The publishing of contemptuous advertisements in national newspapers for funding as part of an anti-Ahmadi campaign is a unique development as in the past similar campaigns only took the form of pamphlets, wall-chalking and hate speeches.
Campaigns promoting hate of a particular segment of society are contradictory to the National Action Plan (NAP), the fifth clause of which reads, “Strict action [will be taken] against the literature, newspapers and magazines promoting hatred, decapitation, extremism, sectarianism and intolerance.”
Jamaat-e-Ahmadia Spokesperson Saleemudin, while speaking to The Express Tribune, described the ads as incitement to kill Ahmadis. “They are openly collecting contributions to spread hatred and instigate people to kill Ahmadis by holding conferences, publishing and distributing hate material,” he added.
“Law enforcing agencies should take action against the instigators as it [the campaign] is a clear violation of the National Action Plan,” Saleemuddin said. He expressed concern over the advertisements, being published in national and widely circulated newspapers.
“Jamata-e-Ahmadia tried to publish advertisements about boycotting elections but not a single newspaper of the country carried that,” he said. “This advertisement is a question mark on the functioning of law enforcement agencies and the effectiveness of NAP. Those responsible should be taken to task as early as possible.”
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Press Council of Pakistan Chairman Dr Salahudin Mengal said the aggrieved party or person can file a complaint before it since the organisation cannot take suo motu notice of the issue. “Once a complaint is filed, we refer it to the committee which after finding substantial evidence refers the matter to a judicial commission that is authorised to impose a fine as high as Rs10,000.”
The advertisement, published by Aalmi Majlis Tahafuz Khatam-e-Nabuwat Pakistan (AMTKNP), appealed for “full financial support to quell” Ahmadis and to “restrict their activities to save Muslims from them”. It further said that AMTKNP needed financial contributions to set up seminaries in and out of Pakistan, to pursue cases in higher courts against Ahmadis, to arrange Khatam-e-Nabuwat Conferences in and out of the country, to build mosques and seminaries in Chenab Nagar (where the headquarters of Jamat-e-Ahmadia is located), and to print hundreds of books against Ahmadis.
The advertisement features names of AMTKNP Central Ameer Dr Abdul Razaq Iskandar, Vice Ameer Hafiz Nasirudin Khakwani and central Nazim Ala Azizur Rehman Jalandhari in addition to contact details of its representatives and offices across various cities in Pakistan. It was published on June 24 issues across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Quetta, and Multan.
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