Dear Messers Rafi Raza and Tanveer,
You don’t have to waste your time educating me on
the persecution of Ahmedies in Pakistan and on the details of that
black and disgusting ordinance of 1984. I know all that and I am not
questioning any of it. You ignored the first part of my post and
attacked the second.
I also agree with Rafi Raza
that persecution is persecution if it lasts only for 5 minutes. It
matters least to me whether they were suspended or evicted. They were
singled out because of their faith and that’s enough to qualify this
episode to be called a persecution and discrimination. And the most
unreliable source of information would be the website of the very
institution that committed the crime.
Mr. Tanveer implied,
without stating any details that the Rawalpindi Jamaat is doing a lot
and I didn’t know what they were doing. He is right; I don’t know. I
haven’t seen a case registered in any court against the conduct of the
educational institution in question so I am in complete dark here.
Enlighten me.
Also tell me what other Jamaats have done in this
case. I would repeat the question; have they reached out to
international human right organizations? Amnesty International’s South
Asian Advocacy Directorate in USA was notified of the case but they
were notified by ME and I’m not part of Jamaat Ahamadiyya. By all
indications, they were not notified of this before I did. And I know
from my personal experience that the New York Jamaat is very active
when it comes to Tableegh. They love to gatecrash events where they
are not invited and have nothing to do with them to preach their
faith. And that’s fine. But they should at least redirect some of
their resources after such events to contact some of the very
organizations whose events they gatecrash. Once I came across a letter
written by the New York Jamaat to a US Senator about discrimination
against Ahmadies in Pakistan and it was written in a language suitable
for a 5th grader. I’m sure there are many good writers in
Jamaat and they would have been requested to draft the letter had
Jamaat taken the matter seriously.
Janab Rafi Raza sahib, I have also seen Mirza
Tahir Ahmed cycling around Rabwah a couple of times when I was very
young but that was before he assumed the throne. At the same time, I
have attended parties in Avari Lahore thrown by the younger generation
of his family and they were some of the best parties I have ever
attended but you know, anecdotal evidence is exactly that, anecdotal
evidence which shouldn’t be given much weight. I mentioned the
lifestyle of the leadership as a secondary matter and not a primary
one. I have witnessed so much done against Ahmedies in Pakistan and so
little response from Jamaat that I genuinely feel that the leadership
of your Jamaat doesn’t do nearly enough for its members. You have the
right to protest and I join your protest but I believe that protest,
like charity, starts from home.
Many regards,
Rafi Aamer