Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I
- Chapter I The Records of the Court of Inquiry and the Munir–Kiyani Report
- Chapter II The Background to Jama'at Ahmadiyyah and the Origins of the Anti-Ahmadi Movement: The Role of Majlis-i-Ahrar and Majlis-i-' Amal
- Chapter III The Political Hierarchy and Administrative Structure of Pakistan: Contextualizing the Events of 1952–53
- Chapter IV Disturbances in Lahore and the Imposition of Martial Law
- Chapter V The Findings of the Munir—Kiyani Report
- Part II
- Debates on the Ahmadis after 1974: A Postscript
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter II - The Background to Jama'at Ahmadiyyah and the Origins of the Anti-Ahmadi Movement: The Role of Majlis-i-Ahrar and Majlis-i-' Amal
from Part I
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I
- Chapter I The Records of the Court of Inquiry and the Munir–Kiyani Report
- Chapter II The Background to Jama'at Ahmadiyyah and the Origins of the Anti-Ahmadi Movement: The Role of Majlis-i-Ahrar and Majlis-i-' Amal
- Chapter III The Political Hierarchy and Administrative Structure of Pakistan: Contextualizing the Events of 1952–53
- Chapter IV Disturbances in Lahore and the Imposition of Martial Law
- Chapter V The Findings of the Munir—Kiyani Report
- Part II
- Debates on the Ahmadis after 1974: A Postscript
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
For a critical understanding of the events leading to the disturbances of 1953 and the debates of 1974, a detailed description of the polemical disputations between the Ahmadis and their opponents is needed. This requires an insight into the background of the Ahmadiyyah movement itself along with a detailing of its various theological underpinnings. The historical and theological aspects of Jama'at Ahmadiyyah, and the political background and colonial context of their opponents — especially Majlis-i-Ahrar — help explain the nature of the religious polemics which existed in Punjab from 1890s onwards. The purpose is not to give credence to the rationale offered by the ulema and religio-political parties of “religious hurt” caused by the Ahmadis as an explanation for the events of 1953. Instead, the purpose is to trace the transformation from the religious polemics of the colonial period into a political movement in the postcolonial state. In this regard, this chapter will emphasize the paranoia caused among religious circles by the ascendancy of the Ahmadis in terms of their economic well-being and an allegedly disproportionate representation in the military and bureaucracy in Pakistan. The present and later chapters will also argue that it was not just the Ahrar and other religio-political parties which benefited from a religiously inspired political movement. Various political actors too were trying to gain political mileage out of this resentment against the Ahmadis created by the ulema and religio-political parties.
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- Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2014