Unidentified miscreants damaged the minarets of an Ahmadi place of worship on Thursday, the second such incident in the city in a span of two weeks, according to a spokesperson of the community.
Some 5-10 miscreants appeared at Ahmadiya Hall, Saddar and used the bench of a nearby food stall to climb the structure.
They then damaged the minarets of the worship place with hammers, as others who accompanied them raised chants against the community.
The culprits then managed to flee from the scene. There were two police personnel at the scene who did not intervene.
Meanwhile, the community has filed an application for the registration of an FIR against the incident.
The spokesperson further said that a man had submitted an application at Preedy police station in September 2020, claiming that the minarets at the worship place resembled those of a mosque.
Last month, unidentified miscreants damaged the minarets of an Ahmadi place of worship in Karachi, as those responsible for earlier such incidents reportedly remain at large.
The miscreants entered the place of worship located at Martin Road of the city via a ladder from the front and damaged the minarets with a hammer.
When police reached the scene of the incident, the miscreants left the hammer at the roof of the place of worship and fled the scene.
During the same month, police razed minarets of a place of worship of the community, in Wazirabad. The razing, the second such incident in Punjab in less than a month, took place in the Moti Bazaar area.
Pointing to a discriminatory approach, the spokesperson had termed the act to be against the 2014 verdict of the top court, issued for protection of the places of worship.
“Such actions [of desecration of places of worship] are bringing a bad name for Pakistan in the world,” he was quoted as saying.
Furthermore, in Dec last year, the community claimed that police had razed minarets atop their worship place in Baghbanpura, Gujranwala. The minarets, they said, predated the promulgation of Ahmadiyya-specific Ordinance XX.
Subsequently, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) had directed the City Police Office (CPO) Gujranwala to look into the incident and compile a report within seven days for necessary action.
Some 5-10 miscreants appeared at Ahmadiya Hall, Saddar and used the bench of a nearby food stall to climb the structure.
They then damaged the minarets of the worship place with hammers, as others who accompanied them raised chants against the community.
The culprits then managed to flee from the scene. There were two police personnel at the scene who did not intervene.
Meanwhile, the community has filed an application for the registration of an FIR against the incident.
The spokesperson further said that a man had submitted an application at Preedy police station in September 2020, claiming that the minarets at the worship place resembled those of a mosque.
Last month, unidentified miscreants damaged the minarets of an Ahmadi place of worship in Karachi, as those responsible for earlier such incidents reportedly remain at large.
The miscreants entered the place of worship located at Martin Road of the city via a ladder from the front and damaged the minarets with a hammer.
When police reached the scene of the incident, the miscreants left the hammer at the roof of the place of worship and fled the scene.
During the same month, police razed minarets of a place of worship of the community, in Wazirabad. The razing, the second such incident in Punjab in less than a month, took place in the Moti Bazaar area.
Pointing to a discriminatory approach, the spokesperson had termed the act to be against the 2014 verdict of the top court, issued for protection of the places of worship.
“Such actions [of desecration of places of worship] are bringing a bad name for Pakistan in the world,” he was quoted as saying.
Furthermore, in Dec last year, the community claimed that police had razed minarets atop their worship place in Baghbanpura, Gujranwala. The minarets, they said, predated the promulgation of Ahmadiyya-specific Ordinance XX.
Subsequently, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) had directed the City Police Office (CPO) Gujranwala to look into the incident and compile a report within seven days for necessary action.