Ahmadi Muslims Call for Justice in Pakistan

In response to the opinion-page article ``Pakistan Falls Short on Religious Freedom,'' Jan. 5: I am a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamat, the sect which is blatantly persecuted in Pakistan. Ahmadis are peace-loving and law-abiding citizens; but for the last 40 years or so, the clergy of Pakistan, in conjunction with the government, has engaged in a constant array of baseless accusations that incite religious intolerance and violence against the Ahmadis.

The Ahmadis were the target of an uprising in 1953, when people, upon the encouragement of the ``mullah'' (Muslim equivalent of a priest), looted and burned Ahmadi property and killed innocent people. Again in 1974 the scenario was repeated. A new ordinance was passed in 1984 which has been subsequently legalized by the Supreme Court of Justice of Pakistan denying Ahmadis even basic religious rights. Under this law, an Ahmadi who considers himself to be a Muslim can no longer say so in his own country (Pakistan). If he does he can be imprisoned for up to three years. This means that I, an Ahmadi and a Pakistani national, am a Muslim in America, but cease to be one the moment I enter Pakistan. Amir Malik, Kirkland, Wash.

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