Musharraf is duplicitious

Submitted by Amjad M. Khan (United States), Sep 20, 2005 at 15:51

Dear Mr. Pipes:

It was encouraging to hear President Musharraf speak of the commonalities between Jews and Muslims and to laud the Jewish community for its assistance of Muslims in the world.

But I continue to be very skeptical of his position with respect to religious minorities. The tragic and profound suffering of the Ahmadiyya Community -- a vibrant moderate Muslim force of some 5 million in Pakistan -- persists today. as has been well-documented, for over 5 decades, Ahmadis have endured senseless persecution in Pakistan -- their mosques have been burned, their graves have been desecrated, indeed, their very existence has been criminalized. In 1974, the Government of Pakistan declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslim by constitutional amendment. The subsequent legal entrenchment of the anti-blasphemy provisions have suffocated the rights of non-Muslims in Pakistan and, even more disturbingly, the rights of Ahmadis who profess to be Muslims through and through. President Musharraf has done little, if anything, to protect the rights of religious minorities. Instead, he routinely panders to the extreme view of the Mullahs.

How can one take President Musharraf's call for inter-religious harmony seriously when he refuses to take any measures to redress the human rights abuses in his own country? Surely you, as a member of the U.S. Institute for Peace, have read the numerous U.S. State Department reports underscoring Pakistan's poor human rights record. You should think twice before praising someone whose commitment to moderate Islam is reflected more in talk than in action.

Sincerely,

Amjad M. Khan, Esq.
Chino Hills, California, USA

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