Pakistan: police demolish the Mihrab and Minaret of a 70-year-old Ahmadiyya Mosque in Kot Karam Bakhsh, Sialkot
Ahmadi citizens, seeking to protect the sacred building, have been charged with fighting and rioting.
According to International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) sources, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) members and extremist elements attacked the Mosque and Ahmadiyya Muslims homes in Kot Karam Bakhsh, Sialkot, in the presence of the police. The police have filed baseless cases against the Ahmadis who were protecting the Mosque. The Mihrab and the Minaret of the Ahmadiyya Muslims Mosque are over 70 years old.
A few days ago, members and extremist elements submitted a protest to the police to demolish the Minaret and Mihrab of the Mosque.
TLP members and extremists called for a protest on Friday, November 22. 2024. In the presence of the police, around 150 extremists attacked the Mosque and Ahmadiyya Muslims homes. They tried to break the mihrab with hammers and entered the place of worship and nearby Ahmadi homes. During this attack, the doors of the Mosque, the doors of homes, and three motorcycles were damaged. Similarly, the extremists also pelted a large number of stones at the Ahmadiyya Mosque and homes. The Mihrab and the Minaret were unlawfully demolished by the police.
A video[1] of the incident can be seen on social media.
Picture: Extremists pelting stones at the mosque and Ahmadi Muslims present.
The Minaret and the Mihrab were constructed in 1950. Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh of the Lahore High Court issued a ruling in the case Imran Hameed vs. The State, Criminal Case No. 5151/B/2023, on April 10, 2024, which stated that Ahmadi places of worship constructed before 1984 could neither be demolished nor altered.
The police, instead of taking action against the attackers, have filed cases against innocent Ahmadis. Cases were registered against 11 named and 20 unidentified Ahmadis, who were protecting the place of worship, under charges of fighting and rioting (Sections 324, 148, 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code) in FIR No. 2083 dated November 22, 2024, at Police Station Motra, District Sialkot.
IHRC request the Government of Pakistan to take legal action against the police officials responsible for the illegal demolition of the Mihrab of the Ahmadiyya Mosque and also for a strict action on the extremist elements who attacked Ahmadiyya Muslims homes and Mosque to be brought to justice.
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.
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 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.
