Amritsar, December 15
The fifth Caliph of Ahmadiyyas, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who was born on September 15, 1950, in Rabwah, Pakistan, which is the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s headquarters, said here today that he was banned to enter into his own country due to a stringent Act enacted by the Pakistan Government.
Though Qadians (Ahmadiyyas) are a persecuted community in Pakistan, Mirza Masroor Ahmad evaded all questions about the condition and stepmotherly treatment given to the members of his community there.
He, however, said he was happy that the relations between India and Pakistan had improved. “The Islam advocates forging of universal brotherhood”, he said.
Mirza Masroor Ahmad was going to Qadian on his first visit to the town after his installation as the fifth Caliph of the Ahmadiyyas. Earlier, he visited Qadian in 1991. He is the second Caliph of the community to visit the international headquarters after Partition. The UK-based Caliph alighted from the Shatabdi Express and proceeded to Qadian, the international headquarters of the Ahmadiyyas, to attend
three-day historic jalsa salana (annual conference) to be held from December 26.
Earlier, in 1999, Sahibzada Mirza Masroor Ahmad, along with Col Ayaz Mahmood, a general establishment officer, were arrested in Rabwah, Pakistan, on the charge of blasphemy and maintenance of public order, respectively, under the growing wave of persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.
They were arrested along with two others who went to the court to assist them in arranging anticipatory bail. The arrests took place soon after the promulgation of the controversial Anti-Terrorist Act (amendment) Ordinance 1999. Mirza Masroor Ahmad Sahib, was imprisoned in April but was released in May, 1999.
The fifth Caliph said they (the mainstream muslims) believed that Prophet Mohammad was the last Khalifa of the community while Ahmadiyyas disagree on this point. He claimed that the Prophet Mohammad Sahib himself had foretold that a Caliph would descend on earth one day. Hence Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) installed the Ahmadiyya faith in 1889. The promised Messiah Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was born in 1835 in Qadian, a small village in a district of Punjab. He was born to a noble, land-owning family of Qadian.
