Sialkot police have allegedly desecrated a 70-year-old Ahmadiyya place of worship by destroying the minarets erected atop it. Police have also booked the caretakers of the worship place.
Community members claimed that a few days ago, extremists had lodged a complaint with the local police over the minarets atop an Ahmadiyya place of worship in Kot Karambakhsh. However, community members argued before the police that the worship place had been built in 1950, well before 1984, when the law against minarets above Ahmadiyya places of worship had been passed. They argued that per a verdict passed by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in April 2024, all such buildings constructed before 1984 were protected from demolition.
However, the community claimed that the extremists had called for a public protest on Friday, November 22 in Kot Karambakhsh. They further claimed that on the pretext of the protest, some 150 protesters attacked Ahmadi places of worship and homes in Kot Karambakhsh by pelting them with stones. Several Ahmadi places of worship, homes, and other properties suffered damage.
To add insult to injury, the community claimed that the Motra police booked 11 community members by name while another 20 were booked who were caretakers of the worship places. They were booked for rioting and disturbing the peace under sections 148, 149, and 324.
A spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya community condemned the attack on the homes and places of worship of Ahmadis in Sialkot.
The spokesperson added that by demolishing the minarets atop a 70-year-old worship place, the police had violated the orders of the Lahore High Court. Moreover, instead of protecting the lives and properties of citizens, the police chose to flout the law.
It is pertinent to mention that the ongoing year has been particularly violent for Ahmadis, with community leaders target killed while places of worship and graveyards desecrated by police under pressure from extremists - often who were linked with the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).