Shadow Lives
BY NIDA MEHBOOB
MENTORS: WENDY MARIJNISSEN
PAKISTAN PHOTO FESTIVAL FELLOWSHIP 2017 PROJECT
Other than the major riots numerous people get killed in different parts of the country on the daily basis because of religious hatred.In 2010 one of the violent attack on mosques of Ahmadis by Tehrik.e.Taliban Pakistan killed 99 people.
The Ahmadi community has been persecuted in Pakistan since the early years of the country’s formation but the discrimination was further institutionalised when changes were made in 1973 constitution that declared them non Muslims under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.Constitutional changes criminalised the religious practices of Ahmadis by preventing them from claiming they are Muslim or from “behaving” as Muslims making Pakistan the only country that has declared Ahmadiyya community non Muslim.
Other than the major riots numerous people get killed in different parts of the country on the daily basis because of religious hatred.In 2010 one of the violent attack on mosques of Ahmadis by Tehrik.e.Taliban Pakistan killed 99 people.
The impact of discrimination of Ahmadis is violent and blooded but the everyday life of any Ahmadi is not easy either.Students are scared of telling their class fellows about their religion and in professional spaces colleagues avoid discussing faith.From all social gathering to public offices if you are an Ahmadi in Pakistan, you hide your religious identity or face the social bigotry
Content in text books about Ahmadis leads to derogatory lectures by the teachers and Ahmadi students have to keep hurt and anger inside.
The harassment includes social boycott, expulsions, threats and violence by students, teachers and principals.
Intersect marriages can’t happen and many young Ahmadis face rejection,heartbreak or loneliness until they find someone from their own sect.
Sharing food with Ahmadis is considered “haram” (forbidden)
“Our neighbors usually never sent anything on holly occasions, but if they did they sent us in shopping bags and upon asking why not in utensils like others, I was told because utensils are used only for muslim families and if given to you they will be “Napak” (impious).” Talha, 32 years old from Lahore.
