Islamabad, June 17: A mob of more than 50 members of the extremist Islamist outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) attacked an Ahmadiyya place of worship in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Kotli district on the religious day of Eidul Azha on Monday, to prevent the minority community from celebrating the festival of sacrifice.
According to the community, more than 50 people attacked their place of worship in the wee hours of Monday.
They opened fire and destroyed its minarets and arch, according to the pictures and videos they shared. Several journalists also reported such an incident on social media.
Bilal Farooqi, News Editor at The Express Tribune, in a post on X said: ”These #TLP bigots don’t even spare the #Ahmadiyya community on Eid. At around 2:45am, a mob of 150 attacked an Ahmadi place of worship in Kotli. They opened fire & destroyed its minarets and arch.”
Another journalist in a post on X said: “TLP worker films Karachi police confiscating qurbani meat from an Ahmadi family’s home and admits to TLP’s complaint against the Ahmadiyya celebrating #EidAlAzha in the area.”
Another post went: “Every day, Ahmadiyya Community mosques in Pakistan are being demolished with the support of police and authorities. The terrorists of TLP believe they are divinely appointed (directly by GoD) to judge faith and beliefs and punish people accordingly.”
Videos have also been circulating of Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz’s husband Muhammad Safdar Awan spouting radical speeches against the Ahmadiyya community.
Earlier this month, three members of the community from Punjab’s Chakwal district were detained “to avoid any likelihood of breach of peace”, according to the community and an administrative order.
In a statement on June 11, the minority community claimed that the three members were detained from Chakwal under section 3 (1) of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1961 and they were being held in the Jhelum jail in the neighbouring district.
This was to prevent the community members from celebrating Eid al Adha by participating in the sacrifice of animals.
They were the community’s Chakwal district president Malik Naveed Ahmad, Malik Riaz Ahmad and secretary general for affairs Malik Tahir Ahmad, Ahmadiyya community spokesperson Aamir Mahmood said.
The government orders described them as “miscreants” and added that the district police officer was to prevent them from “their unlawful activities and acting in a manner prejudicial to the public safety” – in other words sacrificing animals on Eid.
The Ahmadiyya community are a sub-section of Muslims, but the Pakistani constitution does not consider them Muslim and they are therefore targets of frequent discrimination and hate crimes.
