Punjab govt agency bars Ahmadis from buying land even in Chenabnagar

Tue, April 22, 2025

The Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency (PHATA) has published a residential and commercial plots auction advertisement in a daily on April 17, 2025, explicitly excluding members of the Ahmadiyya community from participating in an upcoming plot auction even in Chenabnagar, the headquarters of the Jamaat-i-Ahmadiyya, besides the neighbouring towns of Chiniot, Jhang and Shorkot.

The advertisement, issued by Jhang PHATA Sub-Region Deputy Director Tariq Mahmood, states that only ‘Muslims’ are eligible to bid for 17 residential and commercial plots. The auction is being held for commercial and residential plots in Satellite Town Jhang, Era Development Scheme Chiniot, Era Development Scheme Chenabnagar, Era Development Scheme Shorkot.

The advertisement states that anyone belonging to Ahmadi/Mirzai/Lahori/Qaddiyani is not allowed to participate in the auction.

It says that members of the community are not allowed to participate in the auction and their money/plot or other material will not be returned if the authority, at any later stage, finds anyone belonging to the Ahmadiyya community.

The move drew condemnation from human rights activists, legal experts and minority rights groups, who argue that it violates Pakistan’s constitutional guarantee of equality and the move coming from a government body is even more deplorable. Article 25 of the Constitution explicitly ensures equal treatment under the law for all citizens, prohibiting discrimination based on religion, they say.

PHATA ‘discriminates’ against the community in plots auction in Chenabnagar, Chiniot, Jhang, Shorkot: The legal experts argue that PHATA’s exclusionary policy is unconstitutional.  

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