Extremist Who Condoned Child Murder Threatens Life of Ahmadi Official
A shocking video has emerged of a senior cleric of the far-right Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) party threatening to kill innocent Ahmadi Muslims. Muhammad Naeem Chattha Qadri is recorded making demands of Pakistani authorities to revoke the appointment of an Ahmadi Superintendent of Police in his area, saying that just as the former governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer was assassinated, a killer would be born to do the same to the Ahmadi SP.
“Either he will be here, or we will be here,” he says in the video calling for the SP to be posted elsewhere or face the lethal consequences. In September 2022, the same bloodthirsty fanatical cleric made similar threats on video, revealing a profound disrespect for basic human values and the dignity of human life. He called on his supporters to carry out attacks against pregnant Ahmadi Muslim mothers to “ensure that no new Ahmadis are born,” and went on to say, “Those babies who are being born, should be killed”. Throughout that speech, he led various chants, including “There is but only one punishment for blasphemers, decapitation”.
Speaking from the podium in 2022, the cleric openly warned the police administration, should they attempt to provide protection to Ahmadi Muslim families, “Those of you who are from the Police agencies, or if there is any D.P.O (District Police Officer) or D.C (Deputy Commissioner) or S.H.O. (Police Station house officer) must understand that we cannot be stopped”.
These videos inciting violence against Ahmadi Muslims have been circulating across social media and YouTube. The TLP is an extremist political party that has a history of carrying out attacks against Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan, including the murder of Naseer Ahmad of Rabwah, Pakistan in August 2022. Had the Punjab Government taken steps to apprehend him back then, he would not have had the audacity to brazenly make demands to the authorities and continue threats against Ahmadi Muslims.
The International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) appeals to Pakistani authorities to apply national and international law to apprehend and prosecute Muhammad Naeem Chattha Qadri for incitement to violence. Members of the international community should urge this action in view of the threat to international peace and security this extremism poses. Such language is completely unacceptable and should not be taken lightly. Persecution against the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has reached new heights in 2023 with 39 Mosques and Minarets of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosques all over Pakistan being deliberately destroyed, desecrated, vandalised and in some cases even knocked down and Ahmadi Muslims graveyards are not spared from the hatred either. Their graveyards are destroyed and desecrated. Unfortunately, this is an indication of the unabated continuation of the demonisation, vilification and threatening of the community by radical clerics and is a denial of the basic freedoms of belief as enshrined in international human rights law.
Ahmadi Muslims are severely persecuted in Pakistan by both the state and the religious clergy and are unable to call themselves Muslims. Their shops are looted, false cases are made against them, and their Mosques are vandalised, all under the watch of the authorities. IHRC ferociously condemns such malicious propaganda and attempts to defame and threaten with life this peaceful Muslim Community.
We urge the international community and human rights groups to call out the on-going injustice and urge the government of Pakistan to immediately cease the spread of such hatred in the country. We once again strongly urge the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 20.
Human rights groups have repeatedly expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis. We once again urge the international community to pressure the Government of Pakistan to honor its responsibility to provide protection to all its citizens, ensure freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and bring perpetrators of such vicious attacks to justice.
The Government of Pakistan must also bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 2, 18 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25, 26.
On July 13, 2021, UN human rights experts expressed their deep concern over the lack of attention to the serious human rights violations perpetrated against the Ahmadiyya community around the world and called on the international community to step up efforts in bringing an end to the ongoing persecution of Ahmadis.
