In Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, a crowd of hundreds of fundamentalists attacked the Supreme Court. They were angry over a blasphemy-related decision by Pakistan’s Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa. He had acquitted an Ahmadiya man of blasphemy charges under the Right to Religion. The incident took place on Monday, but its video has surfaced on the media now.
According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, the protest against the Supreme Court’s decision was led by Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz-e-Nabuwat. They were also supported by the leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF). They were demanding the resignation of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. They also demanded that the court reverse its decision.
Thousands of protesters broke the security cordon outside the Supreme Court. They reached close to the building. To stop them from entering the court, the police resorted to water cannon, tear gas and lathicharge. Now the organization leading the protest, Aalmi Majlis, has given time till September 7 to the Supreme Court to review its decision.
Ahmadiya man released, this is how the controversy started
According to Geo TV, this controversy started with a historic decision of the Supreme Court on 6 February 2024. The Supreme Court had ordered the release of Mubarak Ahmed Sani of the Ahmadiya community. Sani was arrested on 7 January 2023. Sani was accused of distributing Faqir-e-Saghir in a college in 2019.
FCir-e-Saghir is a religious book related to the Ahmadiyya community. In this, Mirza Bashir Ahmed, son of the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect, has interpreted the Quran according to his own understanding. Sani was arrested under the Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act, 2021.
Sani argued in the court that the act under which he was being punished did not exist in 2019. He was then free to propagate the book related to his religion. The Supreme Court agreed with Sani’s argument and released him.
TLP started a campaign against the decision
Initially, no special reaction was seen on this decision of the court, but a radical organization Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) started cashing in on it. They ran a campaign on social media against the court’s decision. After protests started at various places, the Supreme Court gave its clarification on this matter on July 24.
The Supreme Court said that they believe that the Ahmadiya community is apostate. They cannot call themselves Muslims. They cannot propagate their religious views outside their mosques, but their decision given on February 6 was correct according to the law. They cannot punish anyone for a crime that he did not commit. What Sani did was not a crime before 2021.
The Supreme Court’s clarification further fuelled anger
The religious organisations of Pakistan were angered by the Supreme Court’s decision. They interpreted it differently. They said that the court has accepted that the Ahmadiyya community cannot propagate religion outside their mosques, which means that they can practice their religion in their mosques.
The fundamentalists said that the Ahmadiya community should not be allowed to worship or propagate their religion in their homes, mosques or anywhere else in any way, because their religion directly insults Prophet Muhammad, Islam and the Quran.
Now JUIF leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri has warned that if the Supreme Court does not review its decision to allow the Ahmadiyya community to preach their religion in their mosques or anywhere else, there will be unrest in Islamabad. He said that the Constitution has been violated by allowing Ahmadis to preach their religion.