August 9, 2023
Staff Report
LAHORE
Violence against the Ahmadiyya community continues as another Ahmadiyya worship place was vandalised, on Tuesday, allegedly by the Punjab police in Tehsil Burewala, District Vehari.
Three consecutive attacks have been recorded in the past three days on the Ahmadiyya Community in Pakistan. The number of attacks since the beginning of the year has reached 14.
Seven of the recorded attacks occurred in Sindh and the other seven took place in different districts of Punjab.
According to the data shared by the Ahmadiyya Community, the incidents of desecration in Sindh were carried out by miscreants. Whereas in Punjab, the Ahmadiyya community has alleged that the police are responsible for the vandalism of the Ahmadiyya worship places.
On August 8th, residents in the EB 373 area of Thana Sheikh Faazal, Tehsil Burewala, District Vehari, reported that the police reportedly contacted leaders of the Ahmadiyya Community under the pretence of negotiations.
Simultaneously, a police van was dispatched to demolish the minarets of a Bait ul Zikr, a place of worship. Law enforcement officers reached the worship site and proceeded to dismantle one of the minarets. Subsequently, they used a police van to transport the debris from the demolished structure.
According to local sources, the Bait ul Zikar was approximately 53 years old.
A statement issued by the Ahmadiyya Community reads,
“It is sad that in our beloved country, the state institutions have become their tools instead of controlling the extremists. The name of our beloved country is being defamed in the international arena due to these actions of extremists.”
Ahmadiyya Community has been pleading for attention from the governing bodies for a long time now.
The Ahmadiyya community has written to the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister of Punjab, and several other ministries pleading for notice of the growing threat against them, but they have not yet received a response or acknowledgement, according to Amir Mehmood, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya community, who spoke to Voicepk.net.
Additionally, according to Mehmood, the community has requested security from Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle, the only member of the One-Man Commission on Minorities Rights.
Mehmood says, “We are concerned about how Pakistan is seen in the world community because the government consistently violates human rights.”
After Eid ul Adha, Ahmadiyya worship places in Nankana Sahib, Jhelum, Sanghar, and Karachi were attacked.
The Ahmadiyya Community believes Tehreek e Labaik Pakistan (TTP) to be the reason for these attacks on their worship places.