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The Second Amendment
By Yasser Latif Hamdani
Published in Daily Times, May 31 2010
The Second Amendment laid the foundations of intolerance and religious tyranny in Pakistan, which has manifested itself in other ways. Since then our state has been in a downward spiral
The violence against the Ahmediyya community underscores the bigotry that has become the hallmark of our beloved homeland. A community — already sacrificed at the altar of political expediency — has now been made to pay the ultimate price.
Amongst the dead, which included retired army officers and other contributors to Pakistani society, was reportedly the youngest brother of Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan. For those who are unaware of who Chaudhry Zafarullah was, he was the author of the Lahore Resolution, Pakistan’s first foreign minister and Pakistan’s advocate before the Boundary Commission. In other words, this community has paid for such crimes as their valiant contribution to the Pakistan Movement, their significant role in the development of Pakistan and the fact that Pakistan’s only Nobel Prize was bagged by them. Yet what happened on Friday was waiting to happen, given the neglect and at times outright bigotry that our governments, both federal and provincial, have been guilty of on this count starting with the PPP government in 1974.
Things were not always like this. It bears remembering that in 1944 when a group of Muslim divines approached Jinnah to persuade him unsuccessfully to turn all Ahmedis out of the Muslim League, Jinnah was resolute against such bigotry. He responded to them by saying, “Who am I to declare non-Muslim a person who calls himself a Muslim?” It was for this reason that many religious parties and even self-styled freedom fighters like Mirza Ali Khan (Faqir of Ipi) denounced the Muslim League as a “bastion of Qadiyanism”. Yet such was the force of character of our founding father that he not only stood against such bigotry but without any fear appointed the leading Ahmedi Muslim at the time to shoulder the most important responsibility for the Muslims of South Asia, i.e. of arguing Pakistan’s case before the Boundary Commission. So long as the Quaid’s colleagues were at the helm, there was some semblance of common sense that prevailed on this issue. When in 1953, the Majlis-e-Ahrar and the Jamaat-e-Islami, both groups that had opposed the creation of Pakistan, started a mass agitation movement to have Ahmedis like Chaudhry Zafarullah turned out from the government and excommunicated from Islam, Khawaja Nazimuddin, himself a devout Muslim, refused to bow under their pressure. His government fell a few weeks later and the establishment stepped in to sweep up the mullahs with extreme prejudice.
In 1974, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was determined to hang on to power by hook or by crook. Though not a bigot himself, Bhutto was ill-advised by his law minister Abdul Hafeez Pirzada. As a result, the PPP stabbed in the back the one community that had helped them in winning the 1970 elections, by putting a question to parliament that it had no authority to determine. As a result Bhutto managed to hang on to power for another three years. The usurper who replaced Bhutto, General Ziaul Haq, took bigotry against the Ahmedis to another level altogether with his unconstitutional and inhumane Ordinance XX of 1984 specifically targeting this community. His bigotry was upheld by our independent judiciary in Zaheeruddin v The State, where the dispensers of justice compared Islamic symbols with Coca Cola’s intellectual property in an argument that defies all legal sense and logic to justify the ban on the Ahmedis from using any Islamic symbols — symbols that are central to their faith.
Martin Lau, a leading legal scholar of religious freedom in common law jurisdictions, has argued in his paper on Zaheeruddin v The State that Pakistan has abolished religious freedom for Pakistanis, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, through this judicial precedent. My own view is that the very idea of Pakistan as a bastion against the tyranny of the majority was killed the day our parliament decided to take it upon itself to excommunicate a sect from Islam. The Second Amendment laid the foundations of intolerance and religious tyranny in Pakistan, which has manifested itself in other ways. Since then our state has been in a downward spiral. The Gojra incident, violence against Shias, and now the massacre of the Ahmedis is only symptomatic of the real sickness that emerges from the 1974 Amendment. Pakistan shall continue to be on the wrong side of history as long as the Second Amendment remains in the constitution of this republic.
The time has come for the PPP government to undo this great injustice done to not just a minority sect but to Pakistan itself. All roots of Pakistan’s current existential crisis with Islam emerge from that one foul act that was brought about on the ill-advice of Abdul Hafeez Pirzada, who is now challenging parliament’s sovereignty, the same sovereignty he had argued 36 years ago as being absolute. It is now up to the PPP to make a clear choice. Will it continue to defend a dubious legacy or will it come out decisively against religious bigotry?
History beckons President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani to clear the name of Pakistan’s largest political party by undoing what it did in 1974. In this they must be supported unwaveringly by the MQM and the ANP — for they claim to be the guardians of secular liberal politics. The Sharif brothers must also atone for their sins — of having spoken from both sides of their mouths — by supporting this move. Even the religious parties, the Jamaat-e-Islami foremost amongst them, must state unwaveringly that while they may not consider the Ahmedis Muslims, they are willing to leave this final judgement to God.
If they manage to undo this grievous injustice and act of inhumanity, the ladies and gentlemen in our parliament will secure for themselves a permanent place in Pakistan’s history as the visionaries who restored Jinnah’s Pakistan, which is to be built on the ideals of justice, fair play, impartiality and complete equality for all citizens of Pakistan.
http://dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=20105\31\story_31-5-2010_pg3_5
Filed under: Activism, Democracy, human rights, Identity, Islam, Islamism, minorities, Pak Tea House, Religion, Rights, Taliban, Terrorism, violence · Tags: Ahmadis, Daily Times, minorities, Pakistan, PPP, Punjab, Qadianis, Religion, religious intolerance, Second Amendment, Taliban, Terrorism, Yasser Latif Hamdani
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@ Kemo Sonko (June 7, 2010 at 5:46 pm)
“…..I would like to point out that sometimes the nation pays the price for mistakes made by their rulers…..”
Very true. Pakistan has already paid a very dear price for the mistakes of its rulers – and continues to pay. Only a reversal of these grave mistakes will undo the curse on us.
@Kemo Sonko
Moving words. May our people heed them.
@Mr. Kemo Sonko: I felt so good to read the comments of our African brother Mr. Kemo Sonko from Gambia. It was a very lucid and correct description of the Ahmadiyya doctrines. I want to add only a few comments to the last paragraph of his sublime article. It is true that the Amendment no. 2 to the Constriction of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 1973 was enacted by a so-called democratic government of Mr. Z A Bhutto in September 1974 but only with a sheer political objective in his mind. The disturbances were closely engineered by the Government to attain this end. I was then a student at the university and had only recently converted to Ahmadiyya-Islam. For me all this was extremely unexpected and strange looking things were happening. Houses, shops and businesses of Ahmadis were burned to ashes right in the very supervision of the Police force everywhere, in the Punjab particularly. The whole game was taken to a certain visible end. To cash upon the anti- Ahmadiyya emotion of the public incensed by the paid mullahs throughout the country. The 2nd amendment was thus passed in Sept 1974.
In 1987, at the death of Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan (father of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, a famous nationalist leader of the Pakhtoons in North West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pukhtoon Khwah), I went along with some friends to Wali Bagh Charsadda to offer my condolence to Khan Abdul Wali Khan. He was very kind to sit with us and talked in detail about the Ahmadiyya and the 1974 sessions of the National Assembly. He said he was then Leader of the Opposition in the same house. Among the many questions, I asked him one, “What in your opinion was the reason that Z A Bhutto was so keen to go against the Ahmadis and seek their disenfranchisement through the constitution and to appease the mullahs?” With my very limited information of the political background of the 70s, I was rather surprised at his reply. He said, Z A Bhutto was scared of the Ahmadis. He believed if these people could make me sit upon the throne, well they can de-throne me as well”. (These were his words. He said in Urdu, “agar ye log muje takht par bitha sakte hen to muje takht se utar be sakte hen”). And with all that drama played by shedding the blood of Ahmadis, loot and arson; finally the Ahmadis were disenfranchised through a constitutional amendment, just thrown into the side line…to make them ineffective politically. They were declared “NOT MUSLIMS FOR THE PURPOSES OF LAW AND CONSTITUTION” He thought Ahmadis is a very organized Jamaat and they can play great political roles. Thus he thought he gained everything he wanted, by throwing Ahmadis beyond the pale of Islam, using the National Assembly as a sand bag, and pleasing the insane mullahs. In fact a National Assembly is never a place for settling such questions, e.g. who is a Muslim and who is not a Muslim!! An assembly of public representatives is elected to spend the public revenue in the interest of the people to safeguard their interests and to promote their welfare. A National Assembly would be the last place to debate theological and eschatological issues how can worthy members of the parliment step out of their shoes to decide and choose a religion for me as true, other than their own???
Destiny had something different in store for Mr. Z A Bhutto. It was the same mullahs who connived with the military, raised an agitation in the name of Islam once again, over throwing Z A Bhutto and finally executed him through another such sham judicial procedure (as he had played in the National Assembly…tit for tat.) and was lead to the Gallows…1979. The Executor of Mr. Z A Bhutto, was even keener than Bhutto in the case of anti-Ahmadiyya issue. He brought even more trials and tribulations for the Jamaat. By practically enacting penal laws in the light of 2nd Constitutional Amendment and taking it to the logical end, by issuing Ordinance XX of 26th April 1984. Divine destiny was even harsher upon him. Gen Zia ul Haque was blown into shreds in the air and even his pieces were burned completely in to ashes, (leaving only his metallic dentures to be recognized).
The story of this fateful 2nd Amendment is not yet over! How destiny compels!! Each and EVERY PAKISTAN CITIZEN who ever has to apply for a Passport or an Identity Card or any government document, he has to sign and fix his signature to attest that “I believe Mirza Ghulam Ahmad an impostor Nabi” etc. etc.
What a compelling destiny! Each and every Pakistani Citizen has to clearly decide and place himself which side of THE LINE HE STANDS!!
I thank you all for sharing your thoughts with me on my post. Your comments indicate that many ordinary Pakistanis are decent and will like to see a better Pakistan for all. However, reading the history of Ahmadiyyat in Pakistan and three heads of governments who stood against it, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Z. A. Bhutto of Pakistan and General Ziaul Haq of Pakistan, one is left in no doubt that the Hand of the Almighty God is at work. King Faisal laid the foundation of preventing Ahmadi Muslims from performing Hajj in 1974. He was shot to death in 1975 by his own nephew, himself a staunch anti-Ahmadi Wahhabi. Z. A. Bhutto led a constitutional move against the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in 1974 and had them constitutionally declared as a non-Muslim minority in Pakistan. Bhutto was overthown in 1977 by his favourite and hand-picked general, in a coup, and later hanged in 1979. The executioner of Bhutto – General Zia – was a sworn enemy of Ahmadis. In 1984, Zia issued an ordinance whereby Ahmadis were legally barred from professing Islam as their religion. In 1988, General Ziaul Haq was killed in an air crash. The lives of all these three, Faisal, Bhutto and Zia were terminated in unnatural circumstances, and Ahmadis had absolutely nothing to do with their deaths. I realize that most people would like to offer any explanation but the Hand of Allah. But the more one studies these three cases, the more one sees the Hand of Allah.
Wassalam
Kemo Sonko
(Banjul, The Gambia)
kemosonko@ymail.com
@Kemo Sonko: Jazakallah for your lucid way of presenting your case.
Incidentally, there are two “2s” in the Constitution of Pakistan that have emerged as two glaring manifestations of disservice to the image of Pakistan and indeed to Pakistan itself:
1. Article # 2 of the Constituion.
2. Amendment # 2 of the Constitution.
Article#2 states that “Islam shall be the State Religion”. Amendment#2 states that “Ahmadis are not Muslims for the purposes of constitution and law”.
Article#2 tilts the balance of justice in favour of the already privileged and secure majority, rendering them the “more equal” ones.
Amendment#2 has set an unfortunate precedent for oppressive legislation by a democratically elected Parliament.
To reverse this disservice, would in the truest sense, a service to Pakistan.
My apologies for typographical errors:
1: 1. Article # 2 of the Constitu[t]ion.
2: To reverse this disservice, would in the truest sense,[be] a service to Pakistan.
@skyview (June 13, 2010 at 4:55 pm)
“…..God had better learn…..”
…and I suppose you intend to do the teaching?
@ Nusrat Pasha (June 13, 2010 at 3:57 pm)
“…..Incidentally, there are two “2s” in the Constitution of Pakistan that have emerged as two glaring manifestations of disservice to the image of Pakistan and indeed to Pakistan itself: (1)Article#2 of the Constitution. (2)Amendment#2 of the Constitution…..”
These two “2s” of the Constitution of Pakistan, also blatantly contravene the basic principles laid down by the founder of this Nation.
1. Quaide Azam said: “….Religion should not be allowed to come into Politics….”.[Address to the Central Legislative Assembly, 7 February 1935]. By virtue of Article#2, we have literally dragged religion into politics.
2. Quaide Azam said: “.….Religion is merely a matter between Man and God…..” [Address to the Central Legislative Assembly, 7 February 1935]. By virtue of Article#2, we have turned religion into a matter between State and Citizen.
3. Quaide Azam said: “.….no distinction between one community and another…..” [Address to the Central Legislative Assembly, 7 February 1935]. By virtue of Article#2, we have drawn a constitutional line of distinction between Muslim citizens and non-Muslim citizens of Pakistan.
4. Quaide Azam said: “…..no discrimination between one caste or creed and another…..” [Presidential Address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, 11 August 1947]. By virtue of Amendment#2, we have openly discriminated against the Ahmadiyya community.
5. Quaide Azam said: “…..we are all citizens and Equal citizens of One State…..” [Presidential Address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, 11 August 1947]. By virtue of Article#2, we have constitutionally declared the citizens of Pakistan unequal on the basis of religion.
6. Quaide Azam said: “…..In any case Pakistan is NOT going to be a theocratic State – to be ruled by priests with a divine mission…..” [February 1948]. By virtue of Article#2 we have paved the path for allowing Pakistan to turn into a theocratic state, and by virtue of Amendment#2, we have virtually set a precedent for accommodating the will of the priesthood in the process of legislation.
@ Bin Ismail
Very well said indeed. God save Pakistan.
It’s interesting to note that the second amendment says: ” A person who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of The Prophethood of MUHAMMAD (Peace be upon him), the last of the Prophets or claims to be a Prophet, in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever, after MUHAMMAD (Peace be upon him), or recognizes such a claimant as a Prophet or religious reformer, is not a Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution or law.”
Since almost all Muslims are waiting for Jesus (as) to return will the ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ declare him and his followers non-Muslim?
@sta
yes.
@ sta
Absolutely. If the Esa/Jesus who Muslims are waiting for, by any chance, happens to land in Pakistan, the “Second Amendment” of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan will be waiting for him with an axe in its hands. The “Second Amendment” will hold him as “not Muslim for the purposes of constitution and law”. If he makes any effort to preach on Pakistani soil, his activities would be judged as illegal. He will have to renounce his God-given title of “prophet” because the “Second Amendment” to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan does not permit the possibility of a prophet treading this earth, chronologically after the Holy Prophet.
He was condemned to die on the cross when he made his first appearance, in Jerusalem, two thousand years ago. If his second advent takes place in Pakistan, he may find the “Second Amendment” even more ruthless than the Jews of Jerusalem.
apparently, those mullahs who believe in this second coming believe that it would be in the form of a prophet who would also be a temporal ruler. so he would be able to treat law as his handmaiden just as the mullahs think they or ‘a democratic majority’ can. there would be no issues. all a future dictator needs to do is claim to be the mahdi rather than bothering with ridiculously rigged ‘referendums’.
Thirteen and a half centuries ago, the Assembly of Yazeed declared Imam Hussain a non-Muslim, by a unanimous vote. Thirty six years ago another Assembly declared the Ahmadis non-Muslims, again by a unanimous vote.
“Wo tum ko Hussain banaatay hain aur aap Yazeedi bantay hain
Yeh kya hee sasta sauda hai dushman ko teer chalaanay do”
It was in the news yesterday that the till-yet confidential record of the debate that took place in the National Assembly in August-September 1974, the debate that culminated in the Second Amendment of the Constitution of Pakistan, declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims, has finally been declassified.
On the 7th of June 2010 at 5:46 pm, I posted a comment at Pak Tea House at http://pakteahouse.net/2010/06/02/the-second-amendment/ and my post was very graciously accommodated by the kind editors of this site. On discovering this current debate “Are Ahmadis Non-Muslims?”, I feel I should repost my comment of June 7, 2010, 5:46 pm, with a bit of editing of course. This is what I have to say to the people of Pakistan:
TO THE PEOPLE OF PAKISTAN:
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. My name is Kemo Sonko. I am a citizen of the Republic of The Gambia. By the grace of Allah, I am a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat of The Gambia.
Pakistan, not the state but the nation, needs to at least pause for a moment to examine what the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is all about. Ignorance may not always prove to be bliss. Please be gracious enough to bear with me briefly.
Ahmadi Muslims believe that there is none worthy of worship beside Allah. We believe that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and possesses all the attributes ascribed to him by the Quran. We believe in all the Angels of Allah, all the Books of Allah, all the messengers of Allah and in the Hereafter. Our Kalima is “Laa ilaaha illallahu Muhammadur Rasoolullah”. We pray 5 times a day as prescribed in the Quran and according to the Sunnah. Most Ahmadi Muslims regularly offer Tahajjud as well. We fast during the month of Ramadan. We pay Zakat. We perform Hajj. Of course our fellow Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan have been forcibly barred from Hajj, but we do not lament over that for the first person to be barred from Hajj was none other than Muhammad Khaatamul Anbiya. In short, our religion is Islam.
Now where do we differ? Muhammad Rasoolullah, the holy founder of Islam, had prophesied that in the latter days, when the Muslim Ummah would have hit the abyss, which it clearly has, Allah would appoint a reformer to revive Islam. Evidently this revival was meant to be a spiritual not a political one. The Prophet named this promised reformer the Messiah and the Mahdi. Now there can only be 2 situations – either this prophecy stands fulfilled or has yet to be fulfilled. We Ahmadi Muslims believe that this prophecy has attained fulfillment in the holy person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835 – 1908). It is a known fact that prophecies are not always fulfilled in the way we expect them to. The Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a worldly king, a description that Jesus did not match. No wonder they crucified him. Ahmadis believe that Jesus was put on the cross, but did not die on the cross, nor was he bodily lifted to the heavens and therefore shall not return physically. His foretold return, in our opinion, was a metaphorical one, to be fulfilled by the appearance of a Reformer who would in spirit resemble Jesus. The same individual, not a separate one, according to our understanding, was destined to be the Mahdi, meaning the Guided One, once again in fulfillment of the words of Rasoolullah. The issue of his being or not being a prophet, also needs to be understood in the right perspective. We Ahmadis believe that since the Holy Prophet had clearly foretold that the Promised Messiah would be a prophet, therefore to suggest that he would not, would actually amount to falsifying the Prophet’s words. All Sunnis and Shias believe that when Jesus makes his second advent, he would still be a prophet, only that he would be subordinate to Muhammad. Thus all Muslims, Ahmadi and non-Ahmadi alike, as a matter of doctrine, believe that a subordinate prophet is destined to visit this world, after the Holy Prophet and before the Last Day. Ahmadi Muslims believe that this prophecy has been fulfilled in the person of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Muhammad Rasoolullah remains to be forever, the last Law-bearing prophet. Ahmadi Muslims believe that all prophets were sent by Allah, including Krishna, Buddha and Zoroaster. Our understanding of Jihad is that primarily it is a struggle against one’s own ego. To conclude, our religion is Islam.
Three heads of governments stood against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat – King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Z. A. Bhutto of Pakistan and General Ziaul Haq of Pakistan. King Faisal laid the foundation of preventing Ahmadi Muslims from performing Hajj in 1974. He was shot to death in 1975 by his own nephew, himself a staunch anti-Ahmadi Wahhabi. Z. A. Bhutto led a constitutional move against the Ahmadiyya Jamaat in 1974 and had them constitutionally declared as a non-Muslim minority in Pakistan. Bhutto was overthown in 1977 by his favourite and hand-picked general, in a coup, and later hanged in 1979. The executioner of Bhutto – General Zia – was a sworn enemy of Ahmadis. In 1984, Zia issued an ordinance whereby Ahmadis were legally barred from professing Islam as their religion. In 1988, General Ziaul Haq was killed in an air crash. The lives of all these three, Faisal, Bhutto and Zia were terminated in unnatural circumstances, and Ahmadis had absolutely nothing to do with their deaths. I realize that most people would like to offer any explanation but the Hand of Allah. But the more one studies these three cases, the more one sees the Hand of Allah.
I would like to point out that sometimes the nation pays the price for mistakes made by their rulers. The laws that were framed to victimize Ahmadi Muslims in your country, were made by your rulers and law-makers. If your rulers and law-makers are today oblivious of the wrongs they have committed, at least you, the people, should do your utmost to reverse them. Please do not join them in their atrocities or you may have to join them in their fate as well.
Wassalam
Mr. Kemo Sonko
(Banjul, The Gambia)
kemosonko@ymail.com
@ylh
what a mighty peice of writing i came across, my good luck spoke with me , if only these precious and enlightening words of ylh, can reach the hallways of parliament, if only bhutto”s mistake could be undone by his progeny, benazir cuoldnt do anyhing in her terms and history will bear witness what she got for it, i dont kno about mr.zardari, but fehmida mirza has shown nerves of steel in the act of declassifying the 1974 parliament resolution. every pakistani should see it for their selves what happened in the parliament that day, and then judge.the second amendment has been bhutto’s biggest mistake, i believe it laid foundation for such a hopeless place in the name of state, i just cannot forgive Mr.bhutto, neither will i ever, until the day this peaople”S party actually proves themselves better than general zia’s extremist regime, which took life of thier founder bhutto.
Even though both bhutto and general zia , and thier tragic deaths, are evidence enough to prove they got these punishments as a result of their unreasonable and unethical persecution on ahmadis.but if any of the side is guilty conscience and wants to clear the mess, then it should stand up! i know ppp ruling class knows what a pathetic mistake bhutto made in declaring ahmadis non muslims and snatching all their religious rights but its time for them to show, right now, when religious atrocities have crossed every limit.otherwise after benazir there are others who are going to pay the price for exploiting an entire generation and more to come,this intolerance and extremism has led pakistan from islamic republic to somalian republic of pakistan.
the only answer to the current crisis pakistan is in, undoing the mistake, clearing their own mess, making big changes changing the extremist appraoch to moderate approach from grass root level.
why dont they they show it declassified already printed 1974 resolution and its amendments to the nation, why are they so afraid , why are they so uncomfortable showing the world the truth?