For its part, the government claims that all relief goods are being distributed among survivors without discrimination. And that all survivors have been sheltered in relief camps without distinction. The flood-devastated families from the Ahmadiyya community have strongly criticised the government’s “discriminatory attitude” even at a time when the entire country is reeling from the ravages of the worst flooding in living memory.

Of the 500 Ahmadi families, 350 belong to DG Khan, 60 to Muzaffargarh and 65 to Rajanpur district. According to Ahmadiyya community leaders, over 2,500 members of their community have been displaced and are now living with their relatives while some of them have left for Rabwah, the community’s headquarters.

Aziz Ahmad Khan, a local leader of flood victims from the Ahmadiyya community in DG Khan, told The Express Tribune that all members of his family have complained of discrimination in DG Khan. He said 200 families from Basti Rindan and Basti Sohrani, 60 from Chah Ismaeel Wala, three from Rakh Mor Jangi, 18 from Ghazi Ghat and 12 from  Jhakar Imam Shah of Ahmadpur. Khan alleged that 200 families, who have been displaced from Basti Rindan and Basti Sohrani by flooding, took shelter in a state-run school at Jhok Utra but within days the local administration forced them to leave the school. He said the local administration later told them that people from the surrounding areas did not want the Ahmadis in the relief camp. And that the administration could not allow them to stay at the camp as it could create a law and order situation.

“So we left our cattle and other belongings in the area and took refuge in the homes of our community members on higher grounds,” he said, adding that some of them even migrated to Chenab Nagar.

Muhammad Iqbal Sohrani, a member of the Ahmadiya community told The Express Tribune that around 40 Ahmadi families who took shelter in a state-run school at Jhakar Imam Shah near Sumandri, some 40 kilometres from DG Khan, have not received any relief either from philanthropists or from the government. He alleged that relief packages were being distributed through local lawmakers who have been told by the district administration that the Ahmadis are not eligible for any support.

Saleem Chandia, another Ahmadiya community member, said that he along with 40 other community members rented a house but after two days their landlord was forced by local clerics to evict them. Chandia said they were offered help by their own community members after wandering for several days in search of shelter.

Mansoor Ahmad, a resident of Muzaffargarh, told The Express Tribune that over 800 members of the Ahmadiya community were displaced from Bait Nasirabad, Masroornagar, Hussainwala and Shahjamal. At least 100 members of the community, from Hussainwala and Masroorabad, were trapped at Shahjamal. He claimed that they had asked the district police officer (DPO) and the district coordination officer (DCO) to provide them a boat or to rescue the trapped people but they did not take notice.

Ahmad claimed that the trapped Ahmadis were rescued by their fellows on a broken boat. He said local clerics have issued an edict that the Ahmadis should not be provided help.

Naseem Ahmad, from Rajanpur, told The Express Tribune that their 500 community members from the areas of Basti Lashari, Basti Allahdad Dareeshak and from Basti Azizabad were displaced. Their houses were washed away and the government and local clerics ignored them. He said that they were not allowed to stay in state-run schools or in camps, therefore the majority of them were living on the rooftops of their inundated houses.

“The Ahmadiya community itself rescued trapped people and delivered relief to them,” community spokesperson Saleem-ul-Din told The Express Tribune by phone.

He said that the community did not want any relief package from the government for its members. However, the government should protect the property and livestock of the Ahmadis.

Hassan Iqbal, Commissioner DG Khan, told The Express Tribune that he would check the situation. He asked the Ahmadis to directly approach him if they face discrimination anywhere in the district. However, DCO Muzaffargarh Farasat Iqbal said that the Ahmadis have not contacted him.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2010.

It is with great sadness and regret that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat hereby confirms that a well-known and loved Ahmadi Muslim, Pir Habib al-Rehman (60) was martyred earlier today near Sanghar in Sindh Province.

According to details currently available Pir Habib-al-Rehman was on his way to his farm when two masked assailants approached his vehicle and shot him twice. One of the shots fired was directly at his head. He was rushed to hospital by his nephew and three labourers who were with him at the time, but was pronounced dead on arrival. The perpetrators of the crime immediately fled the scene and remain unidentified.

Pir Habib al-Rehman was a US citizen and had been in Pakistan on personal business. Thus he is the second US citizen in two years to be martyred for being an Ahmadi. In September 2008 Dr Abdul Mannan Siddiqi, also a US citizen, was brutally killed in Mirpurkhas.

Pir Habib al-Rehman was a kind and humble man who harbored no enmity against anyone. He was 60 at the time of his death and is survived by his wife, a son and two daughters. In 2006 his brother, Dr Pir Mujeeb al –Rehman, was also martyred for being an Ahmadi Muslim.

The deceased was actively involved with the work of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat and performed great service, in particular, to the development and maintenance of the Jamaat’s official website ‘Alislam.org’.

The Press Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan said:

“The murder of Pir Habib al-Rehman has caused great sadness to all Ahmadis around the world. This incident follows on from the martyrdom of Dr Najam al- Hasan also in Sindh just a couple of days ago. Such violence results from the continuing hatred that is spread throughout Pakistan against our Community. We call upon the international community and media to take notice of the continued persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in Pakistan.”

A number of extremist organisations banned by the Government of Pakistan have continued to preach their hate filled messages by virtue of simply altering the names of their organisations. All available evidence strongly suggests that they are being supported, financially and otherwise, by a number of local politicians.

The situation has become extremely dangerous for the local Ahmadi population as the local clerics are issuing regular Fatwas pronouncing that all Ahmadis are ‘Wajibul-Qatl’ which means they can and should be lawfully killed due to their beliefs. Furthermore hateful and provocative literature is being published and disseminated amongst the masses in opposition to the Jamaat.

Ahmadis in the region are living in constant fear for their safety; their businesses and places of worship are becoming regular targets. The local authorities are urged to take action to bring an immediate end to all forms of persecution against the Ahmadi minority in the region.

The Press Secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan said:

“It is a great tragedy that in Pakistan both the government and clerics continue to violate the rights of their fellow citizens. Ahmadi Muslims are now facing heightened persecution in Azad-Kashmir due to the acts of terrorists and extremists who are spreading the teaching that Islam, God forbid, allows arbitrary murder in the name of Allah. They realise not that they themselves are the root cause of the misery that currently pervades Pakistan and continues to escalate.

May God always protect all peace loving people, be they Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sikh or adherents of any other belief.”

Following three major anti-Ahmadi conferences held on 10 March 2009, the next day a van transporting 27 girls from Rabwah from their various colleges in Chiniot was attacked. Stones and bricks were pelted at the van. The incident was reported to police but no action was taken.

Mr Ahmad phoned his brother and informed him of the threat. However nobody arrived and so the abductors tortured Mr Ahmad and tied his hands and feet. Eventually they left him stranded unconscious on the roadside. Sometime later four Ahmadi youths found Mr Ahmad unconscious and with rope tied around his neck and he was immediately taken to hospital.

Mr Ahmad is married and has a young daughter.

“Take this small note seriously; do not take it as a hollow threat. We know everything about you. Your two sons are studying at… Cooperate with us otherwise we will abduct your children. Your house is in… Hurry to cooperate with us. Do not take this as a hollow threat.”

(Names and Addresses have been removed)

In September 2009 two Ahmadis (Dr Abdul Mannan Siddiqi and Saith Muhammad Yousuf) were murdered on consecutive days in Sindh. On the third day two of the murder suspects went to visit the doctor but he was away at the funeral of Dr Abdul Mannan Siddiqi. On the fourth day the two suspects again visited the doctor but he was away offering condolence to the family of Saith Muhammad Yousuf.

On 1st March 2009 a man approached the clinic of the doctor late at night. He demanded loudly that the door be opened and when this request was denied by staff he opened it forcibly. He subsequently engaged in foul language and insisted that the doctor be called. When staff resisted he pulled out a gun. Relatives of a patient admitted to the hospital observed this and as they were carrying their own arms managed to cause for the intruder to hurriedly depart alongside two associates who were waiting outside in the car park. The threat level against this particular doctor is currently very high. Local authorities have been contacted but seem unwilling to cooperate to any significant degree.

Ms Naheed is accused of inciting two labourers to attack Haleemam Bibi. This charge is absolutely denied by Ms Naheed. No such attack ever took place. However local Mullahs reported the matter to the police and school authorities. She was duly charged by the police and suspended by her school in the absence of any form of investigation. If convicted Ms Naheed could face up to ten years imprisonment.

Video Part 2

Yesterday at around 2.30pm local time, unknown assailants attacked Dr Shiraz and Dr Noreen at their home in Wapda Colony, Multan Road. The assailants first taped together the hands, feet and mouths of both victims. They then tied rope around their necks and strangled them to death. Following death Dr Shiraj was hung from a nearby fan.

The brutality of these murders was further exacerbated by the fact that Dr Shiraz and Dr Noreen were expecting their first child.

Dr Shiraz was an eye-specialist who had served at various hospitals including the Fazl-e-Umer Hospital in Rabwah. At the time of his death he was working at a hospital in Wapda. Similarly Dr Noreen was working at a local children’s hospital.

The Press Spokesman of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat, Abid Khan said:

“What occurred in Multan yesterday was an act of such cruelty that it can never be comprehended by decent and peace loving people. Dr Shiraz and Dr Noreen had been married for just three years and were expecting their first child together. They had both chosen career paths which allowed them to serve their fellow men, women and children.

Pakistan is a country that is currently facing absolute ruin. Amongst this chaos the hateful acts of religious extremists are ever increasing, to the extent that loving, caring and innocent people are being murdered because they belong to a community whose motto is ‘Love for All, Hatred for None.”

The International Community, Media and Human Rights organisations are all urged to take action to protect the lives and rights of Ahmadi Muslims both in Pakistan and in other countries where they face discrimination. In an era where freedom of religion and belief is accepted as a basic human right throughout the world it is of disbelief that Ahmadi Muslims are being murdered for no other reason than their choice of religion.