- HRCP slams Ahmadis’ killing in Gujranwala, demands enquiry to find out why police failed to act as the mob went around a number of Ahmadi localities before they eventually chose the one that they decided to target
LAHORE
INP
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has slammed the mob attack and killing of four members of the Ahmadi community in Gujranwala and burning of five houses, terming the incident as “brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows”.
In a statement issued on Monday, the commission said, “HRCP is shocked and disgusted at the killing of four citizens belonging to the Ahmadi faith in Gujranwala after a blasphemy allegation. Four other Ahmadis were reported to be hospitalised in a critical condition. As things stand in the country now, particularly in Punjab, a blasphemy charge, however unfounded, makes such cold-blooded killings somehow less repulsive.”
“The people who were killed were not even indirectly accused of the blasphemy charge. Their only fault was that they were Ahmadi. Torching women and children in their house simply because of their faith represents brutalisation and barbarism stooping to new lows.”
The commission has stressed that the community must demand accountability of the mob that cheered as the victims cried for help.
“The mob was dancing for the TV camera after torching the houses of people who were not even accused of blasphemy. It proves that the whole episode had nothing to do with blasphemy but was aimed at further victimizing an already persecuted community. It should not be too difficult to imagine the feelings of members of the targeted community in Gujranwala, or anywhere in Pakistan for that matter.”
Moreover, the HRCP called for a thorough enquiry to find out why police failed to act as the mob went around a number of Ahmadi localities before they eventually chose the one that they decided to target.
Members of the mob and the people who instigated them need to be identified and brought to justice, the HRCP stated, adding that the biases and intolerance that led to the killing must be rooted out through proactive and meaningful steps.