Punjab: Cong leader urges Modi to amend CAB to allow Ahmadiyyas to return to Qadian

Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the persecution faced by the Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan and urged that the recent Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 needs to be further amended so as 'to allow the Ahmadiyyas a chance to return to Qadian.'

Bajwa posted pictures of the letter from his Twitter handle and wrote: "I have sent these letters regarding the persecution faced by the Ahmadiyyas to Prime Minister @narendramodi ji and Home Minister @AmitShah ji. The recent CAB Bill 2019 needs to be further amended so as to allow the Ahmadiyyas a chance to return to Qadian."

In his letter, Bajwa highlighted the "persecution" faced by the Ahmadiyya community and said: "Despite this, their spiritual and foundational home still remains Qadian, Punjab. Their system of belief began here, within our borders, and given the levels of persecution they face, I urge you to expand the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, to allow these individuals to return to their natural and spiritual home."

"Just like Kartarpur and Nankana Sahib for the Sikhs, Qadian is for the Ahmadiyya community. I seek that we allow these individuals a refuge, and a home away from persecution, so that they may return to their place of birth," he added.

Asserting that the Ahmadiyya community has a very strong connection with our country, he wrote: "It was in Qadian, Punjab, where the founder of the sect Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born and began his teachings. The Ahmadiyya community, while they consider themselves as Muslims, in Pakistan their status is not so."

Terming 'Ahmadiyyas of Qadian' as one of the most persecuted sects in Pakistan, the Congress leader reminded how from 1953, till the present day, the Ahmadiyyas have been persecuted for their faith by the Pakistani government.

He also recalled the treatment meted to the first Pakistani Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, who was an Ahmadiyya.

"In fact, the first Pakistani Nobel Laureate, Abdus Salam who was an Ahmadiyya, had his tombstone desecrated. The word 'Muslim' on his tombstone was covered over, even though he was such a Nobel laureate from Pakistan," he said.

The Congress leader said that it is important to follow the values that he imparted in ensuring that India is a home that promotes unity in diversity and protects all those, who are oppressed, whatever their faith they follow, especially those whose spiritual "home is within the boundaries of our republic.