April 11, 2025
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
The Shangla Hill police in an illegal move, demolished the minarets and arches of two Ahmadiyya places of worship on April 9. The incident took place in Kot Rahmat Khan and Hamraj Pura, District Nankana, where the police took this step in the dark of the night, after religious political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) pressured them them.
According to details, TLP had given an ultimatum to the local administration, first, till the 17th of Ramazan followed by a second deadline till April 15, where they demanded that the minarets and arches in the place of worship situated in Tehsil Shangla Hill must be demolished.
A meeting was held on March 30 where Zahir Ahmed, the Assistant Comissioner (AC) Shangla Hill and Ejaz Ahmed Dogar, Deputy Superintendent (DSP) spoke to the local representatives of the Ahmadiyya community. During this meeting, they tried to convince the Ahmadiyya community representatives to demolish the minarets and arches of their places of worship themselves. However the representatives of the community argued and said that they would not carry out such orders, and would also not allow for it to happen. They said that if it was the government’s administration that wanted to demolish these parts of the building, a written order must be shown to them.
Demolition
Subsequently, on the night of April 9th at approximately eleven o’clock, the minarets and arches of the places of worship in two of the places of worship, (Hamraj Pura and Kot Rahmat Khan), were demolished.
Local officials of the Ahmadiyya community once again demanded to see the written order from the authorized authorities at this time, however, the police forcibly demolished the minarets and arches.
Earlier in the week, a letter was collectively signed by TLP extremists in Bahawalnagar, that demanded to separate the utensils used by the Ahmadi lawyers and which were then kept in the Bar cafeteria.