If you think of Pakistan’s most pressing issues, you may think the upcoming FATF review, or the violence in Baluchistan. If you ask the IHC, it seems that the honourable justice feels that the most integral issue which is fatally grieving the lives of Pakistanis today is the issue of the Ahmadi population (.02%) posing as Muslims.
Justice Siddiqui’s unusual summons for rounding up a database of Ahmadis has lead to an equally controversial judgment. In the judgement, IHC ordered, among other things, that all citizens be easily identifiable by their faith and that applicants for public offices declare their beliefs before being considered eligible. Justice Siddiqui said that it was "alarming" that "one of the minorities" was "often mistaken for being Muslims" due to their names and general attire, which "can lead them to gain access to dignified and sensitive posts, along with benefits."
The judgement derives its rule from Article 5 of the constitution, which demands loyalty to the state. The IHC here is doing an extremely purposive interpretation of the clause. To allow such a purposive interpretation and to go almost as far as to make a new law on it, it is prudent for the judges to look at the context of the situation, context which was badly missed in this case.
This provision would only make sense if there was no fear of violence against the Ahmadi population. With the various attacks on Ahmadi religious sites, even the most conservative hardliner today would not deny that there is significant danger to being openly Ahmadi. IHC should have the foresight to indicate the abuse and bloodshed such a law could open the doors to. Moreover, this order to make a sort of black list for Ahmadis, which is eerily reminiscent of concentration camps, is targeting of a religious group, and goes against the equality clause of the constitution.
It is difficult to imagine that such an educated and respected figure actually considers there to be an epidemic of Ahmadis posing as Muslims to fool the state. It is invoking of trump’s scaremongering of immigrants as posers who are the actual root cause of people’s grievances, instead of the legitimate abuses of the system. Perhaps Justice Siddiqui’s next judgement will be an order to place a blue star on non-Muslims, since distinguishing Muslims appears to be such a crisis.