In a country where the promise of religious freedom rings hollow for many minorities, Pakistan continues to slide deeper into a quagmire of religious extremism. The recent incident in Kasur, Punjab, lays bare a harrowing reality — the persistent and systematic persecution of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community, a community already marginalized and criminalized under the country’s draconian blasphemy and anti-Ahmadi laws.
On Sunday, Kasur’s A-Division police registered a criminal case against 42 Ahmadis, accusing them of “converting a house into a worship place” in the Shami Shaheed locality. Of those, only two were named in the First Information Report (FIR), while the rest remained unidentified — a chilling reminder of how collective punishment continues to be normalized against this vulnerable group.
The FIR was filed under Section 298(C) of the Pakistan Penal Code, which is specific to Ahmadis, criminalizing acts like calling themselves Muslims or referring to their faith and places of worship using Islamic terms. This law has repeatedly been used not for justice, but as a tool for oppression — to silence, stigmatize, and strip Ahmadis of even the most basic human dignity.
The trigger for the FIR was a petition that claimed the Ahmadis had been offering Juma and Eid prayers at a place called Darul Zikar, which was allegedly a house turned into a worship area. The petitioner argued that they had not sought formal permission to pray — a grim paradox in a nation where Sunni Muslims can pray freely in open spaces, yet Ahmadis are criminalized for offering silent prayers in private homes.
What does it say about a society where prayer — the most personal and peaceful of acts — becomes a criminal offense based on one’s belief?
This is not merely a legal issue. It is a societal rot, spreading rapidly under the cloak of religiosity. Religious extremism is no longer confined to the fringes in Pakistan; it is institutionalized, legally sanctified, and socially encouraged. The state, either through action or dangerous silence, allows fanatics to dictate who belongs and who does not.
While Pakistan faces external threats and internal crises, it continues to expend energy persecuting those who pose no danger — Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Shias — often with the tacit approval of courts and law enforcement. The case in Kasur is yet another dark entry in the ever-growing ledger of state-sanctioned intolerance.
It is time the world stopped ignoring what is happening in Pakistan. It is time to speak for the voiceless, the hunted, and the forgotten. The Ahmadis of Kasur are not just fighting for their right to pray — they are fighting for their right to exist.
If Pakistan does not confront its rising tide of extremism and hatred, it risks drowning in it.