ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has stated in communication that there will be no limitations on Ahmadis’ ability to practice law in Pakistan. The Bar Council of England and Wales has appreciated this statement.
It has also requested more information about the claim that Ahmadi lawyers must renounce their beliefs in order to practice. The UK Bar stated in a press statement last week that there were “positive signs” for Ahmadi attorneys because the PBC’s answers to its inquiries clarified that they would not face any discrimination of any kind.
According to the statement, PBC clarified the matter following a letter sent in May 2023 by Nick Vineall KC, the Bar Council of England and Wales’s chair at the time, expressing concerns over Ahmadis being required to forsake their religion in order to practice law.
The Gujranwala District Bar Association and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council had issued letters requiring applicants to declare their Muslim faith and distance themselves from the Ahmadi creed. This aroused worries, the statement stated.
More information requested on certain concerns brought up regarding prejudice toward Ahmadi attorneys
According to the UK Bar, Hassan Raza Pasha, the PBC Executive Committee’s chair at the time, wrote to Sam Townend KC, the current chair, in January to inform him that the committee had taken the Pakistani Constitution into consideration when debating the issue. It was determined that the resolutions adopted by the District Bar Association of Gujranwala and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council had no legal standing and went against the spirit of the Pakistani Constitution. As a result, nobody shall be able to impose limitations or pursue a similar pronouncement in the future.
According to the statement, Mr. Townend has now written to Farooq Hamid Naek, the new PBC Chair, to request more information confirming that Ahmadi attorneys are not obliged to renounce their beliefs in order to be admitted to the bar.
“It seems that the Pakistan Bar Council concurs with our assessment that any policies that bar [Ahmadis] and non-Muslims from the Bar would be incompatible with Pakistan’s fundamental values of equality and religious freedom,” stated Mr. Townend.
Dawn was informed by Mr. Naek’s staff member that the PBC secretary had received Mr. Townend’s letter and that it will be covered in the upcoming meeting.
