San Francisco Frontiers - Pakistan top court amends religious freedom ruling after protests

The Ahmadiyya sect, considered heretical by fundamentalist groups, has been persecuted for decades in Pakistan, but threats and intimidation have risen in recent years.

The Supreme Court in a July ruling had said that while Ahmadis are declared non-Muslim, they have the right to practise and preach their faith within their homes, places of worship, and institutions, as long as they do not use Muslim terms.

However, the ruling sparked nationwide protests and calls from various religious parties, scholars and the government to review the ruling.

"The religious scholars had expressed their reservations on the Supreme Court decision," said Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who was heading a three-member bench.

"We have accepted the federal government's plea to clarify the decision and we are omitting the controversial paragraph."

"The detailed verdict will be announced later," he added.

The protection for Ahmadis to practise their faith at home was included in a ruling that gave bail to an Ahmadi accused of blasphemy.

The backlash that followed included a bounty put on the head of the chief justice by a leader of the radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which wields massive street power.

"It is quite rare that the Supreme Court takes up an application when both appeal and review have already been exhausted," Osama Malik, an independent lawyer based in Islamabad, told AFP.

"Diluting the judgement has diminished the scant hope that had been offered to persecuted minorities," he added.

Roads leading to Pakistan's capital were restricted on Thursday and educational institutes were ordered to remain closed ahead of the case hearing.

Ahead of the announcement, hundreds of supporters of Islamist parties gathered and chanted slogans near the court.

"Qazi Faez Isa has deeply hurt millions of Muslims with his verdict," said 32-year-old protester Alyan Ahmed, a member of TLP.

"We are prepared to go to any lengths if this decision is not reversed," he added.

Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, and their faith is identical to mainstream Islam in almost every way.

But their belief that the movement's founder Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the "mahdi" or messiah has marked them to many as blasphemous unbelievers, particularly in Pakistan.

There are around 500,000 Amadis in Pakistan according to their community leadership.

The constitution has branded them non-Muslims since 1974, and a 1984 law forbids them from claiming their faith as Islamic or openly practising Islamic rituals.

Q.Nelson--SFF