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The government of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday gave up his controversial decision to appoint a persecuted religious minority member as economic adviser, underlining the pressure he faces from extremist Islamists.
Atif Mian, a Pakistani-American economics professor at Princeton University, was recently named a member of a new economic advisory council. Mr. Mian is an Ahmadi, a religious minority who has long been persecuted in deeply conservative Pakistan, and the announcement sparked a brutal reaction from Islamist groups.
Considered non-Muslim
Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, but their beliefs are considered blasphemous in most Islamic schools of thought. They are designated non-Muslims in the Pakistani Constitution.
Government officials initially defended the decision to appoint Mr. Mian, with Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry promising that "Pakistan belongs as much to minorities as to the majority … we will not bow to extremists" in a video clip viral.
Three days later, his government yielded to growing pressure from the religious right. "The government has decided to withdraw the appointment of Atif Mian to the Economic Advisory Committee," Chaudhry tweeted, saying that they wanted to work with all segments of society, including Islamic clerics.
Blasphemy is an extremely inflammatory charge in Pakistan and may result in the death penalty. The state never executed a convict for blasphemy, but simple accusations of insulting Islam sparked popular lynchings, self-defense killings and mass demonstrations. Friday's decision came after the Islamists also forced the federal justice minister to resign following anti-blasphemy protests last November, in an agreement brokered by the army.
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