Rights group urges European officials to raise Ahmadiya issue with Pakistan FM

With Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi currently on a Belgium visit, a Brussels-based human rights group urged European officials to raise the situation of Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan.

Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), in a statement, called on EU High Representative and Vice President Josep Borrell, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belgium Sophie Wilmes-- to submit the list of Ahmadi prisoners who are currently behind bars in Pakistan.

"Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) is today calling upon the interlocutors of FM Qureshi in Brussels to submit the HRWF list of Ahmadi prisoners who are currently behind bars in Pakistan (3 sentenced to the death penalty and 12 in pretrial detention for years) on the basis of the controversial blasphemy laws," the HRWF said.

Earlier in the day, Qureshi met Stoltenberg in Brussels and discussed the fast deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, reported local media.

Qureshi and Stoltenberg discussed bilateral cooperation, the emerging situation in Afghanistan as well as other matters of mutual interest including the situation in the region, reported Geo News.

Many international human rights organisations are alarmed over the recent persecution of the Ahmadiyya community in Pakistan.

The International Forum for Right and Security (IFFRAS) said that the organisations are documenting the systematic persecution endured by the Ahmadiyya Muslim community at the hands of religious extremists and state institutions.

( With inputs from ANI )