New Delhi: Pakistan’s highest court has succumbed to religious hardliners, reversing its verdict in the 2023 Mubarak Sani case. The latest ruling removes key paragraphs from the earlier verdict that had briefly allowed Ahmadiyyas, a minority religious group, freedom to practice their faith.
Critics, including human rights activists, lawyers, and journalists, are outraged, accusing the Pakistan Supreme Court of succumbing to religious extremism instead of ensuring equal justice.
“SC’s surrender is the final nail in the coffin for equal citizenship in Pakistan,” historian Ali Usman Qasmi wrote on X.
SC's surrender is the final nail in the coffin for equal citizenship in Pakistan. By expunging the 'controversial' paragraph, the SC has effectively declared that Ahmadis can’t practice their religion even in private, implying their acts are too blasphemous to be allowed anywhere pic.twitter.com/oalGdkFUFe
— Ali Usman Qasmi (@AU_Qasmi) August 22, 2024
The minority community, with its largest population in Pakistan, has been facing immense religious and social persecution and is officially recognised as non-Muslim in the country.
The Mubarak Sani case centres on a 6 February ruling by the Pakistan Supreme Court, which ordered the release of Mubarak Ahmad Sani, an Ahmadiyya arrested for distributing the Tafseer-i-Sagheer, an Ahmadiyya religious text. Sani was charged under a 2021 Punjab law banning certain Quranic texts, but he argued that he distributed the text in 2019, before the law was enacted. Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa ruled in his favour, stating that criminal laws cannot be applied retroactively.
But the court in its 22 August judgment backtracked on its earlier verdict and agreed to changes demanded by religious leaders.
“Religious freedom has been abolished in Pakistan and the entire state is complicit,” author and lawyer Yasser Hamdani told ThePrint. He added that this was a searing indictment of the idea that a Muslim-majority state can ensure religious freedom.
“This is a victory not just for the anti-Ahmadi bigots but also the Islamophobes who have long argued the incompatibility of Islam with fundamental human rights,” he said.
Timeline of the Mubarak Sani case
While the February decision in the Sani case was seen by some as a small victory for religious freedom, it was heavily criticised by radical Sunni groups and the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), who opposed any recognition of Ahmadi beliefs.
The verdict saw mass protests against Chief Justice Isa, leading to a rare Supreme Court clarification in July, stating that the decision only addressed retroactivity and did not grant broader rights to Ahmadis. The CII condemned this as insufficient, demanding further restrictions.
On 17 August, the Punjab government urgently requested the Supreme Court to remove specific sections from its revised judgment and filed a new petition challenging the court’s ruling, which was scheduled for an urgent hearing on 22 August.
Protests by religious groups, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), escalated on 21 August, with demonstrators clashing with police and attempting to breach the Supreme Court and Parliament House. The groups warned the court to withdraw the verdict entirely before 7 September.
The Pakistan Supreme Court’s decision on 22 August followed extensive arguments from various stakeholders, including clerics like Mufti Taqi Usmani. Specifically, he criticised paragraph 42 of the previous judgment, which discussed the rights of Ahmadis under the Constitution. Usmani contended that it implied Ahmadis could freely preach, which he believed was incorrect and potentially in conflict with Section 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which prohibits non-Muslims from posing as Muslims, Dawn reported.
CJP Isa acknowledged that lengthy judgments can sometimes lead to oversights and agreed to review the specific objections. He emphasised the need for judicial decisions to align with Islamic principles while respecting parliamentary views.
His decision has led to conflicting opinions.
While some criticised the CJP for cowering in the face of religious fundamentalism, others supported his decision citing earlier protests and death threats to him.
Politician Fawad Hussain called it a “Sad Day for Pakistan” on X and added that the CJP should “at least form a commission to report within 15 days who facilitated mobs outside SC to coerce and pressurise his bench and make dire threats to his life?”
We saw SC crumbling today before extremists, this is despite Army Chief very strong speeches showing resolve against extremism, State must act people behind this hooliganism needs to be exposed and the country must be saved from total melt down…another Sad Day for Pakistan… https://t.co/NK2QyHfOI4
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) August 22, 2024
Senior journalist Abbas Nasir, however, was not so subtle. “What a joke we have made of our country,” he wrote on X.
Journalist Tahir Imran also echoed similar sentiments.
“Where a Supreme Court backtracked from a decision after it has not only given a decision but also taken care of that decision in review. So in a historic review upon review that to my knowledge is a unique thing the court has opened itself to a whole new world of aspirants ready to arm twist the court to get what they want.”
However, some people chose to stand by the Chief Justice’s decision. Senior journalist Raza Ahmed Rumi said that the CJP could not be blamed for this and “is a victim of a campaign that could cost him his life”.
Barrister Amir Zafar Khan agreed, adding that it is difficult for the CJP to take a step without any state support, which could lead to his death.
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Long-standing crisis
The Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan has a long history of severe marginalisation and persecution. Although Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, many Islamic groups label them as heretics and legally prohibit them from identifying as such.
This discrimination extends to their voting rights, as Ahmadis are forced to declare themselves non-Muslims to cast a ballot, which they refuse to do. They endure frequent threats of violence against themselves, their homes, workplaces, and places of worship, and are often unjustly accused of blasphemy while attackers go unpunished.
In June 2024 alone, Amnesty International reported 36 arbitrary arrests and numerous instances of police harassment against Ahmadis, along with bans on their religious practices.
In public life, Ahmadis face systemic exclusion. To obtain a Pakistani passport, they must sign a declaration identifying them as non-Muslims.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)