Independence Day in the eyes of an Ahmadi

Today is 14th August. The independence day of Pakistan. 67 years have passed since Pakistan became a nation under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who put all his might and effort into working towards a country in which Muslims could live freely. In his famous speech of 11th August 1947, he said:

"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State."

Jinnah wanted a Pakistan in which there was freedom of religion and freedom of speech and no one would be forced to practice any specific religion, even Islam, even though it was considered a Muslim state. However, Jinnah passed away too soon after the creation of Pakistan and could not enforce religious freedom on the people of Pakistan. Soon, after his demise, people, mainly mullahs and extremists started an outcry against giving Ahmadis rights. They incited so much hatred by giving dishonest claims against Ahmadis, that many people joined them, believing it was the right thing to do. It was a hard time for the Ahmadis, when riots were carried out against them and they were always hatefully spoken against. 

In the 70s, Bhutto came to power. Soon after, elections took place, elections in which he specifically asked the Jama'at Ahmaddiyya to pray for him and to vote for him, promising to give them more rights. The Jama'at did indeed vote for him, because at the time, they thought it was the best to do. When Bhutto won the elections, he forgot asking for help from the Ahmadis, he forgot how they had also helped in the creation of Pakistan, and created a clause in the constitution of Pakistan, declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims and that if any Ahmadi tried to pose as a Muslim, he or she would be heavily fined and imprisoned for up to three years. 

The same constitution lives up to this day in which Ahmadis are not given rights to practice their religion freely, to call their place of worship mosques, to call themselves Muslims, to say or do a single thing which would make any third person believe that they are Muslims. Ahmadis became a forced minority because according to the state, they were declared Kafirs, while they still considered themselves Muslims. 

Ahmadis are massacred over their faith every day. The media rarely covers it though. Printed media and social media publicly publish articles mocking and instigating people against Ahmadis. Many national Urdu newspapers like Jang etc publish articles declaring an Ahmadi to be a Kafir and ordering people to stay away from them or they'll be condemned too. Parents are afraid to let their children or their women go out alone. Furthermore, Ahmadis can't meet up in religious meetings without a thousand security checks. 

I am an Ahmadi and a very proud one at that. I'm not afraid to declare it in front of anyone because I believe that religion is above everything. Needless to say, this braveness has caused lots of friends, close acquaintances to stop talking to me, and for teachers in my school to publicly declare me a Kafir, or for people in offices to create issues for me, when they come to know I'm an Ahmadi. When I first got my Id card and passport made, I was appalled by a condition in both at the end of the form which all Muslims had to agree in written form on something along the lines of - I am a Muslim and I believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani is an imposter and that Ahmadis are not Muslims. Every Muslim has to agree on this statement in written form. Since, we Ahmadis could not agree to that, the officers create problems which range from mocking at being an Ahmadi to not getting the passport/ID card made on time. Even shopkeepers refuse to sell to Ahmadis, believing their trade would be affected negatively. 

I was born in Pakistan and I have lived here all my life, so naturally I know how cruel people are towards us, in general. Ahmadis have been murdered, slaughtered, raped and kidnapped. Always having lived in Pakistan, I have always been patriotic person, refusing to hear anything against Pakistan. However, Pakistan and its people have not ceased to treat us mercilessly in all the years after its creation. And there is no possible change coming up in the near future. 

Today is Independence Day. Happy Independence Day, Pakistan. I wish I could be proud of you for giving us rights, for letting us live and let live, but I'm not. While all of Pakistan is putting flags on their house's roofs and on their cars, and painting their faces green and white, and singing National Songs, while everyone is changing their display pictures to the Pakistani flag, while everyone is shouting out slogans of Pakistan Zindabad, I sit here in silence. I sit here in silence because much as I love Pakistan, I hate what it's doing to us. I hate what it's doing to all minorities. So Pakistan, this I say to you, I love you Pakistan. I always have and I always will. You are my homeland and the place which I will always call home. But I hope that someday, you will decide to love us back, to give us all the love that we want from you. 

Pakistan Zindabad!