Punjab Medical College Expels 23 Ahmedi Students

Posted on June 9, 2008
Filed Under >Atif Mian, Education, Law & Justice, Religion
225 Comments
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Atif Mian

Punjab Medical College Faisalabad expels 23 Ahmedi studentsOn Thursday, June 5th, the principal of Punjab Medical College, Faisalabad, expelled every student who belonged to the Ahmadi community from the college.

A total of twenty three students, fifteen female and eight male, across the five years of medical school have been expelled as a result. Further details regarding the incident can also be found in reports from the BBC and from the Daily Times.

The Ahmadi students were “accused” of preaching their religious beliefs. The principal was pressured into expelling the entire Ahmadi student body by a mob of protesters belonging to Islami Jamiat e Talaba. The mob circled the Principal’s office and demanded the expulsions. The same day, a mob of about 300 college students also barged into Ahmadi students’ rooms, beat them and threw their luggage out of their rooms.

Punjab Medical College Faisalabad expels 23 Ahmedi studentsWhat makes this incident especially troubling is the fact that the decision to expel Ahmadi students was taken by a government-run medical school, under full knowledge of the relevant Punjab ministries.


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As an academic, and a Pakistani, I am totally appalled by this latest incidence of religious fanaticism. One hopes that the present Punjab government turns a page, and instead of supporting the forces of extremism, comes to the protection of its ordinary citizens.

Atif Mian is Associate Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

225 responses to “Punjab Medical College Expels 23 Ahmedi Students”

  1. Anotehr Liberal Elite says:

    Dear Paki, aka Neo-Con

    I am always amused by these rants about so-called “Liberals” since nearly no one here describes themselves as such, and those of us who do use it only to mock at the silliness of other commenters.

    But let me congratulate and comment you for your guts. After all, very few people today (even in the US) would have teh gall to describe themselves as Neo-Con. So, since you are not a Liberal you must be a Neo-Con, one of Mr. Bush’s fans and one of those who hate Mr. Jinnah’s country. I cannot understand how you can stand to be a fan of Mr. George Bush but from your comment you obviously are. Congratulations.

    As to being the boot lickers of the “West”, those are not Liberals, those are Neo-Cons like yourself. Mr. Bush and his dear freinds Mr. Musharraf, the Saudi kings, and of course YOU.

    In fact you argument in defence of the bigotry of the IJT proves that you are a Neo-Con. Essentially what you just said is that since the”West” is intolerant therefore it is OK if IJT and the suicide bombers and other people you support are also intolerant. That would only be the case if you consider the “west” and its behavior to be our spiritual guide. After all, only then woul you want to follow them (taqleed) blindly.

    So, if you want to be a follower of the “West” please go ahead. If you want to kill innocent people because the West kills innocent people and if you want to be like the West by becoming intolerant, then that if your choice. Keep following your Neo-Con masters and doing exactly what they do.

    For the rest of us real Muslims and real Pakistanis, we do NOT want to follow your Neo-Con Masters in the West and we do not want to follow your Islam-haters of the Taliban and IJT. We reject both and we reject you. We know that you are the same people that did not want Pakistan or a country for Muslims in teh first place and are now bent on destroying it. We will not let you do that!!!!

  2. Ali Khan says:

    PMC is a disgrace, the chancellor is a coward and all of those people on here who are supporting the decision to expel the Ahmadi’s and are ‘preaching hatred’ should hang their heads in shame. If you want to follow the mad mullahs of Pakistan, the very same people because of whom Pakistan is in the state it is today. Rather then listening to what this mullahs tell you, why don’t you use the brains that Allah has blessed you with.

  3. ylh says:

    Waseem,

    I am not an Ahmadi but my late father was.

    He was also someone who loved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) more than anyone else and had absolute and complete faith in the truthfulness of the Holy Quran.

    When he suddenly passed away, one of my lasting regrets is that I cannot by law put the kalima on his grave…he who would have gladly given his life for Islam and Muslims regardless of their sect. The great irony of my life…

    People ask me how I can be idealistic about Pakistan … And sometimes I find myself wondering too…

  4. ylh says:

    I don’t even want to argue anymore about absurdity of the idea that the state can decide whether Ahmadis are Muslim or not.

    What is important here is that under the constitution of Pakistan article 20 every citizen of Pakistan of whatever faith can:

    1. Practise his faith without hinderance.

    2. Propagate his or her faith.

    There is no way that the fundamental rights of a citizen can be abridged. The state cannot by amendment abolish this right either because fundamental rights are by constitution are over riding and cannot be over ridden.

    So just like I have to swallow the bitter pill that constitutional status of Ahmadis as a minority is not going away, all of you haters must realize that by the same token these rights are not going away.

    The state must make sure fundamental rights of these Pakistanis are retored.

  5. paki says:

    To all the liberals expressing outrage: some of you claim that you have never heard of such a thing in your beloved west. What about the French and Turkish Muslim girls banned from high school and/or university for practicing their religion? Maybe you didn’t hear about it? or perhaps you weren’t outraged then?

    To the conservatives: some of you i agree with and some of you are just too far gone. i do think you should realize that there is something very wrong with beating up and expelling students regardless of their religion and actions. I wholeheartedly agree that Ahamdis/Qadianis are not Muslim because they reject the finality of the Prophet (saw). Despite that, they should be allowed to live, worship and go to school in peace. if they are guilty of breaking laws against preaching then judge them and punish them accordingly – but beatings and expulsions are idiotic. The behavior of the IJT is idiotic as well. In fact their behavior is probably worse for Muslims and Pakistanis than the preaching of a silly religion.

    If you claim to represent Islam then you have to hold yourself to a higher standard than others. From the little that i know of the biography of the Prophet (saw) i can recall many occassions where he had his rights trampled but very very few where anyone can even accuse him of trampling the rights of others. Why is this the case? i believe it is because the Prophet (saw) was very careful not to oppress anyone or anything even if he had rights over them/it. Perhaps we should follow his example.

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