Returning Ahmadi villagers face social boycott

LAHORE: Members of the Ahmadiyya community who fled their village in the wake of the storming of their worship place and a subsequent clash on Dec 12 have started trickling back to their homes in Chakwal’s Dulmail area. Upon their return, the Ahmadi villagers are facing a social boycott imposed by the locals.

Most of the shops in Dulmail are not willing to entertain Ahmadi customers. “The locals are not even ready to talk to us,” one Ahmadi villager said.

The authorities imposed a curfew and mounted a crackdown after the Dec 12 attack during which one Ahmadi worshipper died of cardiac arrest, one protester was killed and another five were injured. The authorities later asked people to return to their homes and assured them that those without a link to the incident or the clash would not be arrested.

Soldiers left the village after spending 10 days in the locality. About 100 policemen were currently deployed in the area to ensure no damage was done to the minority group. The group’s around 600 members form a tiny part of the total population of 11,624.

Jamaat Ahmadiyya’s Chakwal district chief Malik Zahid Hameed told The Express Tribune that so far 128 Ahmadis, including women, children and old men had come back. “However, there is no young man among these people out of fears of a clash with the locals,” he said. Hameed said the villagers had avoided having any relations with the minority group in the past. “But, now they are trying to make our lives harder,” he said. “No shopkeeper is giving us grocery items and even milkmen are not giving milk to Ahmadis. They have to purchase daily commodities from Chakwal city,” he said, adding that even schoolchildren from Ahmadi families are complaining of being avoided by their class fellows.

Another Ahmadi resident, who requested not to be named, said many Ahmadis and non-Ahmadis were relatives and had been living peacefully. “This event, however, has made us feel like we are not human beings,” he said. He said even their non-Ahmadi relatives were not ready to talk to them. He said it is not possible for them to leave this village, where their ancestral lands and houses are located. “Even if all Ahmadis offered to sell their houses, no one would be ready to give them a proper price,” he added.

He said there are more than 10 mosques for Muslims but only one place of worship for Ahmadis, which the locals were hell-bent to take control over. “Even though, according to the revenue record, some mosques are on lands owned by Ahmadis,” he added.

Chakwal’s Deputy Commissioner Javed Bhatti said the government could not do anything to stop this social boycott. “However, no one will be allowed to take the law into his hands,” he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Habibur Rehman – brother of Naeem Shafiq who died in the firing on Dec 12 – said police and all other law enforcing agencies were protecting Ahmadis.

He said it was correct that locals were angry with Ahmadis for killing his brother but no announcement was made in the village to boycott the minority group. “They can go to shops of Muslims and can buy goods,” he said.

SHO Malik Muhammad Nawaz told The Express Tribune that 100 policemen were performing their duties round the clock. “We are trying to create a peaceful atmosphere in the village so that everyone regardless of his religion can live his life peacefully,” he said.

tribune.com.pk/story/1285830/returning-ahmadi-villagers-face-social-boycott/

We are using cookies to give you the best experience. You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in privacy settings.
AcceptPrivacy Settings

GDPR

This Cookie Policy explains how Ahmadiyya Muslim Association UK (AMA UK)  Limited (“company”, “we”, “us”, and “ours”) use cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our websites, including without limitation www.ahmadiyyauk.org and its mobile or localized versions and related domains / sub-domains (“Websites”) and/or our mobile application (“App”). It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control our use of them.

What are cookies?

Cookies are text files containing small amounts of information which are downloaded to your computer or mobile device when you visit a website or mobile application. Cookies are then sent back to the originating site on each subsequent visit, or to another site that recognizes that cookies. You can find out more information about cookies at www.allaboutcookies.org.

Cookies are widely used in order to make sites work or to work more efficiently.

We use cookies to enhance the online experience of our visitors (for example, by remembering your visits and/or page preferences) and to better understand how our site is used. Cookies may tell us, for example, whether you have visited our site before or whether you are a new visitor.

Cookies can remain on your computer or mobile device for different periods of time. Some cookies are ‘session cookies’, meaning that they exist only while your browser is open. These are deleted automatically once you close your browser. Other cookies are ‘permanent cookies,’ meaning that they survive after your browser is closed. They can be used by the site to recognize your computer or mobile device when you open your browser and browse the Internet again.

Why do we use cookies?

We use cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Websites and/or App to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” or “strictly necessary” cookies. Other cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our Websites and/or App. Third parties serve cookies through our Websites and/or App for analytics and other purposes such as Google Analytics. In particular, we use forms related cookies which when you submit data through a form such as those found on contact pages or comment forms cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.

How can you control cookies?

You have the right to choose whether or not to accept cookies and we have explained how you can exercise this right below. However, please note that if you do not accept our cookies, you may experience some inconvenience in your use of our site.

You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.

How often will we update this Cookie Policy?

We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please, therefore, re-visit this Cookie Policy regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies.