Dual citizenship {See background below…} creates two categories of citizenship, and brings up obvious questions of loyalty and allegiance. In addition, it is allowing people to commit crimes in their ‘other homeland’ and then hide out in Canada:
“We request that you free the Mosque from the Infidels and save Muslim interests by saving the Mosque from these Infidels, If these steps are not taken we will be forced to take extreme measures in order to liberate this Mosque”.
“A Pakistani-Canadian man wanted for leading a mob attack on a mosque in Pakistan has found refuge in Canada.
“In December 2016, Rasheed Ahmed, a dual citizen of Pakistan and Canada, led a 3,000-strong mob which attacked a historic mosque in the town of Dulmial, northern Pakistan. The mosque, which dates back to 1860, has been at the center of a property dispute between Ahmadis and Sunnis.
“Since the attack, Pakistan has arrested up to 80 people involved in the attack and more are being looked for, But Rasheed has managed to escape prosecution, as there is no extradition treaty between Canada and Pakistan.
“In 1996, the local Sunnis claimed ownership of the mosque, a claim which was subsequently dismissed by the court. Rasheed, who is in his early 80’s and has lived in Canada for over 40 years, traveled to Pakistan from his home in Mississauga and revived the decades-old campaign to grab hold of the mosque property. Rasheed, along with local clerics, also filed an application with the police requesting assistance in the “take over” of the Mosque.
“An application filed with the local Police department by Rasheed and dozen other clerics stated:
“The Qadianis (Ahmadis) are using the Mosque as their worship place which is illegal under the law, We request that you free the Mosque from the Infidels and save Muslim interests by saving the Mosque from these Infidels, If these steps are not taken we will be forced to take extreme measures in order to liberate this Mosque.”
“The Ahmadis are followers of the ‘Ahmadiyya’ sect of Islam, which is considered heretic by mainstream Muslims. In 1974, Pakistan amended the constitution to declare the Ahmadis “non-Muslims”.
“On December 12, 2016, a mob of roughly 3,000, armed with automatic weapons and led by Rasheed, attacked the mosque, leaving two dead and a half-dozen injured. During the attack which lasted several hours, the Police stood by as the mob ransacked the mosque and set fire to property. The violent episode came to an end after the Army was called in and imposed a curfew in the town.
“Days after the attack, Pakistani authorities named Rasheed Ahmed as the main suspect in the mosque attack. On December 17th, five days after the attack, the Provincial Government requested the Federal Government that Rasheed should be barred from leaving the country for his role in the attack.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1302854
“On January 15th, ‘Dawn News’ reported that Rasheed had managed to flee the country before his name could be added to the ‘Exit Control List’ (ECL).
https://www.dawn.com/news/1308457/charges-framed-against-61-accused-of-dulmial-incident
“While talking to Stewart Bell of the ‘National Post’, Rasheed acknowledged that he was wanted for “terrorism” in Pakistan and said that in addition to terrorism charges, police had also charged him with 10 to 12 more crimes.
“Describing the events of December attack, Rasheed said, fearing arrest, he phoned the Canadian high commission for help but it was closed. He went on to say:
“Luckily I escaped, Thank God. It’s all work of God, I believe, because had I been caught it would have been not good for my health at all.”
“Rasheed said upon his return to Canada, he was questioned by Canadian authorities but
“they were satisfied and said that I can go.”
“He claimed the Canadian Intelligence also cleared him of any wrongdoing:
“CSIS (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) came and asked me questions and they said, ‘Okay, no problem.’”
–‘Man wanted for Terrorism in Pakistan finds refuge in Canada’,
Zvi Lando, Europe-Israel News, March 26, 2017
http://en.europe-israel.org/2017/03/26/man-wanted-for-terrorism-in-pakistan-finds-refuge-in-canada/
“…Leaders of Canada’s Ahmadiyya Muslim community said they were unsettled by Ahmed’s return to Ontario and the apparent lack of a Canadian investigation. Safwan Choudhry, a spokesman for the ‘Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at’, said someone who had taken part in religious persecution in another country
“should not have safe haven in Canada.”
“In a ‘Twitter’ post following the incident, the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad commended the government of Punjab “for undertaking to hold mob leaders in Chakwal to account”. But it is unclear what, if anything, Canadian authorities are doing themselves…
“‘Global Affairs Canada’ referred questions to the RCMP, which declined to comment, as did Peel Regional Police…
“The protesters eventually forced their way into the mosque, where they prayed, said Ahmed, who said he had negotiated with the authorities to bring it to an end. He claimed the fires seen on videos of the incident were set by Ahmadiyyas, who torched their documents and furniture before fleeing.
“That’s nonsense,” said Choudhry, adding video footage showed otherwise. In the videos, protesters can be seen looting the mosque and throwing the contents into piles, which are later seen in flames…
“Asked why the Ahmadiyyas could not have been left to worship at their mosque, Ahmed said that under Pakistani law Ahmadiyyas were not allowed to have mosques.
“They should not have anything to do with mosques and they cannot be called Muslims,” he said.
“He said Ahmadiyyas were free to worship but not in a mosque.
“They could have used a home or build one place, no problem. But why are they occupying a mosque which is built for Muslims by Muslims? This is aggression.” …
“Choudhry said Canadian Ahmadiyyas were concerned that the persecution they fled was following them to Canada. The website of an organization affiliated with a Mississauga mosque Ahmed has attended calls the Ahmadiyya faith “evil” and an attempt “by anti-Islam forces to disunite Muslims”.
–‘‘Luckily I escaped’: Man accused of role in deadly Pakistan mosque attack tells of his return to Canada’,
Stewart Bell, National Post, February 16, 2017
COMMENT: “What will happen here when these Islamists achieve a larger majority of the population? This guy claims he has lived here for 40 years. Obviously, our Canadian values of tolerance for minorities and other religions has not rubbed off on him…”
Where the problem began:
“Prior to 1947 and the introduction of the first ‘Citizenship Act’, there was legally no such thing as Canadian citizenship. Both native-born and naturalized citizens were British subjects. In 1977, the current ‘Citizenship Act’ came into force, making extensive changes to the law. The effect was to make citizenship more widely available (for example, by reducing the period of residency required from five to three years)…
“The Act also provided that Canadians could hold dual citizenship, reversing the previous situation in which citizenship was lost upon the acquisition of the citizenship of another country. An important conceptual change also came about in 1977, when citizenship became a ‘right’ for qualified applicants, rather than a privilege as it had been in the past…
‘F. Dual Citizenship’
“As noted, changes introduced by the 1977 Act permit dual citizenship. Before that time, Canadians who voluntarily acquired another citizenship, except by marriage, lost their Canadian citizenship. Until 1973, the regulations had also required applicants for citizenship to renounce their former citizenship, although whether that renunciation was legally effective depended on the law of the former homeland. When the government asked the Standing Committee to provide advice to the government in 1994, it did not highlight the issue as one that needed addressing, nor has it done so since.
“Nevertheless, during its hearings, the Committee agreed with a number of witnesses who questioned the meaning of loyalty and allegiance where people hold dual or multiple citizenships and suggested that such a policy devalues the meaning of Canadian citizenship. For this and other reasons, the Committee recommended that the government explore the possibility of reinstating the former rules, so that an adult Canadian citizen who voluntarily and formally acquired the citizenship of another country would cease to be a Canadian citizen.”
–‘CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP ACT AND CURRENT ISSUES’,
Margaret Young, Law and Government Division, October 1997
http://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp445-e.htm
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‘Dual Citizenship’ {May 17, 2017}:
https://canadiansforlegalequalityblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/dual-citizenship/
https://www.facebook.com/CanadiansForLegalEquality/photos/a.957830780952186.1073741828.956562364412361/1319019731499954/?type=3&theater
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