Punjab govt agency bars Ahmadi community from buying land, even in Chenabnagar

A Punjab government agency has explicitly excluded members of the Ahmadiyya community from participating in an upcoming plot auction in the headquarters of the Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya Chenabnagar as well as nearby towns of Chiniot, Jhang and Shorkot, a leading English daily reported Monday.

As per the details, the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency (PHATA) published an advertisement on April 17, announcing the auction of residential and commercial plots. The ad by Jhang PHATA Sub-Region Deputy Director Tariq Mahmood, however, explicitly excluded members of the Ahmadiyya community and said that only Muslims were eligible to bid for the 17 residential and commercial plots.

The ad, reports said, explicitly added that individuals belonging to Ahmadi, Qadiani, Mirzai or Lahori groups were prohibited from participating in the auction for commercial and residential plots in Satellite Town Jhang, Era Development Scheme Chiniot, Era Development Scheme Chenabnagar and Era Development Scheme Shorkot.

Saying that members of the community were not allowed to participate in the auction, the ad further stated that if the authority later found anyone from the Ahmadiyya community had submitted a bid, their payment, plot or any other materials shall not be returned.

The ad was condemned by rights activists, legal experts and minority rights groups, calling it a violation of Article 25 of the Constitution, which ensured equal treatment under the law for all citizens, prohibiting discrimination based on religion.

“This is a clear violation of fundamental rights. If a government agency openly discriminates against the citizens based on faith, what hope is there for equality before the law?” lawyer Ehsan Ullah Jatt said.

Condemning the policy, spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya community Amir Mahmood said it was not just about plots but also about the state endorsing “apartheid against Ahmadis”.

“If we are barred from basic economic opportunities, how can we claim to be equal citizens?” he asked.

PHATA officials, on the other hand, are yet to issue any clarification or justification for the exclusionary clause.

Separately, a Union Council chairman among 14 other suspects involved in the lynching of an Ahmadi man in Karachi’s Saddar area have been arrested. 

Laeeq Ahmad Cheema, a 46-year-old businessman, was beaten to death when hundreds of religiopolitical party supporters stormed a hall belonging to the Ahmadiyya community to bar them from performing religious rituals last Friday.

A report quoted South Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza as saying that 15 suspects had so far been arrested with the help of CCTV footage and technical data.

“They [arrested suspects] were physically present at the murder scene,” he said, adding that the suspects belonged to the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).