Two more incidents of the ongoing persecution of the Ahmadiyya community were reported yesterday in the Gujranwala district of Punjab province in Pakistan.
Unknown persons desecrated 5 Ahmadi graves in the combine graveyard in Talwandi area of Khajoorwali in district Gujranwala on the night of 10th February 2023.
Also in the middle of the night between 9th and 10th February, in the same area of Talwandi in district Gujranwala, unknown miscreants blackening out the sacred Islamic names and other Islamic wordings written outside the shop of an Ahmadi shopkeeper.
The Ahmadiyya community has been a target of religious bigots and violent attacks since it is labeled a 'heretic sect' by the majority Sunni Muslim population of Pakistan. The country's strict Islamist laws also prohibit members of the Ahmadiyya community from presenting themselves as Muslims and from using Islamic iconography or scriptures.
Attacks on Ahmadi places of worship have picked up pace in 2023, with mobs of miscreants and religious zealots attacking places used by Ahmadis for their worship rituals in Karachi and Mirpur Khas. In late January, Ahmadiyya graves were desecrated in Faisalabad while deceased persons belong to the community were denied burial in Sialkot. Also in late January, police in Toba Tek Singh forced the Ahmadiyya community to remove minarets from their place of worship.
The country's blasphemy law is also widely used to target all religious minorities in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and even Muslims who are accused under the draconian Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
Unknown persons desecrated 5 Ahmadi graves in the combine graveyard in Talwandi area of Khajoorwali in district Gujranwala on the night of 10th February 2023.
Also in the middle of the night between 9th and 10th February, in the same area of Talwandi in district Gujranwala, unknown miscreants blackening out the sacred Islamic names and other Islamic wordings written outside the shop of an Ahmadi shopkeeper.
The Ahmadiyya community has been a target of religious bigots and violent attacks since it is labeled a 'heretic sect' by the majority Sunni Muslim population of Pakistan. The country's strict Islamist laws also prohibit members of the Ahmadiyya community from presenting themselves as Muslims and from using Islamic iconography or scriptures.
Attacks on Ahmadi places of worship have picked up pace in 2023, with mobs of miscreants and religious zealots attacking places used by Ahmadis for their worship rituals in Karachi and Mirpur Khas. In late January, Ahmadiyya graves were desecrated in Faisalabad while deceased persons belong to the community were denied burial in Sialkot. Also in late January, police in Toba Tek Singh forced the Ahmadiyya community to remove minarets from their place of worship.
The country's blasphemy law is also widely used to target all religious minorities in Pakistan, including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis, and even Muslims who are accused under the draconian Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).