Ahmadi Muslims, a small and growing branch of Islam, originally founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, are a group that has been prosecuted without borders throughout Muslim nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Indonesia and even India. This persecution often ranges from state sanctioned persecution, simple discrimination, terrorism and target killings.

The oppression of the Ahmadiyya community is completely legitimized, even supported, by the Pakistani government. Pakistan's correctional code unequivocally victimizes religious minorities and targets Ahmadis specifically by restricting them from "indirectly or directly posing as a Muslim." Ahmadis are denied from proclaiming or spreading their beliefs freely, building mosques or notwithstanding even calling them mosques, or deciding for Muslim supplication.

Last Thursday, September 7th, marked the 40th anniversary of the Second Amendment of the Pakistani constitution that legally defined Ahmadis or ‘Qadianis’ as non-Muslim heretics. Even the simple act of saying "Assalamualaikum" is a felony that can be charged with up to 3 years of prison time. The world should once again be reminded that this is not acceptable, and should not be normalized.

Pakistan's "Blasphemy Law," as segment 295-C of the Penal Code is known, makes capital punishment compulsory for blasphemy. Under this law, the Ahmadiyya faith in the prophethood of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is viewed as profane seeing that it "pollutes the name of Prophet Muhammad." Since 2000, over 500 Ahmadis were charged under different arrangements of the blasphemy law across Pakistan. A significant number of these people remain detained.

298-C. P 298-C. Person of Qadiani group, etc., calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his faith of Qadiani group, etc., calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his faith:

"Any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves 'Ahmadis' or by any other name), who directly or indirectly, poses himself as a Muslim, or calls, or 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 shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.”

This distinct hatred stems from the fact that Ahmadiyya Muslims do not believe the Prophet Muhammad to be the last of the prophets, and believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad to be one of their prophets.

Due to this distinction, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is regularly targeted, discriminated against, repressed, and often even killed for their beliefs.

Since the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq unleashed an influx of mistreatment in the 1980s, savagery against the Ahmadiyya people has never truly stopped. Ahmadis continue to be slaughtered and harmed, as well as have their homes and organizations torched in anti-Ahmadi assaults. The police keep on arresting, placing in correctional facilities, and charging Ahmadis for sacrilege and different offenses on account of their religious convictions. In a few occurrences, the police have been complicit in badgering and the surrounding of false charges against Ahmadis, or stood by during the procession of stonings of Ahmadis.

The founder of the nation of Pakistan, Quaid-I-Azam, once stated,

“You are free; free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state… We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State…”

My grandfather would disagree that he had this freedom. The hundreds that died alongside him would disagree and the hundreds that remain imprisoned might disagree too. How far we have strayed from this founding principle; how ironic that a state created as a haven for religiously persecuted Muslims in India should turn into such a hypocrite.