Lahore: A fact-finding mission led by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported an alarming uptick in the persecution of the minority Ahmadi community in the country’s Punjab province.
The HRCP report, released on Wednesday, found evidence to suggest that the civil administration in Gujranwala and Wazirabad districts of Punjab were directly involved in destroying minarets on Ahmadi sites of worship in the last couple of months, following objections raised against the community by a local political-religious outfit.
“The administration claims to have done so to circumvent the threat of mob violence,” the report said, adding that the way authorities handled the matter only fostered growing hostility towards the community, making community members more vulnerable.
The Rights body expressed concerns on various issues faced by the minority community, including the desecration of Ahmadi graves, the destruction of minarets at their worship sites, and the FIRs filed against the members for carrying out ritual animal sacrifice on Eid.
“Of particular concern is the administration’s perception that some legal and constitutional provisions provide room for the persecution of this kind, although the report notes that, under Article 20(b) of the Constitution, this is not the case,” the report said.
“While the mission understands that the local bureaucracy, police and judiciary were successfully intimidated by a religious group (Tehreek-e-Laibbaik Pakistan), their response displays a pitiful inability to manage law and order while respecting the fundamental rights of the Ahmadi community,” the report added.
The mission recommended the judgments of the Supreme Court from 2014 and 2021 be implemented, which includes the establishment of a special police force to guard religious minorities’ places of worship.
It also called for developing the police’s capacity to deal with the threat of mob violence in such situations.
Last month, an elderly woman of the Ahmadi community was denied burial at a graveyard by a local cleric and his followers in the Sialkot district of Punjab.
In the past, such incidents occurred in other Ahmadi graveyards in Punjab, but not a single culprit was arrested or put on trial.
Minorities, especially Ahmadis, are very vulnerable in Pakistan and are often targeted by religious extremists.
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