LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan on Friday said the Ahmadi minority community should stop declaring themselves as Muslims if they want to be treated in the same manner as other religious minority groups in Pakistan.
Addressing a press conference organised to ‘clear his position’ on the issue, Rana Sanaullah said that some media outfits had quoted his statement on Ahmadis out of context.
“I said that Ahmadis pretend to be Muslims as they quote Quranic verses and perform religious rituals just like us in a bid to propagate their faith. But let me state it very clearly that, according to Islam and Pakistan’s constitution, those who do not believe in Khatam-e-Nabuwwat (finality of Prophethood) are not Muslims,” he said.
The Punjab law minister said that all other minority communities are enjoying equal status as citizens of Pakistan and “so will the Ahmadis if they admit to the fact that they are not Muslims and are a religious minority”.
“It is our duty to protect minorities of the country but the Ahmadis will first have to stop claiming to be Muslims. There is no other way around it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court Bar Association has suspended the membership of Rana Sanaullah.
Moreover, the bar association also imposed a ban on his entry in the bar premises.
The decision was made in a condemnation meeting about a statement of the law minister over Ahmadis, chaired by Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Secretary Aftab Bajwa.
The members of legal fraternity also staged a protest within the bar premises, calling for the immediate resignation of the minister.
Addressing the protesting lawyers, the SCBA secretary said that a blasphemy case would be registered against Sanaullah for challenging the finality of Prophethood (Khatm-e-Nabuwwat).
“The lawyers will not sit silently on the matter,” he remarked.
On the occasion, other representatives of the lawyer bodies also echoed similar sentiments. The minister has hurt the public sentiment after calling the Ahmadi community as Muslims, they said.
The protesting lawyers also sought an apology from the law minister over his remarks.