TERRORIST ATTACKS ON AHMADI COMMUNITY
The Institute for Peace & Secular Studies (IPSS) called a protest outside the Lahore Press Club on Sunday, May 30, 2010 to condemn the terrorist attacks on the Ahmadia community at their Model Town & Garhi Shahu mosques on Friday June 28, 2010 killing 91 citizens of Pakistan. The protest was attended by citizens of Lahore belonging to all walks of life and age groups.
All gathered to condemn the callousness and inefficiency of the current provincial government which did not provide adequate security to the Ahmadiya community even though members of the community are the prime target of religious extremists and terrorists. Additionally, security measures were not taken by the government, even after learning of possible terrorist attack in model town vicinity while international organizations were briefed about it.
More importantly IPSS wants to reach the government, political parties, professional organizations, unions and most importantly ordinary citizens of Pakistan through the media to condemn this act against our fellow citizens in the name of humanity, in the name of our common citizenship, in the name of religion specifically Islam in whose name the extremists are conducting this slaughter, in the name of fellow colleagues, friendship, family, and in the name of this land (darhti) of which we are all sons & daughters whatever religion, belief, class and creed we belong to.
IPSS pleads with the media to bring to light the persecution of the Ahmadiya community in Pakistan in the name of religion, where Admadis are killed often in different parts of the country (Faisalabad, Sukkar), kidnapped, kicked out of medical college. This breech of citizenship should be the highest priority of the independent Supreme Court to provide justice to the citizens irrespective of their belief. It demands that the media self regulates itself to not allow hate speech on TV (Amir Liaqat’s speech against Ahmadi) and demands explanation of TV anchors who propagate hate. IPSS demands that government target hate literature against Admadis, minorities and all sects as efficiently as it closed websites (facebook) because of blasphemous caricatures.
Till the government and the institutions of the State stop discriminating among its citizens on the basis of their belief (religion), they are responsible for the tragedy of May 28 and all other killings and terrorist attacks on Ahmedies and other minorities in the country. IPSS demands that the Government and the State institutions of Pakistan first and foremost provide indiscriminate security and prosecution to all its citizens. Quaid-e-Azam’s saying “Religion has nothing to do with the business of the State” is meant for the current government and state functionaries to attend to their duties for all citizens and stop the hate literature and hate speech which has poisoned our society and is the basis of these terrorist activities.