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Ahmadi Spokesman Says Pakistan Must Repeal Its Blasphemy Laws; USCIRF Agrees

By Howard M. Friedman

Yesterday's Washington Post carries an op-ed by Nasim Rehmatullah, National Vice President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, USA, decrying the terror campaign in Pakistan against Ahmadis. Last week an extremist attack against two Ahmadi mosques killed at least 80 people. (Washington Post.) Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim, but Pakistan's Constitution classifies them as non-Muslim, while a Pakistani law enacted in 1984 prohibits Ahmadis from building mosques or publicly declaring their faith. Rehmatullah writes: "the battle against Pakistan's extremists cannot be won unless all levels of government in Pakistan scrutinize and reform the laws and policies that give ammunition to these extremists. It is simply not enough to apprehend and uproot extreme groups ... without first addressing the root problem. America must push Pakistan's Parliament to repeal the anti-blasphemy laws in order to dismantle the extremist apparatus that endangers the world." (See prior related posting.)

Last Friday, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a release condemning the attacks against the Ahmadi mosques in Pakistan and calling for repeal of Pakistan's blasphemy laws. USCIRF said it

has documented systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion in Pakistan for several years. Sectarian and religiously-motivated violence is chronic, and the government has failed to protect members of religious minorities from such violence and to bring perpetrators to justice. Religiously discriminatory legislation, such as anti-Ahmadi laws and the blasphemy law, foster an atmosphere of intolerance in the country and embolden extremists.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on June 02, 2010 (boomark / email).