Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) is being criticized on social media for dropping an Ahmadi speaker from a panel discussion on tolerance. Amnesty LUMS, the LUMS Chapter of Amnesty International, which had organized the talk on “Tolerance in Pakistan,” revealed in a series of tweets that it was asked to drop a speaker at the eleventh hour.
Amnesty LUMS tweeted, “it is shocking to see an institution such as LUMS fail to protect discourse,” and said an empty chair would be left for the Ahmadi speaker.
Activist and Professor at LUMS, Dr. Taimur Rehman, as the moderator of the talk, seems to be just as upset; calling it a “shameful state of affairs.” The very theme of the talk was around the life of minorities in Pakistan and other speakers were Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, Peter Jacob, Sardar Ramesh Singh, and others.
Another LUMS’ Professor and feminist activist, Nida Kirmani, said she feels “embarrassed to be affiliated with this institution,” while another Twitter user, @ghul96, bashed LUMS for its “performative wokeness.”
Many have said that LUMS bowing to “external interference” is ironic considering that the institution claims to represent progressive values.
The Ahmadi community in Pakistan remains on the receiving end of violence at the hands of extremists and their persecution is often ignored by the mainstream media.
