speakers at an anti-Ahmadi conference on Saturday vowed to expel all members of the Ahmadi community from the city.

The Radd-i-Qadianiyat Conference was held at Jamia Naeemia. The participants were told they had a duty to wage a holy war against Ahmadis. The audience which included a large number of students of the Jamia, vowed to wage ‘jihad’ against Ahmadis through their writings, speech, charity funds and corporal strength.

Maulana Ghulam Hussain Kiani, one of the speakers, said they would force Ahmadis to leave the city. “Their presence has polluted the city... their so-called places of worship are in fact centres of conspiracies against Muslims,” he said.

Kiani said that he had the ‘honour’ of ensuring the removal of Kalma Tayyeba from Darul Zikr, an Ahmadi worship place, at Garhi Shahu.

Advocate Badiuz Zaman, another speaker, told the participants not to befriend any Ahmadis. “Sharing utensils with Ahmadis is sinful,” he said, “Being friends with them is worse... the Holy Prophet (pbuh) disapproved of that.”

Zaman asked the participants to promise that they would do everything in their power to oppose Ahmadis in every way.

Stage Secretary Maulvi Muhammad Asghar urged the participants to take practical measures against the ‘blasphemers’. “How can you eat your meals in peace while there are Ahmadis living peacefully in your city?” he said. Asghar accused former Supreme Court Bar Association president Asma Jehangir of committing blasphemy, “That must be stopped at all cost,” he said.

Asghar also told the participants to stop consuming foods and beverages produced by Shezan. “They are made by Ahmadis. Buying these helps their movement against Muslims,” he said.

“There are 1,200 Ahmadis currently fighting for the Israel Defence Forces,” Asghar said, “They torture innocent Muslim Palestinians... Muslims shouldn’t even shake hands with Ahmadis.”

Sahibzada Syed Ibrarul Hasan Shah was also critical of the Ahle Hadith.

He said, “I don’t know why they think they are the ‘thekedars’ (guardians) of Khatam-i-Nabuwat ... they don’t even have the proper respect for the Holy Prophet (pbuh).”

The head of Jamia Naeemia said that according to the law, Ahmadis could not call themselves Muslims or preach their faith. They could also not call their places of worship mosques, but did.

The state should take action against them for violating the law, he said. “All schools of Islamic thought agree that Ahmadis are not Muslims,” he said.

Several people recited poems insulting Ahmadis and their religious leaders.

Mufti Haseeb Qadri, another speaker, regretted the language and criticised the conference organisers. “There should be some difference between the language used in the streets and a conference in a religious seminary,” he said, “The speakers should not have used indecent language. They should have focused on the subject.”

Munawar Ali Shahid, a member of the Ahmadiya community told The Express Tribune that the Anti-Ahmadi campaign was making their lives difficult.

He said the community in Lahore feared for their lives. “Many Ahmadi businessmen have left the city... instead of curbing such hateful speech the government provides these people security,” Shahid said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2013.