The Maryam Nawaz government of Punjab province in Pakistan on Thursday issued an advertisement for auction of commercial plots categorically disallowing Ahmadis to take part in it evoking a strong condemnation from the community’s umbrella organisation.
The advertisement in multiple national dailies invites the public for auction of commercial plots in Jhang, Chiniot and Chenab Nagar areas of the province and says that “Ahmadis are not allowed to take part in the auction process.”
“Those taking part in the auction will have to give undertaking that they believe in the finality of prophethood of Muhammad. Besides, those Muslims succeed in winning the plot bid are not allowed to sell the same to Ahmadis in the future,” the government said in the advertisements.
The Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya Pakistan (JAP), the body representing the minority community, strongly condemned the discriminatory attitude of the government.
“Ahmadis are being denied participation in the auction of plots by the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency, perpetuating discriminatory treatment against them at the government level in Pakistan. This contradicts Article 25 of the Pakistani Constitution, which ensures equal treatment under the law for all citizens,” the JAP said on Thursday.
Currently, the Ahmadi community is a soft target of the radical Islamist party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), which has been demolishing the worship places of Ahmadis, especially in the Punjab province, with impunity.
Although Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, Pakistan’s Parliament in 1974 declared the community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were not just banned from calling themselves Muslims but were also barred from practising aspects of Islam.
Section 298 C of Pakistan Penal Code criminalises Ahmadis who refer to themselves as Muslim.
