islamabad, pakistan – Amir Mahmood recalls a meeting between his Ahmadi community and Pakistani government officials last September. He could not forget how attacks on graves and shrines decreased in the days following the rally, a community that had long been victims of persecution in the country.
But that respite didn't last long.
As the world's fifth-most populous country prepares to vote on February 8, the country, which has a population of 500 million The Ahmadi community will boycott the election. . For many Ahmadis like Mahmoud, the temporary drop in attacks after the September meeting was proof of what can happen if the country's leaders want it.
“What the decline in attacks has taught us is that states can easily control violence against us if they wish, but unfortunately the impression we get is that some governments are They don’t have a clear idea of what to do or they don’t want to help,” he said.
It's a sentiment driven by decades of deep-rooted discrimination, including in our electoral system. This led to a community boycott of the elections. Community leaders announced their “withdrawal” from the vote in a statement last week. “Although the elections are ostensibly held under joint constituencies, a separate voter list is prepared exclusively for Ahmadi citizens for religious reasons,” an organization representing the community said on Wednesday. The statement released said.
“This discriminatory treatment based on religion is, for all intents and purposes, a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise Ahmadi citizens and deny them the right to vote,” the ministry added.
The community has avoided participating in elections for nearly 40 years, but the latest boycott announcement comes after three separate incidents of desecration of Ahmadis graves occurred in different towns in Punjab in the past two weeks. It was done.
Mahmoud, who is also a community spokesperson, said the data attack Last year, more than 100 graves were desecrated in 42 Ahmadi places of worship across the country and in Punjab alone. According to community statistics, last year at least 14 mosques and 197 graves belonging to the community were desecrated in 2022. In 2022, at least three members of the community were shot dead because of their religious affiliation.
“I don’t have a sense of belonging.”
Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims. However, they were declared “non-Muslims” under Pakistan's constitution in 1974. In the decades since the 1970s, hundreds of attacks have been reported in Pakistan, including murders and the desecration of religious sites and cemeteries.
Community members actively participated in the electoral process until the 1977 elections, before then army chief General Zia Ul-Haq imposed martial law.
In 1984, the military ruler introduced a law that required communities to adopt some kind of symbol of Muslim identity, such as practicing Islamic rituals, building minarets or domes on mosques, or publicly writing verses from the Koran. The court ruled that it cannot be displayed publicly.
In the elections held in 1985, he introduced separate voter lists for different religious groups in the country, after which the communities began boycotting the vote. The system of separate voter lists lasted until his 1997 election, but was then unified again under military junta General Pervez Musharraf for his 2002 election.
The revised joint list combined all Pakistanis, except Ahmadis, into a single voter list, regardless of religion. Instead, they were placed on a separate “supplementary” list, where they were identified as “Qadianis”, a term referring to towns in India's Punjab state with deep Ahmadi traditions. This term is considered pejorative in the community.
“If there is one voter list that registers the rest of Pakistan's citizens, irrespective of caste, ethnicity or faith, what is stopping them from adding Ahmadis to that list? Do you specifically choose only us?'' Mahmoud asked.
Other members of the community say the discrimination on the electoral roll is consistent with the prejudice they face in everyday life.
Fatima*, a 47-year-old housewife, told Al Jazeera: “I got married and moved to Pakistan from the UK 20 years ago.” “Of course, I'm also a human being. I'm a Pakistani citizen and I want to be able to vote, so I often get frustrated,” she said.
“I have voted in the past in the UK when I was young and it gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment to be able to contribute in some small way to my country. And that sense of belonging was taken away from me,” she added.
Akbar*, a 22-year-old student living in Islamabad, said he was politically aware and would have voted if there was a unified voter list, but candidates from mainstream parties were inciting his community. He says he often made comments like this.
“Bias against our community is very evident, something we often see in election campaigns in Pakistan. Candidates use inflammatory comments to garner votes and put our lives at risk. ” he told Al Jazeera.
“There is a clear sense of alienation in the community. If all mainstream political parties are thinking along such lines, how can they, especially when the list calls for them to renounce their faith and call themselves non-Muslims? Can we even think about voting?'' Akbar added.
“Limited influence”
Political analyst Tahir Mehdi said the decision to have Ahmadis declared non-Muslims through a 1974 constitutional amendment remains a major achievement for Pakistan's religious conservatives.
“This is a subject that cannot be compromised on, and they want to protect this victory at all costs,” he said.
Mehdi added that Pakistan's community has a relatively small population and is therefore not an important enough electorate to attract political parties. “Their lack of numbers means there are limited ways to influence poll results, and therefore states, and even political parties, are left with no incentive to change policy. is.”
Fatima, a housewife, said the persecution of her community goes far beyond attacks and separate voter lists.
“There are many restrictions and restrictions in our daily life. Even something as simple as ordering something online, the moment you see the name of Rabwa City as the delivery address, the vendor will will be refused,” she said. Rabwah is a small city in Punjab province, located approximately 177 km (110 miles) west of Lahore. This city is home to nearly 80,000 people, and more than 90 percent of the population belongs to the Ahmadi community. The government officially changed the city's name to Chenabnagar in the late 1990s, but the name has not stuck.
“I myself have experienced many times when traders point to my city and say, since you live in Chenab Nagar, you must be a Qadiani. [a derogatory term for Ahmadis]And they flatly refuse to deliver,” she said.
But that didn't dampen her spirit or faith, she said.
“We're not going to give up our faith. We're never going to give it up, even if it means we won't be able to vote. The state is trying to control us, but it won't succeed,” she said. Told.
This is also the reason why Islamabad student Akbar refuses to participate in the elections.
“Just being part of a system like this feels like you're supporting something that's trying to remove you from the system. Participating in this dual apartheid system is a huge challenge to myself and my It's a betrayal of the community. [voter’s] Make a list that singles me out for my faith. ”
*Names have been changed for personal protection.
