‘U-Turn’: Ahmadis excluded from National Commission for Minorities

In what netizens are calling “another U-Turn by the ruling party”, the federal government has reportedly withdrawn its decision of including Ahmadis to the National Commission for Minorities.

According to reports, following recommendations from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the government on Tuesday withdrew its earlier decision to give representation to the Ahmadi community in the minorities commission.

They said that the decision was reconsidered after the move sparked fierce criticism from the religious right on mainstream and social media.

Meanwhile, the federal cabinet has approved the reconstitution of the commission.

A Hindu community member from Sindh, Chela Ram Kewlani has been named as chairman of the commission while Maulana Syed Muhammad Abdul Khabir Azad and Mufti Gulzar Ahmed Naeemi will represent the Muslim community.

Three members each have been selected from the Hindu and Christian communities, while two members have been named from the Sikh community and one member each will represent Kelash and Parsi communities in the commission. The chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) will be the commission’s ex-officio member while the religious affairs secretary will also act as the commission’s secretary.

The federal cabinet on April 15 had decided in principle that the Ahmadi community, being a minority in accordance with the Constitution of Pakistan, should also be represented in the commission.

The Ahmadi community of Pakistan was to be included in the commission for the first time since 1974, when they were declared non-Muslim by the then Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government.