The Jamaat Ahmadia had secured this vast patch of land after the birth of Pakistan. When it started building a planned city here, which also housed its religious headquarter, it had big ambitions to make it a model Islamic metropolis. That eagerness soon rammed head-on into gigantic hurdles but the Jamaat waited, probably hoping that the tide might reverse. It remained in limbo. But now it is not in that mode anymore.

Legally speaking, after the restoration of the joint electorate system in 2002, Ahmadis have voting rights equal to any other citizen, except that their voter lists are separate. In our present electoral system, we have two voter lists, one for Ahmadis and the other for the rest including Muslims, Christians, Hindus and others. This absurd provision is probably made to ensure that the humiliation of Ahmadis continues.

Refusing to be registered as non-Muslims, Ahmadis have abandoned their voting rights. There are little signs of an election campaign here. They are least interested in any debate on the matter. They have lost all hope and settled for the worse. A number of them have migrated to other countries and most of them are doing fine. Rabwa's dismay has now hid itself behind the glitter of the foreign exchange that these Ahmadis send back.

Meanwhile in Chiniot, the campaign has just started, the Punjabi way. Till today, there were posters of many candidates from one party for the same constituency, each writing 'inshallah' in fine print over 'umeedwar xyz party'. The inshallahs shall now be replaced with mashallahs by the lucky ones.