Since today is the death anniversary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan, I decided to prepare a thread on how he's remembered by the Ahmadiyya Community of Pakistan.

The 1974 anti-Ahmadiyya pogrom, and the 2nd Amendment: A THREAD

The Ahmadiyya Community as a whole supported PPP in West Pakistan in the '70 general elections due to Bhutto's promises of religious tolerance. There are even accounts that Bhutto personally knew Mirza Tahir Ahmad, a Community elder who'd later become the Khalifa.

Right wing religious factions in Pakistan had long sought to have Ahmedis officially declared Non-Muslims, the most famous incident being the 1953 pogroms when more than 200 Ahmedis were killed all over Punjab. In 1974, they got an opportunity.

On 29 May 1974, a fight broke out in Rabwah's railway station between a group of Islami Jamiat Talaba and some young Ahmedi men. This incident was taken up by religious factions all over the country who demanded that the responsible Ahmedis be apprehended.

71 Ahmedis were arrested in Rabwah. But this did not stop Jamaat-e-Islami from launching country-wide protests. It was soon joined by various other religious parties and organisations. They demanded that Ahmedis be removed from all government offices.

The protests soon turned violent, with mobs attacking Ahmedi homes and businesses.

Following is a timeline of documented casualties. Keep in mind that the undocumented casualties are estimated to be many times the documented ones.

May 29: 1 Ahmedi killed in Kundiaro district Nawabshah.

May 30: 22 shops and 5 houses belonging to Ahmadis ransacked in Chiniot.

Ahmadiyya mosques damaged in Gojra, Shorkot and Rawalpindi.

May 31: 26 Shops belonging to Ahmedis in Faisalabad, 7 shops in Bhera, 3 in Bahawalnagar, 7 in Rahim Yar Khan and 6 in Gujranwala ransacked and burnt.

Jun 01: 7 Ahmedis killed in Gujranwala.

1 Ahmedi killed in Hafizabad.

Jun 02: Six Ahmedis killed in Gujranwala.

Ahmadiyya mosque occupied by opponents in Lala Musa.

Jun 03: 2 Ahmedis killed in Gujranwala.

12 shops belonging to Ahmedis ransacked in Jhang.

Jun 04: 1 Ahmedi killed in Wah Cantt.

Ahmadiyya Library burnt to ashes in Mardan.

Jun 05: Supply of milk stopped for the residents of Rabwah.

12 Ahmedis severally tortured in Islamabad.

Jun 06: Factories and houses belonging to two Ahmedis burnt in Sargodha.

Jun 07: Ahmadiyya mosque in Kohat occupied.

Ahmedi house ransacked in Haripur, Hazara.

Jun 08: 1 Ahmedi killed in Peshawar.

Jun 09: 1 Ahmedi killed in Quetta.

2 Ahmedis killed in Topi. Corpses mutilated.

Jun 10: 7 Ahmedi shops ransacked and burnt in Mardan.

Jun 11: 1 Ahmedi killed in Abottabad. Corpse burnt.

2 Ahmedis, father and son, killed in Balakot.

Jun 12: All Ahmedis in Dera Ismail Khan arrested.

Jun 13: Ahmedi farm looted in Shah Nagar.

Jun 14: Ahmedi shop burnt to ashes in Mailsi.

Jun 15: Ahmedi house in Gujranwala set on fire.

Jun 18: 12 Ahmedis arrested in Pakpattan.

Jun 20: Ahmadiyya mosque set on fire in Tulwandi, Khajoorwali.

Jun 21: All Ahmadiyya population of Rahim Yar Khan confined to their homes.

Jun 22: An Ahmedi's dead body disinterred in Khushab.

Jun 24: All Ahmedi shops in Sargodha picketed.

Jun 29: An Ahmedi father and son tortured by Police in Toba Tek Singh.

Jul 01: Faces of Ahmedis were blackened and they were forcibly moved through the streets of Bhera.

Jul 02: 1 Ahmedi killed in Jehlum.

Jul 05: Ahmadiyya Mosque occupied by opponents in PakPattan.

Jul 07: An Ahmedi's dead body disinterred in Khushab.

Jul 12: Ahmedi families in Bhera start starving due to severe boycott.

Jul 14: Doors of Ahmedi houses in Meeruk district Sahiwal barricaded.

All Ahmedi men arrested in district Sargodha.

Jul 16: Ahmadiyya delegation who went to meet detainees of Sargodha fired upon at Sargodha Railway Station.

Jul 19: Ahmadiyya mosque attacked and occupied in Sargodha.

Jul 21: Ahmadiyya mosque attacked and occupied in Lahore.

Jul 22: Ahmadiyya mosque attacked and occupied in Lala Musa.

Jul 24: Ahmedi shops forced to shut down in Sheikhupura.

Jul 26: Ahmadiyya mosque ransacked and destroyed in Bahawalpur.

Jul 27: Ahmedi shops burnt to ashes in Okara.

Jul 28: Ahmadiyya mosque demolished in Gujrat.

Jul 29: Ahmadiyya mosque sealed in Sialkot.

Ahmedis forbidden to take water from public well in Dolian Juttan.

Jul 30: All Ahmedi residents of Burewala expelled.

Jul 31: Shops of Ahmadis forced to shut down in Duska.

Aug 02: An Ahmedi tortured in Mundi Bahauddin.

Aug 06: 3 Ahmedi shops set on fire.

Aug 09: Ahmedis barred from entering their mosque in Gujranwala.

14 Ahmadis dismissed from their jobs because of their faith in Gujranwala.

Aug 13: Ahmadiyya mosque demolished in Hazara.

Aug 18: Burial of an Ahmadi woman not allowed in Campbellpur. Other old graves also dug out.

An Ahmedi tortured in Barali.

Aug 24: Destruction of Ahmadiyya mosque in Sargodha.

Ahmedi students beaten up in Multan.

Sep 02 Ahmedi professor killed in Hyderabad.

Throughout the riots, the government and the police did little to stop the mobs. In many cases, the cops took part in the torture and lynchings. The police abused its power by arbitrarily arresting many Ahmedis.

CM of Punjab refused to meet with the Ahmadiyya delegation.

I've been unable to find the exact number of Ahmedis killed during the pogrom. That number is estimated by Ahmedis themselves to be somewhere in the hundreds.

Hundreds of houses, businesses and mosques were looted and/or destroyed.

At first Bhutto declared that he would protect all Pakistanis, and refused to bow to the pressure of the religious groups. He even threatened to use the military if necessary to quell the protests.

However, his position began changing and soon he gave in to the pressure.

On 13 June, Bhutto announced that the government would decide the religious status of Ahmedis by 7 Sep. A special committee comprising of Pakistan's entire National Assembly was formed by July to discuss the religious status of Ahmedis.

Scholars belonging to every major school of thought and sect in Islam were invited to present their arguments. All of them urged the Parliament to declare Ahmedis Non-Muslims.

Sunnis, Shias, Ahle Quran. All of them.

For several weeks, the Ahmadiyya delegation was questioned by the Attorney General and some prominent Islamic scholars in front of the National Assembly.

On 7 September 1974, the PPP led Parliament unanimously passed the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan. The Ahmadiyya Community was officially declared to be Non-Muslim and granted the status of a minority religion in Pakistan.

The 2nd Amendment enshrined religious persecution in the Constitution of Pakistan.
It was taken both by Ahmedis and their opponents as a sign that the Pakistani state had disavowed the Ahmedis and would not protect them anymore.

The discrimination and oppression of Ahmedis significantly increased after the 2nd Amendment.
Furthermore the Amendment paved the way for Zia's Ordinance XX as well as other civil and political restrictions on the Ahmedis.

THE END