Dear Mr. Ibrahim:
 
I came across your e-mail write-up discussing the controversy over Geo TV's September 7th broadcast of Aalim Online. 
 
At the outset, let me commend you for taking the time and effort to review the program at the heart of the current controversy.  Since the program aired, your e-mail was the first substantive response I've heard or read from a Geo TV official.  It is not easy to address directly a sensitive and volatile issue, and so I appreciate your courage in sharing your sentiments. 
 
Might I indulge you for a few moments to share my reaction to your write-up?  You raise several problematic points that I would like to address in turn:
 
(1) You contend that Dr. Liaquat's September 7th program "for the first time [brought] together Alims from the sectarian divide on the same platform [and] helped bridge[] the viewpoints of two great sects of Islam."  Perhaps I am mistaken, but I have always understand the Muslim world to be uniformly opposed to the Ahmadiyya Community.  In fact, most of the opinions I hear with respect to the Ahmadiyya Community (and I've heard a ton in my years) point to how the entire ummah is united in their belief that Ahmadis are non-Muslim and un-Islamic (a view I think is deeply flawed I might add).  I'm not sure what "sectarian divide" or differing "viewpoints" between Sunni and Shia exist on this subject.  Clearly, the September 7th program was intended to celebrate Pakistan's second amendment to its Constitution and the general consensus against the Ahmadiyya Community.  The two "Aalims" from the Sunni and Shia persuasion did not differ one iota in their belief that Ahmadis are "wajib ul qatl."  This wasn't a bridge-building exercise -- this was a deliberate effort to galvanize Muslim masses against the Ahmadiyya Community.
 
(2) You contend that "mob fury can be inflamed by sheer hearsay and exaggeration as well as through personal bias against Dr. Aamir."  The clear implication of your contention is that Ahmadis, in reacting to the September 7th program, have engaged in a "mob fury" without facts.  With due respect, nothing can be further from the truth.  In response to the September 7th program, Ahmadis have taken up the only "jihad" they know -- jihad bil qalam.  Ahmadis have carefully examined the contents of the September 7th program and issued timely and accurate press releases to the media.  They have written dozens of letters to media outlets, several of which have been printed in prominent American newspapers.  The Asia Human Rights Commission (a well-respected human rights organization in Asia), International Federation of Journalists (representing some 600,000 journalists worldwide) and the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Decent of North America (representing some 15,000 Pakistani physicians) each independently condemned the September 7th program and the Ahmadi murders in Sindh.  It appears that the "mob" to which you refer actually is a cadre of intellectuals and independent-minded thinkers who cherish humanity.      
 
(3) You contend that "nowhere in the program did Dr. Aamir or the three guests call for the death of Ahmadis."  The phrase emplyed by the "Aalims" on the show was "wajib-ul-qatl."  This emotionally charged and disturbing term has profound implications that you ignore.  First, it refers to a legal punishment for apostasy -- a punishment that's codified in Pakistan's notorious anti-blasphemy laws.  Second, it carries with it the implication that Muslims have a righteous duty to kill Ahmadis.  Finally, it challenges the Muslim ummah to kill followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (if Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a "false prophet" who is worthy of death, as the "Aalims" pointed out, then his followers must be too).  
 
(4) You contend that "Geo . . . does not feel that a causal link can be established between the program and the traffic killings because there was absolutely no exhortation to do so by Amir and the scholars."  As I indicated above, the exhortation is clear by the "Aalims"' use of the phrase "wajib-ul-qatl."  Nevertheless, the causal link is far from attenuated.  Two Ahmadis were murdered within 18 hours of the September 7th program.  By all news accounts, the killings were targeted and in cold blood.  Given Pakistan's tarnished history of sectarian violence, it is not unfounded for Ahmadis (and independent thinkers) to draw a causal link to the program and the murders.  At minimum, the program gave tacit validation for the murders because the perpetrators were simply taking stock of the legal proclamation by "Aalims" such as the ones on the September 7th program -- namely that Ahmadis are "wajib-ul-qatl."  Put differently, the September 7th program provided a justification for killing Ahmadis. 
 
In short, I am troubled by your blasé attitude towards Geo TV's airing of the September 7th program.  You ignore the deep wounds -- both literal and figurative -- inflicted upon Ahmadis in Pakistan (and indeed the world over) by Dr. Amir Liaquat Hussain and his "Aalim" guests.  You simply fail to comprehend the repercussions of what it means to brand Ahmadis as "wajib-ul-qatl."
 
I hope and pray that you study the issues I raise more deeply and strongly condemn Geo TV's September 7th program.  You have the power to rectify this precarious situation.  Please act fast.
 
Your brother in Islam,
 
Amjad Mahmood Khan, Esq.
Los Angeles, California, USA