Punjab: Ahmadi places of worship targeted again
In Pakistan, police attack the mosques of the persecuted Islamic minority, who are not allowed to worship in public since 1984. Kakhanwali and Faisalabad are the scene of the latest raids, even though structures built before 1984 are protected. Ahmadi spokesman Aamir Mahmood slams the government for using the law against his community.
Sialkot (AsiaNews) – Tuesday night, police attacked the Ahmadiyya mosque in Kakhanwali, destroying its minaret. The action, led by the Phalwara Station House Officer (Sialkot) with 35 agents, followed a complaint by Sajjad, a non-local Muslim man.
Earlier, the police had ordered the leaders of the Ahmadiyya community to destroy their own place of worship, claiming that it had been built after 1984.
Forty years ago, the government issued an ordinance banning public worship by the Ahmadi community, a minority that is harshly persecuted in Pakistan.
On 10 April 2023, Judge Tariq Saleem Sheikh, of the Lahore High Court, ruled that Ahmadi places of worship built before 1984 must be safeguarded and not vandalised.
In Kakhanwali Muslim residents told the police that they are not opposed to the presence of Ahmadi mosques, and wonder how the attack took place, since it was requested by someone not from the area.
On Wednesday, in another incident, some 20 armed Islamic extremists attacked an Ahmadi place of worship in Chak 27 JB, also in Sialkot. They arrived in broad daylight on motorcycles, broke in, and damaged the building’s arches. Some went upstairs and destroyed the minaret, and damaged a tomb. When locals tried to stop them, they said they belonged to the police and after desecrating the mosque they fled.
In both Kakhanwali and Chak 27 JB, residents tried to stop the police and the extremists, to no avail.
“I strongly condemn the illegal steps taken by Punjab police and fundamentalists. The Ahmadi community has been facing such persecution for a long time,” Aamir Mahmood, spokesman for Jamaat Ahmadiyya Punjab, told AsiaNews.
So far this year, Punjab police and extremists have vandalised the minarets of 17 Ahmadi places of worship, and the “state has taken no action against such perpetrators,” Aamir lamented.
“It is pathetic,” he went on to say, “that law enforcement institutions are not working on the clear verdict by the Lahore High Court,” which plainly states not to “desecrate the minarets, tombs and arches of [Ahmadi] places of worship.”
“Whether by police or extremists, this is ruining Pakistan’s international image. I call upon the government to take effective measures to protect Ahmadi places of worship and take strict actions to stop the hate campaign against the Ahmadi community in Pakistan,” he insisted.
“We love our country and respect the law of the state but unfortunately law enforcement institutions are taking the law into their own hands and attacking Ahmadi places of worship. We can only appeal to the government and to the country’s courts and raise our voice against such violence. The government should take our requests seriously and protect its citizens and their rights.”
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