Ahmadis effectively barred from voting in Pakistan
Pakistan, 11 May 2013: On Saturday, May 11th, the world’s second most populous Muslim
country, Pakistan, marked a historic election. As Pakistanis rushed to the polling
stations to cast their vote, over 4 million people sat at home, separated and disenfranchised. They
are the members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a peaceful sect within Islam, who
are the victims of this “separate but equal” electorate in Pakistan; a system rooted
in religious discrimination.
Since the inception of Pakistan in 1947 to up
until 1984, all Pakistanis voted on a joint electorate. Then Ahmadis were separated
from the mainstream in 1974 when Z. A. Bhutto appeased the clerics by constitutionally
declaring them “not Muslims.” A decade later, Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s military dictator,
issued Ordinance XX, further silencing the Ahmadis who could then be imprisoned for
up to three years for simply using Islamic terminology like “Assalamu alaikum” meaning
“peace be upon you.”
In 1985, as a step towards pseudo-Islamization of the
nation, Zia imposed a separate electorate for all religious minorities, including
the Ahmadis, who were required to declare themselves non-Muslims in order to gain
the limited right to vote for only the 5 percent minority seats of National Assembly.
Ahmadis
saw such a self-declaration as a dissociation with Prophet Muhammad. “That’s too high
a price to pay for our fundamental right to vote” – they said and sat out during the
In 2001, United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIR) called
for an end to anti-Ahmadi discrimination in Pakistan. As the diplomatic pressure mounted,
General Pervaiz Musharraf, proposed a joint electorate in January 2002. Millions of
Ahmadis – including members of my family – were overjoyed at the prospects of enjoying
equal voting rights but then came the religious hardliners, questioning the general’s
loyalty to his faith. Musharraf caved into the demands – allowing the Christian, Hindu
and other minorities to vote on the joint electorate – but created a supplementary
voter list only for the Ahmadis.
In the present May 11th elections, all Pakistani
voters are required to check off their religion on Form 2 (Annex IV). Christians,
Hindus, and other minorities can simply check their respective box and vote. But Muslim
voters are also made to sign a declaration on the reverse side of the form, rejecting
the founder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community as a false prophet. Ahmadis are left with
only one option: self-declare themselves non-Muslims by using the supplemental voting
sheet. That’s a no-go scenario for a community that calls itself the renaissance of
Islam. Ahmadis are fully aware of the facts and the consequences. During the 2008
elections, the victory margin in 88 out of the 272 national constituencies was less
than 10,000 votes. The Ahmadi voting bloc could be decisive in such races. By protesting
against this “separate but equal” system Ahmadis brace for a further squeeze by politicians
who see no electoral incentive in protecting their human rights. In April 2013,
33 members of the U.S. Congress signed a joint letter to the Secretary of State John
Kerry regarding the denial of Ahmadi voting rights in Pakistan. They indicated that
if Pakistani Ahmadis are not included in the joint electorate they will not be able
to endorse the results of May 11th elections. Source: UCAN