Amnesty calls on govt to drop charges against Ahmadis, protect their places of worship – Pakistan

Amnesty International on Monday called on the government to release and drop all charges against all Ahmadis detained in recent weeks and ensure adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship.

On March 1, Daska (Sialkot) police arrested 22 members of the Ahmadiyya community for offering prayers in their religious place.

Then on March 7, over two dozen members of the Ahmadi community, including children, were taken into “protective custody” by law enforcement personnel as a mob gathered outside its place of worship in Surjani Town, Karachi.

Later that day, police registered a criminal case against over two dozen members of the Ahmadiyya community and arrested six of them on the complaint of a Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) activist in Surjani Town.

A day ago, Dahranwala police booked nine people, including seven men who were stated to be members of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat and two members of the Ahmadiyya community, on charge of torturing a TLP activist to death during a scuffle at Chak 166 Murad in Bahawalnagar.

“The disturbing pattern of arbitrary arrests, harassment and violence against the Ahmadiyya community is in violation of their right to freedom of religion and belief,” the global rights organisation said in a post on X.

In the past two weeks alone, more than 60 Ahmadis, including children, have been unlawfully arrested in Daska, Sargodha and Karachi in Punjab and Sindh, while Ahmadiyya places of worship have been desecrated in Bahawalnagar and Gujranwala, Amnesty said.

“The authorities have filed cases under section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (Person of Quadiani group, etc calling himself a Muslim or preaching or propagating his faith) which bars the Ahmadiyya community from calling themselves Muslims or preaching their faith.

“Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to immediately release and drop charges against all Ahmadis detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief,” Amnesty said.

It added: “Local authorities in Pakistan must provide adequate protection to Ahmadi places of worship and any officials engaged in harassment or destruction of Ahmadiyya property must be brought to justice.

“Denying the Ahmadis their right to freedom of religion and belief is in violation of Article 20 of Pakistan’s Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations.”

The Human Rights Com­­mission of Pakistan (HRCP) said last week it had observed a growing trend of mob-led attacks on the homes of families belonging to religious minorities, as well as their places of worship.

The HRCP also spoke of Ahmadis’ “arbitrary” detention, alleged desecration of their graves and the vulnerability of Hindu and Christian women to forced conversion.

The report, titled Under Siege: Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2023-24, said over 750 persons were in prison on charges of blasphemy as of October last year. It documented at least four faith-based killings, three of which targeted the Ahmadi community.

HRCP observed an “increasing weaponisation of blasphe­­my laws against Ahmadis”, with cases often initiated by law enforcement officials themselves.

According to the report, “four cases were filed by police officers against Ahmadis in Punjab, reflecting an institutional bias against the community.”