Supreme Court hears the Ahmadi Supplementary Lists Petition

The Supreme Court of Pakistan's Bench No. 1 comprising the Honourable Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Mr. Justice Gulzar Ahmad and Mr. Justice Azmat Saeed is hearing what is in this writer's opinion the most important case which covers the issue of citizenship rights as these interact with voting rights.


Background: 

Through the 2nd Amendment in 1974, in what would be the most blatant case of a majoritarian bill of attainder, the Ahmadi sect- including both its sub-sects Qadiani and Lahori groups- was declared out of the pale of Islam. Here is the text of this amendment:

The following Act of Parliament received the assent of the President on 17th September,1974, and is hereby published for general information:-Whereas it is expedient further to amend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the purposes hereinafter appearing ;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1- Short title and commencement.
(1) This Act may be called the CONSTITUTION (SECOND AMENDMENT) ACT, 1974
(2) It shall come into force at once.
2- Amendment of Article 106 of the Constitution.
In the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as the Constitution in Article 106, in clause (3) after the words "communities" the words and brackets "and persons of Quadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves 'Ahmadis')" shall be inserted.
3- Amendment of Article 260 of the Constitution.
In the Constitution, in Article 260, after clause (2) the following new clause shall be added, namely--
(3) A person who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of The Prophethood of MUHAMMAD (Peace be upon him), the last of the Prophets or claims to be a Prophet, in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever, after MUHAMMAD (Peace be upon him), or recognizes such a claimant as a Prophet or religious reformer, is not a Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution or law." 

In 1984,  General Zia ul Haq promulgated the notorious Ordinance XX of 1984 which provided for the following:

298-B

"Misuse of epithets, descriptions and titles, etc. reserved for certain  holy personages or places.

1) Any person of the Qadiani group or the Lahori group (who call themselves Ahmadis or by any  other name) who by words either spoken or written or by visible representation;

a) refers to or addresses, any person other than a  Caliph or companion of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as 'Ameerul Mumineen', 'Khalifat-ul -Mumineen', 'Khalifat-ul-Muslimeen', 'Sahaabi’ or 'Razi–Allah-Anho'.
b) Refers to or addresses any person other than a wife of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) as 'Umm-ul-Mumineen';
c) Refers to or addresses any person other than a member of the family (Ahle-bait) of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) as  Ahle-bait; or
d) Refers to or names, or calls his place of worship as ‘Masjid’,

Shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also  be liable to fine. 2) Any person of the Qadiani group or Lahori group  (who call themselves 'Ahmadis' or by any other name) who by words, either spoken or written or by visible representation, refers to the mode or from of call to prayers followed by his faith as Azan; or recites Azan as used by the 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.”

298-C

“Person 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 call 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 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.

Both these pieces of legislation are in essence bills of attainder which defy all common sense and principles of natural justice.  Ironically,  Supreme Court of Pakistan in its judgment Zaheeruddin v. The State 1993 SCMR 1718 upheld the (2 to 1) 84 Ordinance as constitutional and not in violation of fundamental rights. (Here it may be stated that after the restoration of the word "freely" in Article 2-A - this may once again be open to legal challenge).

In 2002 - when Gen Pervez Musharraf restored joint electorates-  Ahmadis were placed on supplementary electoral rolls.  In other words all other Pakistanis - Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Christian - were on one roll and Ahmadis were on another roll.

This was challenged by Dawn columnist Kunwar Idris and is before the Supreme Court of Pakistan now.  Here is what needs to be stated about this petition:


A few points about the Petition

1. It is NOT a religious question. It is a question of civil and political rights of a section of Pakistanis who are denied these rights and in essence disenfranchised through discrimination.

2.  Either Ahmadis are Pakistanis or they are not. If they are Pakistanis then they have to be on the same electoral roll as other Pakistanis regardless of religion or other considerations.

3.  Putting Ahmadis on the same electoral list as other Pakistanis does not violate the constitutional command under 2nd Amendment or the ridiculous Ordinance XX of 1984.

4.  If as many as 2.5 million to 4 million Pakistanis are disenfranchised through blatant discrimination, the ELECTIONS cannot be termed fair and free.  It is pre-poll rigging if Ahmadis are kept on separate electoral lists.

5. It is a blatant case of discrimination in violation of Articles 4 and 25 of the Constitution as well as Article 2-A.