Ahmadi | Pakistan

• Two FIRs registered; 47 suspects named, 300 remain unidentified • Minarets of worship places torn down, one set ablaze; nearby homes also attacked • HRCP calls for strict action on hate speech LAHORE: Dijikot police have registered two cases against 300 people on terrorism charges for setting two worship places of the Ahmadi community on fire in Faisalabad, on the eve of Independence Day. As many as 47 men were nominated, while 300 others remain unidentified in both cases. The cases were registered under Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, and sections 295, 425, 446, 380, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). According to the FIRs, Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) ticket-holder Hafiz Rafaqat led the mob, which was armed with rods and bricks. The attackers gathered outside one of the larger Ahmadi worship places and pelted it with bricks. Members of the community who tried to resist were severely beaten, leaving several injured. The mob, under the cover of Independence Day processions, delivered h...

A Gujranwala court on Tuesday dismissed the post-arrest bail petition of an Ahmadiyya community member, who was arrested on blasphemy charges for distributing Niaz (free food and drinks) on the 10th of Muharram (Youm-i-Ashur). The first information report (FIR) against the suspect was lodged with the Satellite Town police station in Punjab’s Gujranwala city on the complaint of a Hafizabad Road resident under Section 298(C) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), which criminalises certain acts by members of the Ahmadi community, including calling themselves Muslims or referring to their faith as Islam. In the FIR, the complainant said the incident took place on July 6 at 4:30pm when he saw the suspect distributing free food and drink during Muharram, “posing as a Muslim”. The Ahmadi man was subsequently arrested and sent on judicial remand. Gujranwala Judicial Magistrate Sidra Gul Nawaz presided over a hearing for the man’s post-arrest bail plea today. The court order, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, sa...

LAHORE: The police reportedly thwarted a mob attack on a worship place of the Ahmadi community in Samanabad here on Friday. A strong contingent of force from several police stations responded to the emergency 15 call from the community when local residents were about to march towards their (Ahmadi) worship place. “Six SHOs, a DSP, a divisional SP and an SSP rushed to the site along with armed policemen on the direction of Lahore Operations DIG Faisal Kamran to rescue members of the Ahmadi community at any cost,” a police officer told Dawn. He said some women and children were also among the worshippers. As the mob tried to surround the worship place, the police launched a major operation and rescued women, children and other worshippers, shifted them to a secured area and increased security of the worship place. Police high-ups also engaged known local figures, including religious leaders, to maintain peace. An Ahmadi worshipper told Dawn his community had built a worship place on Poonch Road and got it regis...

An Ahmadi man was arrested on blasphemy charges in Punjab’s Gujranwala for distributing langar on the 10th of Muharram (Ashura) and sent to jail on judicial remand for seven days, the police said on Monday. A citizen filed a first information report (FIR), dated July 6, at the Satellite Town Police Station and said that the incident occurred on July 6 at 4:30pm. The case was registered under Section 298(C) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) which criminalises certain acts by members of the Ahmadi community, including calling themselves Muslims or referring to their faith as Islam. Muhammad Irfan, public relations officer to the Gujranwala city police officer, told Dawn.com: “The suspect has been arrested and sent to jail on judicial remand for seven days.” The FIR said that the complainant saw the Ahmadi man distributing biryani at a langar and “identifying himself as a Muslim and speaking and acting like a Muslim.” Langar refers to the tradition of distributing free food, often associated with religious instit...

The police launched an investigation into the murder of locally renowned Ahmadi doctor, Sheikh Muhammad Mahmood, 58, who was shot dead in Punjab’s Sargodha on Friday. “We cannot comment on whether the doctor was targeted on a religious basis or for some other reason as it would be premature to say,” Sargodha District Police Officer Sohaib Ashraf told Dawn.com. He said one person was involved in the murder and the police were already gathering information after launching an investigation. The first information report of the incident was filed at Shahid Shaheed Police Station by a relative of Dr Mahmood under Pakistan Penal Code Section 302 (murder). It said the deceased was a practitioner at Sargodha’s Fatima Hospital and a renowned individual of the city. The complainant said he reached the hospital with the deceased around 2:35pm. The FIR stated that an individual wearing a uniform of the ‘Saaf Suthra Punjab’ initiative approached the deceased and took out a pistol while saying: “I won’t spare you today Mahm...