Pakistan High Court judge calls for termination of Ahmaddiyas
Pakistan’s minority Ahmadiyya community, who are shunned by staunch followers of Islam, face more persecution after a ruling on March 9 by a High Court judge.
A judge at the Islamabad High Court has ordered that applicants for jobs in the public service declare their faith before being considered for any positions. The court urged state institutions to ensure that citizens are “easily identifiable” by faith.
The verdict was handed down by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, who last year declared blasphemers “terrorists” and worse than jihadists.
The verdict was delivered after hearings on amendments to the controversial Khatm-e-Nabuwwat, or finality of prophethood, clause in the Election Reforms Act, 2017, which would have eliminated a separate voters’ list for Ahmadis, an Islamic sect declared heretics in Pakistan.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution excommunicated the Ahmadiyya Muslims in 1974, enshrining belief that Khatm-e-Nabuwwat was integral to the Islamic faith.
Islamist military dictator Zia-ul Haq then added Ordinance XX to Pakistan’s Penal Code a decade later in 1984, barring Ahmadis from “posing as Muslims,” a “crime” that still carries prison sentences for members of the community if they use Islamic titles, greetings, scriptures or calls to prayer.
http://www.atimes.com/article/pakistan-high-court-judge-calls-termination-ahmaddiyas/
