Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Murder of an Ahmadi Muslim


On  December 22 Mr Luqman Ahmad Shazad, an Ahmadi Muslim, was murdered in Gujranwala, Pakistan simply on grounds of faith; he is the eleventh Ahmadi to be killed in Pakistan this year.

Before the murder, there was a broadcast on GEO TV inciting hatred against the Ahmadis and an anti-Ahmadi conference was held in Gujranwala itself. Further details can be found on the Ahmadi site persecution website.

The broadcasting and circulation in the social media of hate speech against Ahmadis, Shia and other minorities is all too common in Pakistan, and is frequently the signal for religious violence. There are no laws prohibiting incitement to religious or racial hatred. The GEO programmes are relayed to the UK, including hate speech by the presenter Amir Liaquat Hussain or the extremist clerics Maulvi Humza Ali Qadri and Mufti Arif Shah Owaisi. GEO broadcasts that are reyed to the UK should be monitored by the police to pick up those that break the law, and action should be taken accordingly.

This latest murder is further evidence of the fact that Pakistan's Blasphemy laws and anti-Ahmadiyya laws continue to be used by extremists as a pre-text for brutal violence against Ahmadi Muslims and other religious communities in Pakistan. 


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