1974 Proceedings in Pakistan Parliament

Raw images, in order of date: http://files.qern.org/1974/

Events Leading up to Hearings

The Qadiani Ahmadiyya leadership strongly supported Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in his successful election bid as Prime Minister of Pakistan. This political move was probably due to Bhutto's Pakistan Political Party (PPP) being a secular party. Once gain, the Ahmadiyya leadership exhibited irrationality of being close to power as they did in the 1930s and privately protested the 1973 2nd Islamic Summit in Lahore.

In April 1974, Bhutto also sacked Zafar Ahmad Chaudhry, the Air Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Air Force. The Air Force held a court-martial against senior Air Force officers, some of whom were Qadiani Ahmadi. This resulted in the Ahmadiyya leadership being angry at Bhutto, who is reported to have famously replied 'I am not the Prime Minister of only the Ahmadis, I am the Prime Minister of Pakistan.'

This political frustration led to the Ahmadiyya leadership authorizing an attack on a train passing through a town (Rabwah) which contained their headquarters and which was virtually a 'state within a state' (Samdani Commission). This action triggered riots in many Pakistani cities and were quelled by the appointment of the Samdani Commission by the government, which had several recommendations, including making Rabwah an open city and a parliamentary hearing. The parliamentary hearing was expected to be just a pacifier with no concrete result. The Qadiani leadership first challenged the jurisdiction of Parliament but then presented a six-member team, including their head the Khalifa Mirza Nasir Ahmad, to present their case in parliament. This strategic mistake, combined with the shocking testimony during the hearings, eventually led to the unanimous adoption of the 2nd Amendment to the nascent Constitution of Pakistan:

. . . (3) A person who does not believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon Him), the last of the Prophets or claims to be a prophet, in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever, after Muhammad (peace be upon Him), or recognises such a claimant as a prophet or a religious reformer, is not a Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution or Law.

Classification of Proceedings

The government classified the proceedings at the request of the Qadiani leadership and also to prevent further law-and-order issues as the content of the proceedings could be deemed explosive and would have ignited further hostility towards the Ahmadiyya.

Instead of being grateful for this measure, the Ahmadiyya missionaries and leadership continued, for decades, to insist that if the proceedings became public, half (or all) of Pakistan would become Ahmadi (see video clips on left). When the proceedings were finally released through a court case (see case images below), the missionaries fell silent and have slowly stopped discussing this issue. For a time, there were attempts to cast doubts on the authenticity of the reports but, with time and the overwhelming evidence online, these attempts have now ceased. (as of 2016)

Aftermath

Since the Pakistan Constitution requires the President and Prime Minister to be Muslim, and because of their opposition to the 2nd Islamic Summit, and taking the law into their hands in an organized fashion, anti-Ahmadiyya forces had political strength. Politicians and military officials were also wary of the blind obedience that senior civil servants and military commanders had to pledge as a condition of being Ahmadi. At the time, the most senior civil servant in Pakistan in Pakistan was Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad (a Qadiani Ahmadi), and some very high-ranking military officers were also Ahmadi.

Since that time, Ahmadis are, by convention, barred from holding any rank above Colonel in the armed forces, and high civil service posts. Anti-Ahmadiyya groups monitor this with vigilance.

As a result of this amendment, the 1980 and 1984 ordinances were passed (see elsewhere on this site). These ordinances have criminal prohibitions on the conduct of Ahmadis that might cause Muslims to mistake them for fellow Muslims.

Some analysis in Urdu and English below: