May 16, 2025
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
Yet another tragedy hit the Ahmadiyya community on Friday, after a renowned gastroenterologist Dr. Sheikh Mahmood who belonged to the community, was shot dead inside a hospital in Sargodha. Dr Mahmood is the third Ahmadi citizen to be killed this year. Dr. Sheikh Mahmood was 58; he leaves behind a grieving mother, his wife, two daughters, and two sons. The Ahmadi community has demanded immediate accountability of the culprits.
His body was shifted to District Teaching Hospital Sargodha.
Incident
According to details provided by the police and a community representative, Dr Mahmood had been receiving serious threats since some time. However he did not stop his work. He was also being pressured to quit his job since some time by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a hardline religio-political party with an aggressive anti-Ahmadi stance.
“Dr Mahmood used to work in Sadiq Hospital whose owner Dr Liaquat wanted to contest last year’s elections,” said the community member. “He was made to fire Dr Mahmood because of TLP. He then started working at Fatima Hospital on University Road, Sargodha, and used to visit the hospital every Friday.”
He went on to explain what unfolded.
“Dr Mahmood was dropped off by his driver – his wife had been with him in the car; they were just turning the car around when they were informed that he had been shot,” he said. “They spun the car around in disbelief because they had just dropped him off and could not understand how he had been shot within minutes. They took him to the Civil Hospital but he could not be saved.”
The station house office of the Sajid Shaheed police station, Imtiaz told Voicepk that a young man wearing the uniform of the punjab government run Saaf Suthra Punjab Program, had been seen to reccy the place twice since morning on the day of the incident.
“He came first at 11 in the morning and asked to see Dr Mahmood, at which he was told that the doctor came at 2:30 in the afternoon,” says SHO Imtiaz. “He came again in the afternoon and asked again for the doctor. Then he sat down in the hall near the entrance. He even chatted with the security guard there, telling him he had to have surgery and if he (the guard) knew how much it would cost. At around 2:35 pm when Dr Mahmood entered the lobby, he began following him.”
The doctor’s office was upstairs and he was heading there, but before he even passed through the hall and the lobby to the flight of stairs, the young man opened fire at him, with a pistol that he had brought with him in a shopping bag. Then he turned and left, all the while shouting out threats.
There was a gunman present in the hospital security, but he was unable to apprehend the perpetrator as he threatened to shoot him, before he got on the bike, where an accomplice was waiting for him.
“Dr Mahmood received four bullets – all of them entry and exit wounds,” said the police officer.
He told Voicepk that they were waiting for a post mortem to begin an official investigation. In the meantime they had already found CCTV footage, and they had found that the perpetrator was seen riding with an accomplice on a motorcycle which was seen turning on the main highway towards Lahore.
“We are following him, and are tracking them for sure,” he said.
Sargodha a hotbed of extremism
“He was a true gentleman, and a humanitarian,” said K, a member of the community living in Sargodha. “A huge chunk of his patients were not even charged for check ups. Dr Mahmood was dedicated to healing and helping. He was one of the top notch doctors. Even non-Ahmadis deeply respected him and are mourning his murder.”
Sargodha has been a hotbed of TLP activist and anti-Ahmadi hatred since a very long time. Members of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik have held rallies here, full of hate speech towards Ahmadis, even inciting violence towards them.
“Here in Sargodha, TLP has issued lists with our names and information on them,” says K. “Even my name is on the list. They know more about us than we do – our names, where we work, what we do.
When asked about the lack of security given to the Ahmadi community, SHO Imtiaz says that he could only speak for his police station’s jurisdiction.
“There are six stations in the city, and mine is only one of them, however in my area, we have maintained communication with the Ahmadi community here and we try and give them protection, especially whenever they ask us for it. Sadly this is a sudden incident.”
When asked if the police were under pressure from the TLP, Imtiaz disagreed and said this was not the case.
This is the third murder of an Ahmadi citizen.
On Friday, April 18, Laeeq Cheema an Ahmadi man was lynched by a mob instigated by TLP in Karachi’s Electronic Market. Cheema was a witness in a case against the TLP which involved the demolition of an Ahmadi ibadatgah. He was recognized by TLP activists during a protest they were holding outside the same ibadatgah, and was beaten to death by bricks and stones.
Just a week later, on Thursday April 24, A young man Muhammad Asif was shot to death in Kasur, as he was on his way home on a motorcycle. He was accompanied by a friend who was also injured but survived the incident.
Since January 2025, TLP’s anti-Ahmadi stance has become even more aggressive. Over the past few months, TLP’s extremist elements, especially in Punjab, have been besieging Ahmadi places of worship, inciting violence, and attempting to prevent Ahmadis from conducting Friday prayers and to have their places of worship sealed. However the silence on part of the authorities, especially with regards to providing safety to the Ahmadi community has been questionable.
Only a week after an Ahmadi man was lynched in a market place in Karachi, another incident took place in Kasur, where an Ahmadi youth was shot dead. Muhammad Asif, 19, son of Rafiq Ahmed, lost his life on Thursday night, 24 April, after he was killed by unknown assailants on a motorbike while he was on his way home.
All of these attacks have taken place on a Friday.
