The condemned: A special report on Ahmadi persecution - coming soon
Ahmadis remain under a constant state of attack; killed with impunity because their persecution is ignored.
'The condemned’ is an endeavor to chronicle Ahmadi persecution in Pakistan.
The upcoming documentary aims to let voices from the community tell their stories themselves. Most of the interviews have been recorded without revealing the identities of the interviewees because the degree of threat these people face is extreme.
For an Ahmadi, to even come out in public to let the society openly know that he or she is a follower of this faith is a risk. To film the major chunk of the report, we travelled to Rabwah which is the hometown of the community in Pakistan and also the safest place for an Ahmadi to live in the country.
There are many victims of persecution who cannot even leave the town out of fear for their lives.
This is their story.
Primary target
The Ahmadi population remains under what is a constant state of attack. Reports of assaults and murders are received frequently…Ahmadi-specific laws enforced in the country, since the 1970s, prevent the community from “posing” as Muslims or calling their places of worship “mosques”.
The treatment meted out to the Ahmadi community is a very biased one, where they have faced year after year of persecution and abuse. Further disturbing is the reality that there is no sign that such practices will end soon.
Why speak for the Ahmadis?
A fragile defence of the silence on the issue could be along the lines that it is not really my cause or you know one cannot speak for everybody or on every issue, etc. That is ridiculous and cowardly; you cannot let a moral challenge go when it is menacingly looking you in the eye. The discussion on the persecution of Ahmadis has a sobering effect, even on some of the most firebrand, outspoken activists. The discussion is subdued, with often a tedious effort to search for neutral, inoffensive words since the matter is ‘sensitive’.
A most dangerous place
Ahmadis may be killed with impunity because their persecution by a significant segment of society is ignored by the state and the government of the day…Hatred and extremism are becoming the hallmarks of the sociology of the state.
The upcoming documentary aims to let voices from the community tell their stories themselves. Most of the interviews have been recorded without revealing the identities of the interviewees because the degree of threat these people face is extreme.
For an Ahmadi, to even come out in public to let the society openly know that he or she is a follower of this faith is a risk. To film the major chunk of the report, we travelled to Rabwah which is the hometown of the community in Pakistan and also the safest place for an Ahmadi to live in the country.
There are many victims of persecution who cannot even leave the town out of fear for their lives.
This is their story.
BACKGROUND
Primary target
The Ahmadi population remains under what is a constant state of attack. Reports of assaults and murders are received frequently…Ahmadi-specific laws enforced in the country, since the 1970s, prevent the community from “posing” as Muslims or calling their places of worship “mosques”.
The treatment meted out to the Ahmadi community is a very biased one, where they have faced year after year of persecution and abuse. Further disturbing is the reality that there is no sign that such practices will end soon.
Why speak for the Ahmadis?
A fragile defence of the silence on the issue could be along the lines that it is not really my cause or you know one cannot speak for everybody or on every issue, etc. That is ridiculous and cowardly; you cannot let a moral challenge go when it is menacingly looking you in the eye. The discussion on the persecution of Ahmadis has a sobering effect, even on some of the most firebrand, outspoken activists. The discussion is subdued, with often a tedious effort to search for neutral, inoffensive words since the matter is ‘sensitive’.
A most dangerous place
Ahmadis may be killed with impunity because their persecution by a significant segment of society is ignored by the state and the government of the day…Hatred and extremism are becoming the hallmarks of the sociology of the state.