- Siddiqui says more focus on minority rights instead of majority rights biggest problem of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has asked the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to grant more time for the submission of a report on the travel history of all the people who have changed their religious status from Muslim to Ahmedi on their CNICs.
During the court proceedings, Allama Mohsin Naqvi gave religious references on the matter to aid the court. He said that it is the state’s utmost responsibility to safeguard the basic teachings of the faith, adding that during Hazrat Omer’s caliphate a register identifying Muslims and non-Muslims was prepared.
He further said that in last 10 years, around 10,000 Muslims have converted to the Ahmedi faith in order to get foreign passports, which “is a troublesome situation for both Islam and the society.” He said that this situation should be looked into whilst ensuring the security of Ahmedis.
Mohsin Naqvi added that law for apostates in Pakistan is not clear and that it should be properly implemented. To this, Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui responded that proper “amendments have not been made in the Constitution regarding Ahmedis”.
“What will be the status of people converting to the Ahmedi faith after retiring from public service? Aren’t these people fooling the state?” Siddiqui asked, adding that to fool an Islamic state is tantamount to treason. He said that the biggest problem of Pakistan is that instead of minority rights, there is more focus on minority rights.
The case was adjourned till Thursday.
The IHC bench on Tuesday, issued these directions while hearing a petition pertaining to an amendment in the oath of Khatm-e-Nabuwwat in Election Act 2017.
Earlier, the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) submitted a report before the court according to which 10, 205 persons had changed their religious status from Muslim to Ahmedi. The bench then directed NADRA to provide details on how many got new passports after changing their religion.
It was informed by Nadra that at least 6,001 such persons had applied and got passports. The IHC bench on this directed the FIA to provide travelling details of those persons since according to Justice Siddiqui people are changing religious status to get foreign citizenship.
