Pakistan: Desecration of Ahmadi Graves in Dugri Ghuma Sialkot
Ahmadi Muslim tombstones are routinely damaged under the pretext that they include Islamic phrases and are thus illegal under Pakistan’s anti-Ahmadi legislation.
According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, “The number of gravestone desecrations in Pakistan has sharply increased due to extremist political parties’ use of anti-Ahmadi and blasphemy laws as a rallying point.”
Cemeteries are holy sites, protected by international law. Grave desecration, as an attack on a holy object, is a violation of Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines the right to manifest religion or belief in a community with others.
An opponent of the Ahmadiyya Community named Arsalan registered a complaint against three Ahmadis named (Mr. Fazal Ahmad, Mr. Master Jawaid and Mr. Master Zafar Ahmad) on 26th September at Budiana, district Sialkot Police Station on the accusation of using the Islamic Rituals while having a Dome at their Worship Place and they have the Islamic Wordings written on the tombstones and due to this the religious sentiments of the Muslims are being damaged.
Islamic Rituals falls under the Blasphemy Law. And a case under 298-B, 298-C can be registered against them.
Afterwards on 29th September, 2024 the Police arrived at the Ahmadiyya Graveyard while being accompanied by the religious extremists and broke down the Tombstones of the Ahmadis. There were around 48 tombstones in total, out of which 47 were broken down by the extremists.
The Police were present at the spot during the incident, and they were supporting the opponents. During all of this when the two Ahmadis were trying to capture the incident while making a video, the Police arrested them.
This video[1] shows the perpetrators in action while being in the presence of the local police.
Pictures: On 29th September 2024 the Police arrived at the Ahmadiyya Graveyard while being accompanied by the religious extremists and broke down the Tombstones of around 47 graves.
The IHRC calls on Pakistani authorities, and Pakistan’s partners in the international community, to forcefully denounce the desecration of graves, which, by degrading what is most sacred to a community, threatens its very existence.
This must be stopped at all costs and the perpetrators are brought to justice immediately. Unfortunately, there is no simple solution as the government and authorities encourage this behaviour. They must be discouraged from using cheap tactics to achieve political gain.
IHRC has continuously raised our voice since many months over attacks on Ahmadiyya Muslims places of worship and graves. Attacks on their members have intensified. Most have come to light through social media and International NGOs.
Persecution against Ahmadis has ramped up as of late, as the IHRC has reported almost daily incidents against the minority group. Graveyard vandalism has been a favoured tactic of the Anti-Ahmadi element in Pakistan for years. This shameful tactic means Ahmadis are not free from persecution even after their death.
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 once again strongly urge the international community to impress upon the Government of Pakistan the need to discharge any absurd cases against Ahmadis and release all held in custody and thus honor its responsibility to provide effective protection and freedom of religious practice to Ahmadis, and ensure that perpetrators of such vicious actions should be brought to justice, to bring its laws and practices in conformity with international standards as ordained by Article 20 and United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 2, 18, and 20, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Article 25, 26.
