Introduction

In analyzing the proceedings of the assembly, the main emphasis of this chapter will be on various discursive strategies whereby the theological polemics between the Ahmadis and their opponents were translated into legal jargon. Central to the process was the attorney general (AG), Yahya Bakhtiyar, who was assisted by the ulema members of the religio-political parties. The first section of the chapter gives details of the written statements read out by the Ahmadis and the rejoinder given by the ulema. This theological exchange helps establish the polemical nature of the argument which had been referred to the parliament to address. The gap between the legal acumen of the AG and specialized religious knowledge of the ulema, this chapter argues, shaped the process whereby the cross-examination of the heads of two Ahmadi groups took place and an attempt was made to adduce a precise legal argument from a medley of polemical debates. This requires delineating the AG's legal strategy through a detailed analysis of his cross-examination of Mirza Nasir Ahmad and his lengthy concluding speech at the end of parliamentary proceedings. The last section of the chapter will discuss how the “final solution” to the “90-year-old problem” — as the prime minister of Pakistan referred to it in his speech after the passing of the Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, declaring Ahmadis non-Muslims — foreclosed the possibility of according Ahmadis equal status as citizens or safeguarding their rights as guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan even as a non-Muslim minority.