Source: ASSIST News, July 12, 2013
“Whom did you cast your vote for?” I asked my tailor, a hardworking man in his early forties who works in his shop in a peaceful locality in Lahore where I have been living for the last 23 years. He stared at me and replied [with anguish], “No one. Our leader told us not to, because we have no rights in the country and we are treated like animals.”
He caught my confusion and added, “I’m an Ahmadi. You might have heard about us?” The hurt on his face left me speechless. It was the first time he revealed his identity, confiding in me knowing well I am a Christian [and therefore also] a minority in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the home to the largest population of Ahmadis in the world and in 1974 became the first and only state to declare Ahmadis “non-Muslims.” In 1984 the Pakistan military dictator further issued an ordinance of imprisoning those Ahmadis calling themselves Muslims, using public prayer rooms, or using traditional Islamic greetings in public.
» See also: Pakistan’s Ahmadis Face Rising Persecution, Violence (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty).