LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah says that his statement regarding the status of Ahmadis in the country has been “distorted and twisted by some rivals to take political advantage”.

Addressing the Punjab Assembly’s Press Gallery Committee here on Friday, he said that he had commented in a TV programme that the Ahmadi community did not get the freedom which the other minorities in the country had, due to certain constitutional bars.

He said the comments were twisted by some political rivals and others through social media as if he did not consider the community as non-Muslim.

The Lahore High Court Bar Association has cancelled membership of Mr Sanaullah and also banned for life his entry to bar room.

The minister said that bar consisted of 21,000 plus members and a few people could not dictate its decisions. He claimed that the LHCBA president is affiliated with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Hamid Khan, while the secretary was from the PML-Q.

He condemned the Islamabad NAB court episode in which some police and lawyers were hurt in a clash on the premises.

About MNA Muhammad Safdar’s statement in the National Assembly about banning recruitment of the Ahmadi community’s people in armed forces, he said the issue should be left to the armed forces’ leadership.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2017