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-Nabuvat. 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 prevent 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. Faqir-e-Saghir is a religious book related to the Ahmadiya community. In this, Mirza Bashir Ahmed, son of the founder of the Ahmadiya sect, has interpreted the Quran according to his own. Sani was arrested under the Quran (Printing and Recording) (Amendment) Act, 2021. Sani argued in the court that the act under which he is being punished did not exist in 2019. He was then free to propagate the book related to his religion. The Supreme Court agreed to Sani’s plea and released him. TLP started a campaign against the decision
Initially, there was no special reaction to 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 24 July. The Supreme Court said that they believe that the Ahmadiyya community is apostate. They cannot call themselves Muslims. They cannot propagate their religious views outside their mosques, but their decision given on 6 February 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 fueled anger
Pakistan’s religious organizations were angry with this decision of the Supreme Court. They interpreted it differently. He said that the court has accepted that the Ahmadiya community cannot propagate religion outside their mosques, which means that they can follow their religion in their mosque. The fundamentalists said that the Ahmadiya community should not be allowed to worship or propagate their religion in their home, mosque 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 Ahmadiya community to propagate their religion in their mosques or anywhere else, then there will be unrest in Islamabad. He said that the Constitution has been violated by allowing Ahmadis to propagate their religion. Punjab government appealed to the court, hearing tomorrow
In this case, the Punjab government has demanded the Supreme Court to remove some parts from the decision given on July 24. The Supreme Court will hear the matter on August 22. Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa, Justice Irfan Saadat Khan and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan will be present in this hearing. Meanwhile, a case has been registered against Pakistani radical organization Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leader Amir Pir Zahir-ul-Hassan Shah for threatening Pakistan Chief Justice Qazi Faiz Isa. According to Pakistani newspaper Pak Observer, the TLP leader had issued a fatwa to kill Faiz Isa. According to FRI, he spread hatred against the judiciary during a protest outside the Press Club and announced a reward of Rs 1 crore to the person who kills Pakistan Chief Justice Faiz Isa. Police have also registered a case against 1500 TLP workers.
Credit: Dainik Bhaskar
