Qadri denies Ahmadis included in National Commission for Minorities

Monitoring Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri categorically denied in a statement late Wednesday night that the government was planning to include members of the Ahmadi community in the National Commission for Minorities.

The statement was made in response to media reports that the government intended to appoint representatives of the Ahmadi community as non-Muslim commission members.

“The belief in the finality of Prophethood is our cardinal belief and we cannot compromise on that,” Qadri said.

“The government’s position is clear that it can only include a group or party in the country’s constitutional bodies after that group recognizes the constitution,” Qadri said, adding that the Ahamdi community could “join any committee or commission of Pakistan after doing the same.”

Pakistan declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974 and, according one estimate, there are about half a million Ahmadis in the country.

The National Commission for Minorities was formed in the 1990s, though its legal status is unclear and some media channels recently claimed that the government had approved Ahmadi representation in the commission.

Courtesy: (Arabnews)