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.