Recently in Ahmadis Category

“Of course we want religious tolerance to go properly but the Ahmadiyah have committed a violation by spreading a deviant belief. The problem will disappear if the belief disappears.” Translation: if you shut up and submit to us, we will stop hitting you.

"Problems Will Disappear if Ahmadiyah Disappear, Says West Java Governor," from the Jakarta Globe, May 7 (thanks to Andrew Bostom):

Just days after hard-line Islamic group members tore down the homes of an Ahmadiyah community in his province, West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said violence against the beleaguered minority group would stop if the religion disappeared.

“Of course we want religious tolerance to go properly but the Ahmadiyah have committed a violation by spreading a deviant belief. The problem will disappear if the belief disappears,” Ahmad told Indonesian news portal Kompas.com on Tuesday.

Early on Saturday morning, a mob of 400 hard-liners attacked an Ahmadiyah community in Sukamaju village, Singaparna district, leaving dozens of houses in shambles. Some 60 police officers guarding the village were outnumbered and rendered powerless against the assailants.

The Ahmadiyah community has faced years of discrimination in Indonesia, where the sect’s branch of Islam has been named “deviant” by a prominent Islamic organization.

Last month, 30 Ahmadiyah members were sealed in the Al-Misbah mosque when the Bekasi government shuttered the building.

Religious intolerance is on the rise in Indonesia, where minorities find themselves targeted by members of an increasingly vocal hard-line fringe. In few places is intolerance more routine than West Java. In recent months, Christians and Ahmadiyah have found their houses of worship targeted by the government amid pressure from hard-line groups....

An earlier Muslim mob showed its tolerance for this Ahmadiyah mosque in 2012

Yet in the West, Ahmadi spokesmen like the unctuous Harris Zafar and the strutting Qasim Rashid carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully destroy their homes if they were both back in West Java and dared to recite the Qur'an. Instead, Zafar and Rashid target those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution, running interference for their own oppressors.

"Islamic Hard-Liners Attack Ahmadiyah Community for Koran Recital," by Dessy Sagita for the Jakarta Globe, May 5:

An Ahmadiyah community in Tasikmalaya, West Java, was left in shambles on Sunday after hundreds of Islamic hard-line group members destroyed homes in their village.

Asep Taufik Ahmad, a member of the Sukamaju village in the Singaparna subdistrict, said some 400 hard-liners from a mass organization stormed the village at 1 p.m. and damaged dozens of houses belonging to followers of a minority sect of Islam, Ahmadiyah.

“It all started with our decision to hold a Koran recital event to commemorate Isra Mi’raj [the birth of prophet Muhammad]. We already informed the local police about our plan,” Asep told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.

The police tried to persuade the villagers to not go through with their plan, citing security issues.

“The police said we should cancel the event for our own safety, because a mass organization, I won’t say which one, was apparently unhappy with our activity, but we proceeded anyway because it was a religious activity,” he said.

Some 60 police officers were standing by to secure the event. However, Asep said that hundreds of hardliners came to the village Sunday afternoon and broke past the police barricade.

“The police were outnumbered, everything happened so fast. Suddenly they managed to get into our village and started to attack our houses with stones and sticks while chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ ['God is great']. There was not much the police could do to stop them, they were totally out of control,” he said, adding that the assailants left the village about two hours later.

“Fortunately there was no fatality or casualty, even though many of our belongings were damaged and people here are still traumatized,” he said....

Muslim clerics. Imagine a headline like "Catholic priests lead mob to attack Baptist house, torture family." Inconceivable. And yet stories like this one are commonplace, and routinely ignored by the mainstream media.

"Clerics attack Ahmadi house, torture family in Punjab," by Rana Tanveer for the Express Tribune, March 26:

KASUR: Local clerics attacked a house belonging to an Ahmadi family in the Kasur district of Punjab on Tuesday and subjected the family members to violence allegedly over their religious belief, The Express Tribune has learnt.

A mob led by a local cleric chanted slogans against Ahmadi families, their religious beliefs and their community before breaking into Mansoor’s* house in the Shamsabad area.

The five members of Mansoor’s family tried to take refuge in a room but the mob broke into the room as well.

Police personnel were reportedly present at the spot but did not take any action against the mob.

Mansoor was severely tortured after which he lost consciousness, while his wife and his 70-year-old uncle were also beaten.

Mansoor was shifted to a hospital where authorities claimed that he is in critical condition.

Sheikh Yousaf, Head of the Ahmadi community in Kasur, told The Express Tribune that he had repeatedly asked the DPO Kasur to establish a police check post in the area as they had been receiving threats since six months. He said that the DPO had agreed to his demands but the local MNA created hurdles in establishment of the check post.

He claimed that the police had deliberately left the Ahmadi family at the mercy of the mob, and the clerics who attacked that threatened the family to convert to their religion or face consequences.

The house was attacked when Mansoor refused to convert, Yousaf added.

*Name has been changed to protect identity

Yet in the West, Ahmadi spokesmen like the unctuous Harris Zafar and the sneering Qasim Rashid carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully slit their throats if they were both back in Rawalpindi, or shut down their mosque in Bekasi. Instead, Zafar and Rashid target those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution.

"Indonesia shuts down Ahmadiyah mosque," from AFP, April 4:

BEKASI, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities on Thursday shut down a mosque of the minority Muslim Ahmadiyah sect, in the latest sign of growing religious intolerance in the country.

Dozens of followers of the sect scuffled with officials putting up a fence around the Al-Misbah mosque on the outskirts of Jakarta to stop worshippers from using it, an AFP correspondent said.

"There is no freedom of religion in this country. May God give us strength to face this sad situation," said Rochim, a 65-year-old Ahmadiyah follower, as the mosque was closed off.

"If we cannot pray in our mosque, we will pray outside the mosque, even in the open air."

Local authorities said the mosque was closed to stop Ahmadiyah "practising their religious activity".

Followers of the sect, who believe their founder was the messiah after the Prophet Mohammed, are regarded as heretics and blasphemers by hardliners in Indonesia, have been increasingly targeted in recent years.

In a notorious 2011 case, a lynch mob clubbed, hacked and stoned three Ahmadiyah to death in western Java. The men convicted over the incident received only light prison sentences, provoking international outrage.

Human Rights Watch also warned in a report in February that attacks on minorities were growing across the religious spectrum, with Muslim sects, Christians and Buddhists all being targeted.

Ninety percent of Indonesia's 240 million people identify themselves as Muslim but the constitution guarantees freedom of religion and most practise a moderate form of Islam.

That last paragraph is in almost every mainstream media story about an incident like this one: "most" Indonesians "practise a moderate form of Islam." How many more attacks like this do there have to be before the phrase is quietly dropped?

Yet in the West, Ahmadi spokesmen like the execrable Harris Zafar and Qasim Rashid carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully slit their throats if they were both back in Rawalpindi, and instead target those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution.

"Ahmadis barred from offering Eid prayer," by Syed Danish Hussain for The Nation, October 30 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

ISLAMABAD – The Ahmadiya community residing in Rawalpindi city continues to bear the brunt of dangerous religious frenzy.

Around 1500-1600 worshippers belonging to Ahmadi community - who were supposed to congregate at the worship place of the community located at E-Block of Satellite Town to observe Eidul Azha prayers - were barred by the authorities from doing so.

It came after a new wave of hate-campaign against the community hit the city.

The Action Committee Khatm-e-Nabuwwat (ACKN) - an opportunistic alliance between the banned religious outfits including Jamatud Dawa (Jud) and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jammat (former Sipah-e-Sahaba) and some local traders - just a week before Eidul Azha had filled the city with anti-Ahmadi banners demanding of the city administration to seal the worship place permanently.

It was not the first time, as community members were also not allowed to offer Eidul Fitr prayers around two-and-a-half months ago.

“We, the office-bearers of Anjuman-e-Ahmadiya Rawalpindi (AAR), have formally requested the city administration to allow us to observe Eidul Azha prayers at Ewan-e-Tauheed near the Holy Family Hospital. But the administration refused on the pretext of law and order situation,” said a member of the administration of Ewan-e-Tauheed, wishing not to be named, while talking to TheNation....

Yet in the West, Ahmadi spokesmen like the execrable Harris Zafar and Qasim Rashid carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully slit their throats if they were both back in Bandung, and instead target those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution.

"FPI Attacks Ahmadiyah Mosque on Eve of Idul Adha," from the Jakarta Globe, October 26 (thanks to Lachlan):

Bandung. The Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Thursday night inflicted damage on a mosque run by Ahmadiyah devotees in Astana Anyar, Bandung.

Dozens of FPI members passed by the An Nasir Mosque at around 9 p.m. and witnessed Ahmadis preparing for the Islamic holiday of Idul Adha. The FPI demanded that they stop what what they were doing, but the Ahmadis refused.

"We were waiting for the cattle to be slaughtered when the FPI came," Hendar, an Ahmadiyah adherent, said as quoted by Tempo.co. "In the beginning, they came in peace. But at 10:30 p.m. they became outraged and started destroying lamps and windows located on the first floor [of the mosque]. There were ten Ahmadis, including some women, inside the mosque."

Muhammad Asep Abdurahman, an FPI board member with the group's Bandung chapter, said at the Bandung Police office that the FPI had objected to the Ahmadiyah activities because such actions were prohibited by the West Java government.

Before the destruction occurred, Bandung police officers brought Ahmadiyah and FPI representatives to a police office to negotiate the situation, but nothing materialized.

“Because negotiations reached a dead end, we returned to the location to destroy [the mosque],” Asep told Sindonews.com. “I, myself, destroyed the mosque's windows while other members did nothing.”

Asep threatened the Ahmadis and warned that they must stop their religious activities or face another attack.

Bandung Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Dadang Hartanto noted that the police did not anticipate the attack.

“The destruction was carried out spontaneously,” Dadang said. “It was probably triggered by an Ahmadi that insulted the FPI.”

Metrotvnews.com reported that none of the FPI members were arrested by police for destroying the mosque.

West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan said that such vandalism was not justified....

“Violence is wrong,” he said. “But we should also think about what triggered the incident. When a sacred religion [is] being tainted, it insults [the faithful]. All sides should... understand the regulation.”

Yet in the U.S., Ahmadi spokesmen like the execrable Harris Zafar carry water for the same Islamic supremacists who would cheerfully slit his throat if they were both back in Karachi, and instead targets those who stand up for the Ahmadis and decry their persecution.

"Ahmadi Muslims in UK call for urgent action against hate," by Haroon Siddique in The Guardian, October 7 (thanks to Lachlan):

Members of a Muslim sect persecuted in Pakistan have called for action to prevent groups from peddling hate against them in the UK.

The Ahmadiyya community in the UK says it is being targeted through various media and in mosques and conferences by behaviour that it says amounts to religious hatred but is not caught by the definition of that offence under UK law.

The community moved its headquarters to the UK in the 1980s after the Pakistani government passed a law forbidding Ahmadis from calling themselves Muslims and curbing their religious practices.

They were also hounded in Pakistan by Islamic groups that have set up UK satellite offices and are doing the same here, according to Naseer Din, president of the London Ahmadiyya community. "They are advocating sectarianism in Pakistan and creating hatred," he said. "These [same] groups are coming here and creating the same hatred … There is indoctrination going on in the Muslim community."

One anti-Ahmadi group is Khatme Nubuwwat, whose UK academy is in Forest Gate, east London. Its website variously describes Ahmadis as "traitors", "double faced", "dangerous" and engaged in a "conspiracy against Islam".

The Liberal Democrat peer Lord Hussain appeared at a Khatme Nubuwwat conference in Luton in July, an event Din said Hussain should not have been supporting.

A leaflet distributed in Wandsworth, south-west London, this year, attributed to a group called Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuze Khatme Nubuwwat, states: "Qadianis [a pejorative term for Ahmadis] are apostate ('Murtad') … He should be given the punishment of a Murtad which is capital punishment." It later makes clear: "Individuals cannot and should not administer this punishment."

Khatme Nubuwwat means "finality of prophethood", a reference to the fact that, unlike other Muslims, Ahmadis do not believe Muhammad was the last of the prophets.

This view has also prompted opprobrium on Asian community TV channels operating out of the UK. In May this year the media watchdog, Ofcom, found the Manchester-based Asian television network DM Digital to be in breach of rule 4.2 of its broadcasting code, forbidding abusive treatment of religious views, after an Islamic scholar on one of its programmes stated that the late founder of the Ahmadiyya community was "an apostate and one who deserves to be killed". Takbeer TV has also been censured by Ofcom.

Din said: "We don't want to stem …true discussion and scholarly debate but it mustn't be played out in a climate of hate … Where there's a history of a certain type of person or movement, like Khatme Nubuwwat preaching at conferences, in mosques … someone needs to look at it. The government needs to act before it gets out of hand."

Last month, three Ahmadis were reportedly shot dead in 10 days in Karachi in suspected hate crimes. The most notorious attack against Ahmadis came in 2010 when co-ordinated assaults on two Lahore mosques killed scores of people. Din warned: "It's only a matter of time until an atrocity is carried out against someone in our community here."

Akber Choudhry, a former Ahmadi from the Khatme Nubuwwat academy, said the group merely sought to help people confused about Islam by the Ahmadiyya community's teachings. "The hype [about persecution] is worse than the fact. No one in the UK wants to hurt, hate or harm the Ahmadiyya community." "Some of our [the UK's] imams are firebrands, but that doesn't have anything to do with the academy."

Choudhry promised to remove any offensive content on the academy's website drawn to his attention, but said some offending words were down to "cultural differences". "If there's something that is considered inflammatory, that should not be there," he said. "We call [the Ahmadiyya] a cult, which may be inflammatory."...

Yet in the United States, Ahmadis like Harris Zafar run interference for the Islamic supremacists who persecute them elsewhere, by attacking and defaming the very people who are standing up to their jihadist persecutors. As Jihad Watch reader David, who sent this in, noted, maybe if tools like Zafar work even harder for the Islamic supremacists in the West, the Islamic supremacists in Pakistan will ease up on persecuting Ahmadis. But probably not.

"Pak police vandalise 23 Ahmadi graves, remove Quranic verses," from the Indian Express, September 5 (thanks to David):

In another incident targeting the minority Ahmadi sect in Pakistan, police in Punjab province removed plaques with Quranic verses from graves at a community following a complaint from clerics.

Policemen vandalised 23 graves at the cemetery in Faisalbad district, 80 km from the Punjab capital of Lahore, by smashing the plaques, spokesman for leading Ahmadi body Jamat-e-Ahmadiya Pakistan, Salimuddin, said.

This was the second such incident in three weeks.

Punjab Police earlier vandalised another Ahmadi cemetery in Hafizabad district, 90 km from Lahore, by using black paint to cover Quranic verses on 64 graves.

According to Salimuddin, police in Faisalabad smashed or removed the plaques of 23 graves in Jeranwala sub-division following a request from local clerics.

He said police called local Ahmadis and "ordered" them to remove the plaques inscribed with Quranic verses as they were "hurting" the emotions of Muslims.

"We told them it was a sin to remove the plaques, and if you want to do it, do it yourself," Salimuddin said.

He said it was "very unfortunate" that the administration was playing into the hands of anti-Ahmadi elements.

Salimuddin said a 1992 ruling by the Supreme Court had allowed Ahmadis to inscribe some Quranic verses on their graves.

"Police are even violating the apex court's order," he said.

Pakistan's Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim but were declared non-Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974.

A decade later, they were barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims in Pakistan....

Yet in the United States, Ahmadis like Harris Zafar run interference for the Islamic supremacists who persecute them elsewhere, by attacking and defaming the very people who are standing up to their jihadist persecutors. As Jihad Watch reader David, who sent this in, noted, maybe if tools like Zafar work even harder for the Islamic supremacists in the West, the Islamic supremacists in Pakistan will ease up on persecuting Ahmadis. But probably not.

"Ahmadis restricted from offering Eid prayers," by Faiza Mirza for Dawn, August 23 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

RAWALPINDI: According to Saleemuddin, spokesperson of Ahmadiyya community, Ahmadis were restricted from offering Eid prayers at Ewan-e-Tauheed located at E-Block, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi reported DawnNews.

Saleemuddin said, “Ewan-e-Tauheed is where most of us offered Eid and Friday prayers, however, the situation changed nine months ago when a hate campaign against our community enticed residents of the area to restrict our activities. Prior to the Eid prayers, we sought approval from the local law enforcement agencies to let us pray on Eid or suggest an alternative site where we could congregate.”

According to Saleemuddin, police approved of the idea, however, at the last minute informed Ahmadis that it is best if they offer Eid prayers at Bait-ul-Hamd, Murree Road, which only has a capacity to accommodate 100 worshippers.

He went on to say that early in the morning, police officials surrounded Ewan-e-Tauheed to deter Ahmadis from gathering and praying.

“An estimated number of 2,000 Ahmadis were expected to congregate and offer Eid prayers, however, were unable to do so because of the sudden change of events triggered by influence of local powerful businessmen,” added Saleemuddin...

Sharjeel Mir, President of Anjuman-e-Tajiran Rawalpindi and a local businessman said, “We object to Ewan-e-Tauheed and all that it stands for because it was acquired through illegal means. Fifteen years ago an Ahmadi bought a house and later on donated it to the Ahamdiiya community. Since then it has been used as a praying site despite of the fact that NOC was not obtained from the district government and local residents as is required according to the law of land.”...

“According to the constitution, Ahmadis are not allowed to call their praying sites mosques and term their call of prayers as namaz. They do not follow the rules and policies which is why we have been taking action against them. We believe in coexistence. In fact countless Christians live in Rawalpindi and we live in harmony, however, we will not have Ahmadis call themselves Muslims and go against the law. They should live like other minorities,” added Mir.

Yet in the United States, Ahmadis like Harris Zafar run interference for the Islamic supremacists who persecute them elsewhere, by attacking and defaming the very people who are standing up to their jihadist persecutors. As Jihad Watch reader David, who sent this in, noted, maybe if tools like Zafar work even harder for the Islamic supremacists in the West, the Islamic supremacists in Pakistan will ease up on persecuting Ahmadis. But probably not.

"Policemen vandalise graveyard of minority Ahmadi sect," from PTI, August 19 (thanks to David):

Lahore: A graveyard of the minority Ahmadi sect in Pakistan's Punjab province has allegedly been vandalised by policemen, who used black paint to cover up verses from the Quran inscribed on 64 graves.

The incident occurred in Hafizabad district, 90 km from Lahore. Policemen painted the tombstones yesterday at the "request" of anti-Ahmadis clerics, who called for the Quranic verses to be removed from the graves.

The police action has sent shock waves through the 2,500-strong Ahmadi community living in Hafizabad and made them feel vulnerable, Ahmadi leaders said.

Nasir Javed, the acting chief of the Jamaat-e-Ahmadiya in Hafizabad, told a news agency that police had called him a few days ago and asked him to remove Quranic verses from the tombstones in the Ahmadi graveyard as it was "hurting the sentiments of Muslims".

"We asked them how such verses could be removed as they were not provocative by any means. The police chief of the district said they would do it on their own as the issue could lead to tensions between the two communities," Javed said.

"Yesterday we found 64 graves vandalised with black paint, which is outrageous," he said. He condemned the police action and asked: "If the state is doing this to us, to whom should we turn to for justice?"

Hafizabad district police chief Waqas Yasin told a news agency that police had acted after receiving a complaint from local clerics.

"As the Ahmadis are not Muslims, they cannot have Quranic verses inscribed on their tombstones," he said.

Police had first asked the Ahmadi community to erase the verses themselves but they did not comply, he said.

After that, the police had to act, he added.

Earlier, there was a joint graveyard for Ahmadis and Muslims in the district.

Following a protest by an extremist group six years ago, the Ahmadis had to separate their graveyard. Pakistan's Ahmadis consider themselves Muslim but were declared non-Muslims through a constitutional amendment in 1974.

A decade later, they were barred from proselytising or identifying themselves as Muslims in Pakistan....

Police in Punjab province have taken action against several Ahmadi mosques this year. They demolished the minarets of an Ahmadi mosque at Kharian city, 200 km from Lahore, last month.

In March, couplets from the Quran written on tiles at an Ahmadi mosque at Sultanpura in Lahore were removed by police.

Yet in the United States, Ahmadis like Harris Zafar run interference for the Islamic supremacists who persecute them elsewhere, by attacking and defaming the very people who are standing up to their jihadist persecutors.

"Ahmadi charged with posing as Muslim for second time in Sargodha," by Rabia Mehmood for the Express Tribune, August 7 (thanks to David):

LAHORE: An Ahmadi jeweller in Silanwali, Sargodha was charged with blasphemy for the second time in his life for “posing as a Muslim” and for putting up a translation of the Quranic text in his shop.

Muhammad Ashraf, who was earlier charged along with his co-workers in 2009 for posing as Muslims, was charged with blasphemy on July 23 this year under Section 298-C on the complaint of Hafiz Muhammad Imran.

Ashraf was sent to Central Jail Sargodha on July 24 and was released on bail on the exchange of bail bonds worth Rs50,000 on July 31. The case is under trial at a local magisterial court in Sargodha.

The FIR registered against Ashraf mentioned that he had put up translations of text from the Holy Quran in his shop at Kobi Market, Saeed Bazar, which was against the Section 298-C of 1984 Ordinance.

As per Section 298-C, an Ahmadi who “refers to his faith as Islam, or preaches or propagates his faith, or invites others to accept his faith, by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representations, or in any manner whatsoever outrages the religious feelings of Muslims” will be punished with up to three years in prison and is liable to pay a fine.

The text translation in Ashraf’s shop read, “O people of faith always speak the straight truth.”

The Station House Officer (SHO) of the Silanwali Police Station, Irfan Safdar, told The Express Tribune that, “After the complaint, our security constable Aslam and other investigation staff of police went to verify if the translation of the Quranic text was actually there at Ashraf’s shop, and it was. So we registered the FIR.”

The SHO said the security constables verified that, “Ashraf was spreading his faith and pretends to be a Muslim.” He further said that the “entire process of verification and taking Ashraf into custody took about two hours. Ashraf was taken into custody and then the FIR was registered quickly after that.”

According to details shared with The Express Tribune, on July 22, Hafiz Imran came to the jeweller’s shop which has been in the market for seven years, and asked for removal of the translation, which Ashraf refused to take off.

Ashraf recalled that Imran said to him “these are good words, but this (Ashraf’s shop) is not a good place.”

The next day, when Ashraf went to open his shop at around 11am, he met the police security constable Aslam, who according to the SHO verified the presence of the Quranic text translation in Ashraf’s shop....

Ashraf was then taken to the police station and put behind bars. Eventually he was imprisoned for six days in the Central Jail Sargodha where he stayed in the same section as that of murderers and prisoners on death row.

In 2009, Ashraf and two other Ahmadi men who have businesses in the same market, were arrested for ‘posing as Muslims’ and for praying inside a room in the market. After spending 28 days in jail after that FIR, Ashraf and his co-accused got bail from the court.

District Police Officer (DPO) Sargodha Dr Rizwan told The Express Tribune that, “In my field of experience, the intolerance against Ahmadis has considerably decreased, over the last few years – I mean the use of violence against them by the extreme right wing. The use of legal apparatus to redress perceived transgression is indicative of improved civility.”...

Rizwan is using mainstream media terminology: "Right wing" = bad, "Left wing" = good.

Leading human rights activist, former chairperson HRCP and former president Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan Asma Jahangir while speaking to The Express Tribune said that the government officials have always given a message that they do not recognise the Ahmadi community, which is “treated like lepers and Jews” in Pakistan....

"Like Jews."

Every story like this makes it all the more appalling and shameful that the Ahmadis in the U.S. spent their time and energy attacking counter-jihadists and thereby effectively aiding those who are murdering them in Pakistan and Indonesia.

An update on this story. "Ahmadiyah Pressured Into Apologizing for Bogor Violence, Leaders Say," by Vento Saudale and Ulma Haryanto in the Jakarta Globe, July 16 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Ahmadiyah community members say they have been forced to apologize, while foreign journalists deny having incited violence against the sect’s followers in Bogor’s Cisalada village on Friday.

According to Bogor Police, Ahmadiyah followers and local residents agreed to end the incident peacefully after leaders of Ahmadiyah apologized for the violence.

“We apologize for our negligence. We never wanted to cause any conflict, and we never invited the journalists,” said Humaedi, one of the local Ahmadiyah leaders.

However, Mubarik Ahmad, another Ahmadiyah leader in Cisalada, expressed concern about whether the statement that he wrote and signed on Saturday could further endanger his people.

“I have no experience in writing such things. The district police chief and military commander told me what I had to write, that it was my fault for not reporting the foreign journalists to the subdistrict head,” Mubarik said on Sunday.

He also said he was not allowed to consult with anyone because the officials claimed they were “short on time.”

“Based on their instructions I also wrote that we will never allow reporters to enter the village without permission from the subdistrict head,” Mubarik added.

An angry mob attacked members of the Ahmadiyah community on Friday as a team of Dutch journalists tried to shoot a documentary on the beleaguered community.

Journalists from the Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant arrived in Cisalada late on Friday morning to interview members of the local Ahmadiyah community. But once local residents learned of the journalists’ presence, the situation turned violent, police said.

The four foreigners were subsequently interrogated by the police for hours before being released on Saturday....

Meanwhile, Ahmadis in the U.S. carry water for the Muslims who kill them in Pakistan and Indonesia. "Four Injured as Mob Attacks Ahmadiyah Community in Bogor," by Vento Saudale for the Jakarta Globe, July 13 (thanks to Lachlan):

An angry mob attacked members of Bogor’s Ahmadiyah community on Friday as a team of Dutch journalists tried to shoot a documentary on the beleaguered community.

Four journalists from the Dutch daily newspaper de Volkskrant arrived in Bogor’s Cisalada village late Friday morning to interview members of the local Ahmadiyah community. But once local residents learned of the journalists’ presence, the situation turned violent, police said.

“When one of them went to the neighboring Kebon Kopi village to interview people, the residents refused and attacked the homes of the Ahmadiyah,” said Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hery Santoso.

Dozens of people surrounded Cisalada village and hurled stones at the homes of Ahmadis. The stoning turned into a brawl once the Ahmadis started to fight back, Hery said.

Three members of the Ahmadiyah community — Budi, Aji and Zaenudin — were all injured in the attack. Endang, who isn’t a member of the community, suffered a broken leg. Six homes were damaged.

The mob dispersed after the attack, Hery said. But they later returned with knives and machetes.

Police and the Indonesian military (TNI) held the angry mob at bay, Hery said.

They also questioned the journalists to see if they had the proper permits to report in the area, Hery said.

The Ahmadiyah community have long been victims of violence in Indonesia — where mainstream Muslims view the sect as a “deviant” form of Islam.

Indonesia recognizes five religions. The Ahmadis version of Islam is not one of them.

On Oct. 1, 2010, the 600 member community was attacked by a mob that looted and torched their homes, schools and mosque.

Several of the attackers were appeared before a judge and given suspended sentences. But an Ahmadi man who stabbed one of the attackers in self defense as sentenced to nine months in prison....

Katrina Swett, chairwoman of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, urged Washington to talk about the issue with Jakarta.

“The United States should specifically confront governments which target the Ahmadiyah,” she said.

Good luck with that.

In the U.S., the Ahmadis carry water for the Islamic supremacists who are murdering and persecuting them in Pakistan and Indonesia. "Pakistan shuns its only Nobel laureate - physicist linked to discovery of 'God particle,'" from AP, July 9 (thanks to all who sent this in):

ISLAMABAD: The pioneering work of Abdus Salam, Pakistan's only Nobel laureate, helped lead to the apparent discovery of the subatomic " God particle" last week. But the late physicist is no hero at home, where his name has been stricken from school textbooks.

Praise within Pakistan for Salam, who also guided the early stages of the country's nuclear program, faded decades ago as Muslim fundamentalists gained power. He belonged to the Ahmadi sect, which has been persecuted by the government and targeted by Taliban militants who view its members as heretics.

Their plight along with that of Pakistan's other religious minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Christians and Hindus has deepened in recent years as hardline interpretations of Islam have gained ground and militants have stepped up attacks against groups they oppose. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims.

Salam, a child prodigy born in 1926 in what was to become Pakistan after the partition of British-controlled India, won more than a dozen international prizes and honors. In 1979, he was co-winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on the so-called Standard Model of particle physics, which theorizes how fundamental forces govern the overall dynamics of the universe. He died in 1996....

Salam's life, along with the fate of the 3 million other Ahmadis in Pakistan, drastically changed in 1974 when parliament amended the constitution to declare that members of the sect were not considered Muslims under Pakistani law.

Ahmadis believe their spiritual leader, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908, was a prophet of God a position rejected by the government in response to a mass movement led by Pakistan's major Islamic parties. Islam considers Muhammad the last prophet and those who subsequently declared themselves prophets as heretics.

All Pakistani passport applicants must sign a section saying the Ahmadi faith's founder was an "impostor" and his followers are "non-Muslims." Ahmadis are prevented by law in Pakistan to "pose" as Muslims, declare their faith publicly, call their places of worship mosques or perform the Muslim call to prayer. They can be punished with prison and even death.

Salam resigned from his government post in protest following the 1974 constitutional amendment and eventually moved to Europe to pursue his work. In Italy, he created a center for theoretical physics to help physicists from the developing world....

Despite his achievements, Salam's name appears in few textbooks and is rarely mentioned by Pakistani leaders or the media. By contrast, fellow Pakistani physicist A.Q. Khan, who played a key role in developing the country's nuclear bomb and later confessed to spreading nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, is considered a national hero. Khan is a Muslim.

Officials at Quaid-i-Azam University had to cancel plans for Salam to lecture about his Nobel-winning theory when Islamist student activists threatened to break the physicist's legs, said his colleague Hoodbhoy....

The president who honored Salam would later go on to intensify persecution of Ahmadis, for whom life in Pakistan has grown even more precarious. Taliban militants attacked two mosques packed with Ahmadis in Lahore in 2010, killing at least 80 people.

"Many Ahmadis have received letters from fundamentalists since the 2010 attacks threatening to target them again, and the government isn't doing anything," said Qamar Suleiman, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community.

For Salam, not even death saved him from being targeted.

Hoodbhoy said his body was returned to Pakistan in 1996 after he died in Oxford, England, and was buried under a gravestone that read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate." A local magistrate ordered that the word "Muslim" be erased.

The Ahmadis are considered heretics by mainstream Muslims, in part because they eschew violent jihad (but not dawah or Sharia). So this apparently means that they deserve no police protection from Muslim thugs, even in modern, moderate Indonesia, that paragon of Islamic tolerance. "Indonesia: Police Failed to Protect Ahmadiyah Mosque from Attacks," by William Gomes for Salem-News.com, May 11:

(HONG KONG) - An attack was carried out against the Ahmadiyah mosque on 20 April 2012 in Singaparna, Tasikmalaya, West Java. Reports indicate that the perpetrators were the Islamic Defenders Front (Front Pembela Islam, FPI).

Police were on scene at the location of the attack, yet they did not take any adequate measures to prevent the it.

One witnesses said the police and other state officials had been notified about the plan of FPI to come to the mosque a day before the villagers about this. A platoon of police were present while the attack occurred....

The forbidden juice

This is absurd, and Vaqas Asghar rightly makes fun of it in this piece, but there is a sinister aspect to this also: Islamic supremacists want to destroy the livelihood and utterly impoverish those whom they deem to be enemies. This is behind the endless repetition of false information about the finances of anti-jihadists -- including Suhail Khan's hysterical false charge that I demanded $10,000 to debate him. The ultimate goal is to scare off all donors and supporters, and in the case of this juice, to destroy the market for it, so that all of Islam's perceived enemies "feel themselves subdued" (Qur'an 9:29).

"To ban or not to ban …Shezan juice," by Vaqas Asghar in the Express Tribune, February 12:

A couple of weeks back, the Jamaatud Dawa held a well-attended rally in Rawalpindi to remove an Ahmadi religious centre from Satellite Town.

Even though neighbours claimed to have no issues with its presence, the assault on this myopically-perceived menace seems far from over. Just take the little-reported effort to ban a local cell phone company due to its ‘questionable ownership’.

Although proven to be non-Ahmadi owned, the company still raises suspicion because it starts with the same letter that a derogatory term for Ahmadis does. Apparently, a flaw in their phones’ Urdu dictionary which made it impossible to type the name Muhammad is what fuelled the cause.

On Sunday, The Express Tribune reported on a monumental decision taken by the Lahore Bar Association. These lawyers, some of whom vocally supported convicted murderer and all-round crazy person Mumtaz Qadri (also a lawyers’ favourite in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, where garland of roses were placed around his ‘blessed’ neck and offers were placed for his ‘holy’ MP5 submachine gun), decided that a major food and beverage brand should be banned from all court premises because it is owned by every Pakistani bigot’s favourite punching bag, Ahmadis. This was followed up by a vow to “also…ban other products at a later stage”.

With this in mind, in the spirit of banning things based on who owns or manufactures them, I’ve come up with a short list of other items that should be banned.

Guns

Specifically the infamous Kalashnikov Ak-47 and AK-74 rifles which so many feel a religious duty to acquire. The guns carry the name of their inventor, Soviet weapons designer Lt General Mikhael Kalashnikov, an atheist. Of course the fact that he regretted his invention later, saying things like, “It is painful for me to see when criminal elements of all kinds fire from my weapon…I created this weapon primarily to safeguard our motherland” and, “I would prefer to have invented a machine that people could use and that would help farmers with their work — for example a lawnmower.”

Alternatively, if they love their AK’s so much, wait for the AK-mower to hit the market. I’m sure the 92-year-old genius has one last design in him. They can help pass the time with one of the general’s less famed products, Kalashnikov Vodka

Clothes

Now clothing dates back past the coming of Islam, or any modern religion for that matter, but the problem is, how do you know who made the cloth for that fascinating non-Muslim, European-styled black on white combo you’re wearing? Was it an atheist in China? Was it a Christian in South America? Was it a Hindu in India? Was it a non-whatever-you-are in Pakistan? The only solution to assure compatibility is to make your own cloth and stitch it yourself. Or wear a box (as long as you’re sure it was made by people who share your ideology).

Cell phones

Invented by Christians and manufactured by atheists in China, it is high time to lay those Blackberrys, Nokias, iPhones, HTCs and Samsungs on top of a bonfire. Start with Android phones, since the technology’s father is a Jew.

Paper, printing, and ink

All three are Chinese inventions, if the lawyers are really committed, they will begin a movement to get rid of all written and printed material such as the Constitution of Pakistan. But wait, wouldn’t that mean having to dispose of all the written anti-minority laws? No problem. They can rely on oral histories. Who needs certified written records when any prime candidate for natural deselection can spout a cockamamie theory and present it as fact?...

Wherever there arises a renewed interest in Sharia, the observable effect is that tolerance decreases and harassment increases, and violent persecution often results with the aim of putting the unbelievers in their supposed place. "Violence against Indonesia’s religious minorities surges -HRW," from by Thin Lei Win for AlertNet, January 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Violence against religious minorities surged in Indonesia in 2011, with authorities standing aside and failing to uphold the rule of law as Islamist mobs attacked Christians and Ahmadis, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its annual report on the country.

The report, part of a larger HRW publication monitoring human rights in more than 90 countries, also said violence continued to rack [sic] Papua and West Papua. The report said the authorities used excessive force against peaceful protesters in these Indonesian provinces, where a low-level separatist insurgency has been going on for decades.

Elaine Pearson, the group’s deputy Asia director, said attacks on religious minorities and police violence in Papua “got a lot worse in 2011.”

“The common thread is the failure of the Indonesian government to protect the rights of all its citizens,” she said.

The report said senior government officials, including Minister of Religious Affairs Suryadharma Ali, Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, and Minister of Human Rights and Law Patrialis Akbar, “continued to justify restrictions on religious freedom in the name of public order.”

Incidents of sectarian violence “got more deadly and more frequent” last year, with 184 cases of religious attacks in the first nine months of 2011, the rights group said. Churches as well as Ahmadi mosques and communities in various places came under assault.

The Ahmadis are followers of a minority Ahmadiyya sect founded in the 19th century. They believe there have been other prophets of Islam since its founder Mohammad, although he is regarded as the most important. Mainstream Muslims consider them heretical, and Ahmadis face increasing threats of violence in many countries including Pakistan and Indonesia.

“Short prison terms for a handful of offenders did nothing to dissuade mob violence,” the report added, pointing to the February incident in western Java when some three Ahmadis were killed and five injured when some 1,500 Islamic militants attacked a house.

The event was caught on film – police officers were shown watching as the mob wreaked havoc – but only 12 men were charged, and none for manslaughter. One of the Ahmadis injured in the attack was later convicted of assault and disobeying police orders.

The blasphemy laws are a supremacist tool aimed at scaring non-Muslims and dissenting Muslims into silence and keeping them in line according to the whims of their overlords, as are all assaults on free speech that aim to suppress criticism of Islam. "Harassment: Three Ahmedis accused under blasphemy laws," by Rana Tanveer for the Express Tribune, December 24 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

LAHORE: The police have registered cases under the blasphemy laws against a student and his father in Khushab and a headmaster in Gujrat, all three of them Ahmedis.

Morality policing is a cheap way for authorities to look pious and busy. If they are spending resources on this, there is something more constructive they could be doing that they are not doing, like, for example, investigating honor killings.

Sajeel Ahmed, 18, of Khushab was accused of making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) in a first information report (FIR) registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which carries the death penalty. The complainant is his classmate Waqas Nadeem, who said that Sajeel had tried to convert other students and made remarks that hurt their religious sentiments.

Sajeel’s father Hakim Jameel was accused of describing his son as a Muslim in his school admission form, an offence under Section 298-C of the PPC with a penalty of up to three years in prison. The complainant in the case is Qari Saeed Ahmed, who submitted that “the Muslims of Khushab are worried about the increasing number and activities of Qadianis in the city”.

That is what this is really about. The Ahmadis commit "blasphemy" by not disappearing.

Mujahid Ahmed, Sajeel’s brother, said that the police had registered the cases under pressure from religious leaders. “They have been making announcements at local mosques against Ahmedis and taking out protest rallies,” he said. He said that Qari Saeed had a long-term dispute with his father over property. He said that Saeed’s own son, a former teacher of Sajeel, had given police a statement in support of Sajeel. Previously, Jameel had said the charges against them were baseless.

Meanwhile in Gujrat, the police registered a case against Basharat Ahmed, headmaster at Government High Schools Kang Chanan, Gujrat, under Section 295-B of the PPC. He is accused of defiling the Holy Quran, an offence that can be punished with life imprisonment.

Ahmed allegedly snatched Arabic books from students who were cheating during exams at his school and threw the books in a pond. The complainant, Qari Mazhar Zargar, accused him of defiling Quranic verses written in those books.

Mubarik Ahmed Chaudhry, the brother of the accused headmaster, said that no one from the school had joined the case against his brother. He said that Zargar was being directed by people who had a property dispute with his brother.

“The teachers have all given statements to the police backing my brother. The police have been put under pressure by clerics here. The case has been registered six days after the alleged incident,” he said.

Sub Inspector Akhtar Shah, the investigation officer for the case, said that the headmaster had been arrested and investigations were ongoing.

A spokesman for the Jamaat-i-Ahmediya said that the community faced “an organised campaign of hatred and persecution” in Pakistan. “The campaign of hatred has reached new heights where even educational institutions are not safe for Ahmedi students and teachers,” he said.

“Such baseless cases against Ahmedis will not deter us,” he said. “This is not the first time that such cases have been registered against Ahmedis and will not be the last one. As in the past, these cases will also be proven false.”

He said that since 1984, 298 Ahmedis had been charged under the blasphemy laws.

Even the newspaper and the reporter covering the story have been threatened. Blasphemy charges against students and minors may emerge as an unfortunate new trend to blackmail non-Muslims and minority Islamic sects in Pakistan. Accusing the minor involves the entire family, threatening to ruin the future of the minor and the lives of his or her parents and other relatives.

Efficiency in persecution: perhaps that is supposed to constitute "progress." "Blasphemy allegations: Ahmadi family under threat from clerics," by Rana Tanveer for the Express Tribune, December 1:

LAHORE: An Ahmadi family in Khushab says it is being victimised by local clerics who instigated the expulsion of a 16-year-old from his school and are now pressing the police to register blasphemy cases against him and his father.

Simply expressing or identifying with beliefs that are at variance with the dominant Sunni Islam was probably enough to be accused of blasphemy.

The father, Hakim Jameel, told The Express Tribune that activists of the Aalmi Majlis Tahafuz Khatme Nabuwat (AMTKN) were also trying to get his other two sons expelled from a college where they are ICom and BSc students.

AMTKN members insisted that the 16-year-old student of class 10 and his father had both committed blasphemy. They also made thinly-veiled threats to this correspondent not to publish this story.

Qari Saeed, the divisional president of AMTKN, and Waqas Ahmed moved the application seeking a case under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code against Rana Sajeel, 16, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), and under Section 289 against his father Rana Hakim Jameel for allegedly describing Sajeel as a Muslim in the school admission form.

In Pakistan, Ahmadis are not recognized as Muslims, and cannot make the hajj pilgrimage.

The law does not permit anyone to call Ahmadis Muslims. Jameel denied putting down Islam as Sajeel’s religion, saying he had put down Ahmadi, as he had done when his other sons were applying to colleges.

He said the allegation against his son stemmed from a fight at school. He said that the school’s principal had overheard some students abusing Sajeel and had beaten them up. The students accused Sajeel of telling on them and beat him up. Sajeel then went to the principal to complain. “They made up a story, telling the principal they had attacked him because he made blasphemous remarks,” Jameel said.

He said that the principal of Al-Tahir Public School, Haji Aslam, was an AMTKN supporter and had lost an eye during a protest organised by the group. “The principal expelled my son and then got together with other AMTKN activists to lodge a police complaint,” Jameel said.

He said since the family had been accused of blasphemy, the AMTKN had been organising meetings at a mosque near their residence where they made inflammatory speeches. “People have turned against us,” he said. “We are under serious threat.”

While the blasphemy law is inherently defective and unjust, it also lends itself to further abuses to settle scores and neutralize rivals:

He said that a property dispute may also lie behind the accusations. In August 2011, the Jamaat-i-Ahmadia had moved the courts against a woman named Zaibun Nisa who had tried to sell off land belonging to the Jamaat as her own, he said. Her grandfather had donated the land to the Jamaat in his will, he said.

The court ordered the registration of a case against Nisa and four others for fraud. She spent about three weeks in jail, before she announced that she was renouncing the community and moved in with Qari Saeed. He also arranged for her bail, Jameel said.

Qari Saeed said that he had no doubt that the police would register the blasphemy cases as “hundreds of students” had told him about the incident. Asked why he had not contacted the Khushab DPO when he was summoned as part of the investigation, he said: “The police should come to me if they need me. If I go to the police station, thousands of Muslims will come with me and there will be unrest.”

He admitted that Zaibun Nisa and her family were residing with him, but insisted that had nothing to do with this case. Asked about the property dispute, he lost his temper and hung up. Shortly after, a man identifying himself as AMTKN secretary general Abdullah phoned this correspondent and sought the address of The Tribune offices, saying he would send over some Lahore-based activists. As of late Wednesday night, they had not arrived....

A student group has threatened to kill Ahmadis who return to the campus. According to the report below, "the university and the education ministry reacted to the threat with total silence."

Authorities will not regard the situation as a crisis as long as only religious minorities are being abused. "Lahore: Ahmadi student expelled on false blasphemy charges," by Jibran Khan for Asia News, November 25:

Lahore (AsiaNews) – An Ahmadi student from Lahore (Punjab) was expelled from her university in her senior after she was accused of blasphemy. Students affiliated with Tahaffuz-e-Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (TKN) accused Rabia Saleem of ripping up a poster with anti-Ahmadi content. Ahmadi Muslims are considered heretical by mainstream Islam because they do not view Muhammad as the last prophet. The poster was on the door of the hostel where the young woman lived, and, according to sources, it did not contain any verses from the Qur‘an. A student, who asked for anonymity, said that the university “discriminates against religious minorities” and allows fundamentalist groups to “do as they as they please.”

Rashid Ahmad Khan, additional registrar at the Comsats Institute of Information Technology in Lahore, had denied any link between the student’s expulsion and her religion. Instead, he said she was expelled for “breaking university rules” since she “did not provide a document” required in order to register. Student sources say instead that the expulsion of the Ahmadi student was racist [sic] in nature, the result of an attitude of discrimination towards religious minorities that permeates the university.

In the meantime, TKN-affiliated students announced that “Ahmadi students would not be allowed” on campus, and that anybody who tried to resist them would be killed. The university and the education ministry reacted to the threat with total silence.

By contrast, it has send [sic] shockwaves through the Ahmadi community, which now fears fresh attacks, like the dual attack of May 2010 against two mosques in Lahore that left hundreds dead.

Speaking to AsiaNews, Fr Amir John said that “many students are victims of discrimination in school and that no one has seriously tackled the problem.” In his view, the state “tolerates religious hatred” and “does nothing when episodes of persecution occur.”

The textbooks certainly don't help. By the time students reach the universities, they have heard years of propaganda against religious minorities.

For the Catholic priest, the extremist mindset continues to spread and because of it Pakistan could lose important and prominent people from religious minorities.

The Masihi Foundation and Life for All, two NGOs involved in helping victims of discrimination and violence, also condemned Rabia Saleem’ expulsion. In a joint statement, they called for “tolerance and harmony” and urged religious leaders to “play a positive role” in building a multi-confessional society.

They also noted that the only Pakistani to win a Nobel Prize (for Physics) is Abdus Salam, an Ahmadi, who was not appropriately honoured at home for his international award.