In another targeted hate crime against Ahmadis, miscreants vandalized and damaged an Ahmadi place of worship in Karachi.
A dozen miscreants stormed the Ahmadi place of worship at around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. They destroyed the minarets with hammers and wrote hateful slogans on the walls of the building.
It is pertinent to mention here that this was the eleventh attack on an Ahmadi place of worship during the current year.
This place of worship (named Bait ul Mubarik) has existed since Pakistan was created.
The government has utterly failed to provide security to Ahmadi places of worship, in clear violation of Justice Jilani's 2014 ruling. The government did nothing to protect Ahmadis despite a wave of attacks on their worship places in Karachi.
Locals have alerted that the Jhelum chapter of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) plans to stage a procession on the morning of Muharram 10 on the Finality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Khatam-e-Nabuwat).
A poster for the rally states that the rally is being conducted under the leadership of TLP leaders for PP-28, Chaudhry Nazakat Ali Rizvi and Syed Chhan Pir Shah. TLP PP-28 Jhelum Chief Organiser Maulana Asim Ashfaq Rizvi could also make an appearance.
Their rally will set off from Shandar Chowk, Serai Alamgir, and will culminate at Ahmadi Centre and will demolish any minarets and mehrabs observed at any Ahmadi place of worship.
The poster listed their demands as tearing down all minarets and domes that seek to identify Ahmaddiya places of worship in the Jhelum district as Muslim places of worship.
Other demands include imposing a strict ban on activities of the Ahmadiyya Community that resemble rituals or rites of Islam.
The rally and its timing are odd because Muharram 9 and 10 are a time when security is at its highest across Pakistan. It is a moment when members of the Shia community stage processions and hold congregations to observe the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions at Karbala.
Ratcheting up tensions
The announcement of the rally comes around a week after a local TLP leader had issued threats to the police to demolish minarets on Ahmadi places of worship.
Subsequently, on the intervening night between July 14 and 15, the police, under pressure from the TLP, demolished symbolic minarets on an Ahmadi place of worship in Jhelum.
Now the extremists are going a step further and threatening to demolish the minarets of Ahmadi places of worship from other places in Jhelum as well, a local said while commenting on the poster. The local declined to be named, fearing retribution from the TLP.
He added that on Friday, Jhelum District Police Officer Nasir Bajwa held a meeting with representatives of the Ahmadiyya Community and told them that minarets built on their places of worship in localities across the district, including Kala Gujran, Mahmoodabad, Pind Dadan Khan, and Jhelum city.
A dozen miscreants stormed the Ahmadi place of worship at around 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. They destroyed the minarets with hammers and wrote hateful slogans on the walls of the building.
It is pertinent to mention here that this was the eleventh attack on an Ahmadi place of worship during the current year.
This place of worship (named Bait ul Mubarik) has existed since Pakistan was created.
The government has utterly failed to provide security to Ahmadi places of worship, in clear violation of Justice Jilani's 2014 ruling. The government did nothing to protect Ahmadis despite a wave of attacks on their worship places in Karachi.
Locals have alerted that the Jhelum chapter of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) plans to stage a procession on the morning of Muharram 10 on the Finality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) (Khatam-e-Nabuwat).
A poster for the rally states that the rally is being conducted under the leadership of TLP leaders for PP-28, Chaudhry Nazakat Ali Rizvi and Syed Chhan Pir Shah. TLP PP-28 Jhelum Chief Organiser Maulana Asim Ashfaq Rizvi could also make an appearance.
Their rally will set off from Shandar Chowk, Serai Alamgir, and will culminate at Ahmadi Centre and will demolish any minarets and mehrabs observed at any Ahmadi place of worship.
The poster listed their demands as tearing down all minarets and domes that seek to identify Ahmaddiya places of worship in the Jhelum district as Muslim places of worship.
Other demands include imposing a strict ban on activities of the Ahmadiyya Community that resemble rituals or rites of Islam.
The rally and its timing are odd because Muharram 9 and 10 are a time when security is at its highest across Pakistan. It is a moment when members of the Shia community stage processions and hold congregations to observe the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions at Karbala.
Ratcheting up tensions
The announcement of the rally comes around a week after a local TLP leader had issued threats to the police to demolish minarets on Ahmadi places of worship.
Subsequently, on the intervening night between July 14 and 15, the police, under pressure from the TLP, demolished symbolic minarets on an Ahmadi place of worship in Jhelum.
Now the extremists are going a step further and threatening to demolish the minarets of Ahmadi places of worship from other places in Jhelum as well, a local said while commenting on the poster. The local declined to be named, fearing retribution from the TLP.
He added that on Friday, Jhelum District Police Officer Nasir Bajwa held a meeting with representatives of the Ahmadiyya Community and told them that minarets built on their places of worship in localities across the district, including Kala Gujran, Mahmoodabad, Pind Dadan Khan, and Jhelum city.