Why are Ahmadis persecuted so ferociously in Pakistan?
By Mohsin Hamid
…. Because if we can be silenced when it comes to Ahmadis, then we can be silenced when it comes to Shias, we can be silenced when it comes to women, we can be silenced when it comes to dress, we can be silenced when it comes to entertainment, and we can even be silenced when it comes to sitting by ourselves, alone in a room, afraid to think what we think.
That is the point.
Read more >>- DAWN
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page)
First they came …” is a popular poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the rise to power of the Nazis and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. The poem is re-written for today’s Pakistan.
“First they came (mullahs)…”, of Pakistan.
First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the Hindus and Sikhs, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Hindu or Sikh;
Then they came for the Christians, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Christian;
Then they came for the Ahmadis, and I did not speak out—because I was not an Ahmadi;
Then they came for the Shias, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Shia;
Then they came for the Human Rights Activists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Human Rights Activist;
Then they came for the women, and I did not speak out—because I was not a woman
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out