By S Mahmood
I think we can all agree that Donald Trump’s stated policies towards Muslims are discriminatory and whenever he comments about them, Muslim voices are raised against him including in Pakistan. Not just against Donald Trump but also injustices against fellow Muslims in places like Syria and Palestine. Yet back home, every time somebody calls for justice in the case of Ahmadis, our sense of fairness is absent.
Recently letters to Hamza Ali Abassi have changed from “Pyarey Afzal’’ to not so pyarey “qadiyani”, accusing him of being an Ahmadi. People are writing long “inspirational” speeches “motivating” the rest of the Pakistani Muslim Ummah to rise against the actor as he has “spoken against Islam”; when in actual fact the only thing he has done is asking for the basic human rights for a discriminated community. Our constitution gives us freedom of speech; but while people can express all sorts of opinions and even mock others, talking about Ahmadi persecution is forbidden.
Pakistani Muslims have no right to speak against Trump’s ridiculous remarks when they hold opinions similar to Mr. Trump. They talk of a peaceful Islam, yet consider Ahmadis as ‘wajubul qatal’(liable to be killed). They talk about freedom to profess religion in the constitution but later define who can and who can’t be a Muslim. It turns out that Pakistanis are far ahead of Americans when it comes to persecution as we have already made laws that restrict people from practicing their beliefs.
So, to all of the Americans who wish Trump to lead their country, don’t be too disappointed if he loses. You are more than welcome in Pakistan where you will find all the Trumps you will ever need.