Pakistan: Armed Extremist Groups (TLP) Hunt Ahmadis
“Ahmadis in Pakistan are facing unprecedented threats, a looming massacre”
The International Human Rights Committee IHRC) is receiving numerous reports of “squads” of armed, TLP extremists in Khanpur hunting down Ahmadis in so-called “Operation Neat and Clean Pakistan.” This video[1] documents on such action.
Screenshot of video documenting “squads” of armed TLP extremists in Khanpur hunting down Ahmadis in so-called “Operation Neat and Clean Pakistan.
The IHRC is in communication with Ahmadi families hiding in their homes, fearing for their lives.
Meanwhile on 22nd September in the afternoon the extremist of Tehreek e Labbaik and other Clerics gathered outside the Ahmadiyya Muslims Mosque of Islamia Park, Lahore. The extremist Clerics has laid siege to the Ahmadiyya Mosque alleging that it violates the law and demanding it be closed. Police reportedly standing and watching in the face of the assault.
These developments follow incitement by Suni scholar Maulvi Manzoor Mengal, who ordered observant Muslims to murder Ahmadis as “apostates,” which was previously reported by IHRC in video[2] and video[3].
Pakistan’s political authorities have neglected to take firm action against such illegal and dangerous hate speech, and the result is escalating violence as represented by mobs in Khanpur.
“Ahmadis in Pakistan are facing unprecedented threats, fomented by illegal hate speech the government is obligated to oppose,” the IHRC stated. “We are urgently appealing for support to divert what could be a looming massacre,” the group further said.
“The ever-escalating verbal and physical violence against Ahmadis in Pakistan is an existential threat to millions of peaceful Pakistanis, who are loyal and law-abiding citizens,” the IHRC said.
The IHRC urgently requests the international community to condemn such violence by religious extremists in Pakistan otherwise such hate-crimes will spill over to other countries. Such processions have already started in Germany and the UK.
These acts of violence and targeted attack are inconsistent with international norms and values concerning freedom of religion and belief, as enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), on the freedom of religion, and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Pakistan in 2008. Three other UN human rights treaties, as well as numerous General Assembly Resolutions and Human Rights Committee comments, prohibit religious discrimination. These hate-crimes make it to viral social media posts and videos also violate Pakistan’s own National Action Plan as well as the recently enacted cybercrime laws because it fuels hatred, discrimination and persecution against members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Pakistan.
Nonetheless, the Pakistani government authorities, who continue to bring frivolous cases against Ahmadi Muslims under anti-Ahmadiyya, blasphemy, and cybercrime laws, turn a blind eye towards systematic and country-wide efforts by Islamic extremists to fan hatred and ignite violence against Ahmadi Muslims. Instead of prosecuting these extremists under cybercrime laws and the National Action Plan, the governmental authorities continue to protect and support extremists and target innocent Ahmadis.
In July 2024, a group of top UN Human Rights experts including UN Special Rapporteurs urged an “immediate end to discrimination and violence against Ahmadis in Pakistan, citing documented evidence of “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacks on places of worship and curtailment of free expression, peaceful assembly and association.” Apparently, their pleas fell on deaf ears.
We call upon the Pakistani authorities to honor their international human rights commitments to protect religious freedom and promote religious tolerance towards the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
We respectfully request all members of the international community to urge the government of Pakistan to take urgent steps to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by UDHR and ICCPR.
