Posted on 04/05/2011 9:22:34 AM PDT by Milagros
More than seven months have passed since the Pakistani Taliban attacked two Ahmadiyya Muslim mosques in Lahore massacring 86 Ahmadi Muslims and injuring more than a hundred more.
In November, in connection with the release of the State Department's Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton specially noted the carnage against Ahmadiyya holy sites. The Secretary also observed that such "infringements on religious freedom strain the bonds that sustain democratic societies" - a statement that is more profound than it may appear to be at first glance, for it draws a direct linkage between the protection of religious freedom and the very survival of democracy.
Indeed, the systematic persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan is Exhibit A in the case that religious intolerance can fatally weaken liberal democracy. The State Department's annual report concerning Pakistan, which makes mention of Ahmadi Muslims on 101 occasions, details what can only be described as religio-political apartheid directed at Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan. Not only are members of the community expressly declared non-Muslims under the constitution and the subject of specific anti-Ahmadi provisions in Pakistan's penal code (commonly referred to as the "blasphemy laws"), but they are also denied the most basic right in a democracy - the right to vote - through a series of extraordinary legal provisions.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.washingtonpost.com ...
Thanks for the important links. sad ruth
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