This study is an attempt to examine the practice of hiding religious identity among the Ahmadiyya community, a religious subgroup, in Pakistan. From a deliberate survival strategy, it becomes the behavioural pattern in this minority group facing systemic and systematic discrimination in its country of origin. This religiously persecuted minority is selected as the subject of study due to a significant research gap identified in the existing academic literature. This sensitive topic is rarely examined in academia, while several cases of structural violence against the members of the Ahmadiyya community have been reported. Applying the perspectives from the Spiral of Silence Theory, the study explores whether identity concealment is a failure of agency or an exercise of agency in repressing social surroundings. It further investigates how fear of unfavourable consequences, threat of isolation, and discrimination form the decision to withhold identity throughout one’s life. To explore the lived experiences, this qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews and case studies of individuals who belong to this group. This enquiry is significant as it tends to contribute to wider academic discussions on alternative identities, self-censorship, and social isolation. The findings present narratives of the first-hand experiences of religious minorities who are sustaining in hostile societies and struggling for survival.
