Much has been said about the demonstrations erupting across Pakistan, but the causes appear confusing with many half truths being spread. This thread is to sift fact from fiction so please bear with me as this cannot be explained in 140 characters.
The biggest untruth is that the Constitutional clause that declared Ahmedis non-Muslim is being removed through the 2017 Election Act. Firstly, the Election Act is a piece of legislation SUBORDINATE to the Constitution. Only a Constitutional amendment can declare the Ahmedis as Muslim or otherwise. Neither does the Election Act overturn Zia's Ordinance XX which made Ahmedis "posing as Muslim" or preaching their faith an imprisonable offence.
What the Election Act does is consolidate eight different pieces of legislation. One of those was Musharraf's 2002 Election Order. Section 7 allowed for a joint electorate and non-Muslim seats were to be filled via proportional representation. In a separate electorate, there was a separate electoral list for non-Muslims that entitled them to vote for seats reserved for non-Muslims. Thus, there was NO NEED for a separate list for non-Muslims. In the joint electorate system only one list was needed, as all citizens (Muslim and non-Muslim) would vote for the seat in their respective constituencies.
But the mullahs cried foul and claimed Musharraf was undoing the non-Muslim status of Ahmedis. So Musharraf appeased the bigots and added Section 7B and 7C to the Order. Section 7C states requires a Muslim candidate to declare:
Here's the controversy. Under the Election Act, multiple declarations were pooled together and the declaration stated, "I hereby declare that...I believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophet", whereas in the old form it was worded as "I solemnly swear that I believe". As the lawyer Babar Sattar stated last week, the legal consequence is unchanged: a false declaration attracts disqualification whether you swore upon it or just stated it !
So what is Rizvi and his ilk crying about ? If this was such a substantial change, then why did 34 members of the parliamentary committee who oversaw the new election law in its dozens of meetings fail to spot them ? Why not demand resignation of the parliamentary committee ?
Parliament PASSED Election Act 2017 on October 2. So why the hell are Parliamentarians now lamenting a "mistake" when YOU passed the original bill ! Captain Safdar goes and gives an anti-Ahmedi hate speech in Parliament. Now there are many who think there was some conspiracy to undermine Islam in Pakistan, when none existed. An Amendment Act was even passed on October 16 to restore the original wording yet there's still protests. This is the DEFINITION of a storm in a teacup.
The biggest untruth is that the Constitutional clause that declared Ahmedis non-Muslim is being removed through the 2017 Election Act. Firstly, the Election Act is a piece of legislation SUBORDINATE to the Constitution. Only a Constitutional amendment can declare the Ahmedis as Muslim or otherwise. Neither does the Election Act overturn Zia's Ordinance XX which made Ahmedis "posing as Muslim" or preaching their faith an imprisonable offence.
What the Election Act does is consolidate eight different pieces of legislation. One of those was Musharraf's 2002 Election Order. Section 7 allowed for a joint electorate and non-Muslim seats were to be filled via proportional representation. In a separate electorate, there was a separate electoral list for non-Muslims that entitled them to vote for seats reserved for non-Muslims. Thus, there was NO NEED for a separate list for non-Muslims. In the joint electorate system only one list was needed, as all citizens (Muslim and non-Muslim) would vote for the seat in their respective constituencies.
But the mullahs cried foul and claimed Musharraf was undoing the non-Muslim status of Ahmedis. So Musharraf appeased the bigots and added Section 7B and 7C to the Order. Section 7C states requires a Muslim candidate to declare:
"I believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH), the last of the prophets and that I am not the follower of any one who claims to be a Prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and that I do not recognize such a claimant to be Prophet or a religious reformer, nor do I belong to the Qadiani group or the Lahori group or call myself an Ahmedi."
Here's the controversy. Under the Election Act, multiple declarations were pooled together and the declaration stated, "I hereby declare that...I believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophet", whereas in the old form it was worded as "I solemnly swear that I believe". As the lawyer Babar Sattar stated last week, the legal consequence is unchanged: a false declaration attracts disqualification whether you swore upon it or just stated it !
So what is Rizvi and his ilk crying about ? If this was such a substantial change, then why did 34 members of the parliamentary committee who oversaw the new election law in its dozens of meetings fail to spot them ? Why not demand resignation of the parliamentary committee ?
Parliament PASSED Election Act 2017 on October 2. So why the hell are Parliamentarians now lamenting a "mistake" when YOU passed the original bill ! Captain Safdar goes and gives an anti-Ahmedi hate speech in Parliament. Now there are many who think there was some conspiracy to undermine Islam in Pakistan, when none existed. An Amendment Act was even passed on October 16 to restore the original wording yet there's still protests. This is the DEFINITION of a storm in a teacup.