a)

Syed Inamur Rehman Shah, the Additional Session Judge, Kotri awarded two years' imprisonment to Mr. Inamulla Gondal, an Ahmadi, in a religious case, on March 14, 2001.

A criminal case was registered at the orders of the Deputy Commissioner and Assistant Superintendent of Police against the accused, reported on August 1, 1991 for writing the Islamic creed at his house. He was booked under the anti-Ahmadiyya law PPC 298C and the dreaded Blasphemy Law PPC 295C. The charges were stuck despite the fact that the house already had the Kalima (Islamic creed) written on it when Mr. Gondal purchased it from someone else. (It is certain that had he removed the Kalima (Islamic creed), he would have been more conveniently charged of Blasphemy). The accused suffered prosecution in courts for almost ten years. He was afraid that he would be put to death if the Blasphemy charge was upheld by the court as desired by the administration.

On March 14, 2001, the judge, removed the section PPC 295C, but upheld PPC 298C the anti-Ahmadiyya clause, and sentenced the accused to two years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000/- for having the inscription at his house: There is none worthy of worship except Allah, Muhammad is His prophet. The judge is reportedly a Muslim. The accused is 70 years old. He was arrested after the judge's verdict.

b)

In another case, the same Additional Session Judge Kotri sentenced Mr. Abdul Quddoos to two years' imprisonment and fined him Rs. 5,000/- in addition.

The criminal case was registered against four Ahmadis namely Messers Mubashar Ahmad, Ghulam Bari, Nasir Ahmad Baloch and Abdul Quddoos on March 31, 1992 on a false complaint of a cleric, Maulana Rafiuddin. The mulla fabricated the lie that the four Ahmadis defiled the name of the Holy Prophet and stated that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the last prophet. He arranged some witnesses who, according to the FIR, were hiding in a nearby tomb to listen to the alleged statements. Thus PPC 295C and 298C were applied by the police to accuse the victims of preaching and Blasphemy. In the face of such grave charges, the accused had to run around to avoid arrest, arrange bails and hire defense lawyers. It is a long story of extreme hardship, perpetual harassment and unbearable stress that went on for years. To cut it short, the prosecution lasted nine years. During this period, Mr. Baloch died, while Mr. Ghulam Bari and Mr. Mubashir Ahmad fled the country and took refuge in some foreign land. Mr. Abdul Quddoos stayed on to face the false accusations. The judge found it convenient to drop the Blasphemy charge, but upheld the PPC 298C for preaching (if at all, to the prosecution witnesses hiding in an adjacent building) and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5,000/-. In case of default of payment of fine, the accused is required to undergo imprisonment of six more months.

Subsequent to the verdict of the Judge, the victim was arrested by the police and hauled to the central Jail at Hyderabad.

c)

In still another case, the same Additional Session Judge, sentenced Mr. Ejaz Ahmad, Ahmadi to two years' imprisonment and fined him Rs. 5,000/-.

The actual circumstances in which this criminal case was instituted in 1992 are interesting and noteworthy. It was on 3 April 1992, the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, that while in a state of fasting and waiting for the Juma prayers in the Ahmadiyya Mosque, Bhitai Colony, Kotri, twenty Ahmadis were arrested at about 12:30 hrs.

Mullas of the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat organization, Kotri were opposed to the construction of an Ahmadiyya mosque in Bhitai Colony, Kotri. In conspiracy with the local police, they arranged a raid on its site alleging that armed Ahmadis were abusing there the Islamic religion.

The police on arrival found unarmed peaceful Ahmadis waiting for the Juma prayer that was to start at 1 p.m. Nevertheless, they took all of them under custody saying that they had to be protected from mullas who were furious about their place of worship. They took them to the police post, humiliated them, and even forced some of them to undress, and beat them up with batons.

The next day they were informed that all of them were being charged under Sections 295-C and 298-C (insulting the Prophet and hurting the feelings of Muslims), an outrageously false charge. In the Police Report, Ejaz Ahmad was alleged to have made a speech, and two other Ahmadis, Abdul Qadeer, and Talpur were falsely charged of possession of revolvers without license. Finally four Ahmadis were charged on various counts including that of threatening to disturb the peace. They were made to remain in the lock-up even on the day of the Eid festival. That was indeed callous and inhuman. Mullas and the police had cast aside minimal human values and decency.

After more than 2 weeks, they were released on bail by the Addl Sessions Judge Kotri, except for Mr. Ejaz Ahmad who was later released on bail by the High Court.

They were prosecuted in court for more than a year and were finally found Not Guilty of the collective charge. Abdul Qadeer and Talpur were acquitted by a Judicial Magistrate on 23 January 1995 of the false charge of possession of unlicensed revolvers. However, the very serious charges under Section 295/C and 298/C lingered on for nine years in the court of Addl Sessions Judge Kotri, although five Judges were transferred in the meantime. The punishment under the clause PPC 295/C is nothing but death. Afraid of the wrath of fundamentalists, no judge had the courage to dispense justice and to acquit them of the fabricated charges.

The case dragged on for nine long years and exhausted the victims in many ways. Mr. Shahid Talpur fled abroad in 1998. The case has now been decided. Two of the accused have been set free, while Mr. Ejaz Ahmad has been absolved of the offence under PPC 295C but sentenced under PPC 298C to two years' imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 5,000/-. The court has thus given the verdict that the accused were wrongfully made to face the grave charge of PPC 295C (penalty of Death) for nine years. As for the PPC 298C, Mr. Ejaz Ahmad was surely present at the Ahmadiyya mosque at noon along with others to offer his congregational Friday prayers. If that is a crime, then why insist that Ahmadis are free to practice their faith. It is relevant to mention that Mr. Ejaz Ahmad, sentenced to two years' imprisonment, after 9 years' trial, is 73 years old. The judge has ordered that in case of default of payment of fine he shall undergo imprisonment for six months more.

Subsequent to the announcement of the judge's decision, the elderly man was arrested by the police and incarcerated in the Central Prison at Hyderabad.

Qadianis are hypocrites and apostates………Meat slaughtered by them is not licit and lies in the forbidden degree……If a Muslim sympathizes with Qadianis and considers them persecuted as a result of their boycott, he himself is outside the fold of Islam, and one who does not call an infidel, infidel, he himself is an infidel.

Thus, all Muslims should boycott Qadianis from all interactions of life and death. If a Qadiani is sick, do not visit him; if he dies, do not offer his funeral prayer; do not allow his burial in a Muslim graveyard - it is forbidden to visit his grave.

EXP: DATE      12 MARCH 2001

ALL Ahmadis are warned that:
You are to vacate this village by March 12, otherwise the whole settlement will go up in smoke. We have already received many complaints about you people. Now you even preach. This time your settlement will be destroyed, no matter what. It has been fully established that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a liar, cunning and an agent of the British. And all you people, according to Islam, must be put to death. Muslim brothers who reside in this Mirzai village are advised not to come out of their homes at 11.30 p.m. on March 12 so that none of our brothers is hurt by the rain of bullets and mortar shells. Not all the soldiers of Islam have yet become martyrs; some are still alive. Someday, we are going to Inshallah destroy RABWAH as well the same way as your village.

12 MARCH AT  11.30 PM  MONDAY

“Numberdar Mohammad Jamil is directed that he is to prepare a list of all Ahmadis and post the same at his gate or at school or at village notice board. Village folk are to be advised the following so that our (Muslim) brothers remain safe; when they hear the shots they should adopt the following security measures:

By adapting these measures you can ensure your own safety and that of your children.

All Ahmadis were warned earlier but they took no notice. During our visit, we noted that our Muslim brothers have their houses adjacent to Ahmadis'. Destruction of Ahmadis' houses could result in damage to Muslims' houses, therefore we have decided to make changes to our plans of the Night Operation. Now, we plan to make surprise attacks at night. The so-called Ahmadi mosques will be demolished, Inshallah. We shall be armed with dynamite, gun powder, anti-personnel bombs, hand grenades, mortars, AK 74s and klashenkofs. We shall all be armed with all these weapons. We are telling all this, so that none should complain of the surprise and death without warning. Although, a single bullet should suffice for an Ahmadi, we intend to shoot and follow it up with slaughter.

…………………………………
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Ahmadis, Just consider:
Till when the police and the Army will protect you? We are not afraid of such so-called police and army that provide protection to infidels.

Ahmadis,
Wait for the Islamic Mujahideen. Wait for the commandos that have been specially trained against Ahmadis. Be ready to die. We shall, Inshallah, come any night. Wait for the wrath of God. Our next target is Rabwah, Inshallah.

a)

Threat of Murder: Naseer Ahmad Waraich, an Ahmadi teacher at Dera Ghazi Khan received a phone call on February 23, 2001 at 20:25. The caller, who attempted a change in his natural voice, threatened Mr. Waraich with murder. When Mr. Waraich hung up, the caller called again. Mr. Waraich asked a colleague to reply, but the caller, realizing that it was someone else this time, decided to keep quiet and said nothing.

b)

Agitation at Shamsabad, District Qasur: A youth by the name of Ali decided to become a member of the Ahmadiyya Community. His sisters were also sympathetic. Some mullas and relatives came to know of this and got agitated. They wanted a criminal case to be registered and contacted the police. One of them urged the village folk to attack Ahmadi homes. They also tried to take out a procession comprising schoolboys but the headmaster did not allow that. Ali and the local president of Ahmadiyya Community have been threatened with murder. Anti-Ahmadiyya literature was distributed extensively in the village. The situation is tense.

c)

Sipah Sahaba (SSP) Active at Jehlum: The SSP Jehlum has decided to become very active on the anti-Ahmadiyya front. Their members contacted individual Ahmadi traders in the bazaar and threatened them with violence. They also approached the Deputy Commissioner to win the co-operation of authorities. The Assistant Commissioner sent for Ahmadis and asked them to explain their position. He made them take off Islamic stickers or calendars etc. from their shops.

Later on, the SSP got hold of a few pages of the Holy Quran published by a local publisher Book Corner. To the pages were added some pictures and sketches as illustrations. The SSP told the administration and the press that the act amounted to Blasphemy and Qadianis were responsible for it. The SSP planned to start a violent agitation thereby against Ahmadis. Ahmadis promptly denied the accusation and conveyed the real position that the publisher was not an Ahmadi. Thus the SSP's plan to foment agitation came to nothing.

It was subsequently learnt that SSP desires to implicate some Ahmadis in Blasphemy cases and create difficulties for them.

d)

Provocation at Dharkana, District Chakwal: A cleric, who has recently qualified from Pir Karam Shah's madrassa, comes over to Dharkana to deliver Friday sermons. He has acquired a highly disfigured and forged portrait of Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, Qadiani, the holy founder of the Ahmadiyya Community. The miscreant distributed photocopies of the portrait among school children. He urged them to contribute two rupees each to make further copies and put them up all over the village. The cleric appears intent upon slander and provocation.