- PUC declares casting of votes to be Islamic duty, endorses women’s right to vote in separate polling stations
The Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) has dispelled the impression that Ahmadis should not be allowed to vote and urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to register Ahmadis as non-Muslim voters on an emergency basis. The council has also issued an edict declaring casting of votes to be an Islamic duty.
According to the PUC, “Elections are just days ahead and some forces are hell-bent to sabotage them. To achieve their nefarious objectives, they would sometimes say that casting vote is a major and perpetual sin. We challenge them and invite them for a debate. PUC will prove that casting vote is an Islamic duty and disrupting it is against national interest. Everyone should come out to perform this obligation on May 11.”
PUC questioned that how could people taking part in politics themselves declare that a casting vote was a sin.
PUC even went to the extent of endorsing that women should also cast vote if there are separate polling stations for them as well as female polling staff.
PUC also dispelled the perception that Ahmadis were not allowed to vote or their votes were not registered.
“They do have this right like other non-Muslims. Ahmadis have contested elections in the past on reserved seats. We want ECP to register Ahmadis votes as non-Muslims on emergency basis. The ECP should also counter the propaganda that they can’t vote. Pakistani Foreign Office should also clarify it,” said the PUC.
The council also claimed that Ahmadis in the city were not being persecuted. The council said, “Their publication ‘Al Fazal’ is banned according to Pakistani laws and violation of laws cannot be labeled as injustice.”
The PUC claimed that Ahmadis were not being attacked in the city and they had secret hideouts at different places in the city where school children were taken and ‘misled’.
The PUC demanded Lahore High Court chief justice and Punjab caretaker chief minister to investigate these allegations regarding Ahmedis.
The PUC will hold a conference in Multan on May 5 about vote and its status in Islam.