Hundreds gathered outside Lahore’s Hafeez Centre on Monday in protest over the arrest of a man charged with spreading religious hatred under the National Action Plan (NAP).
The protesters, consisting largely of shopkeepers and traders from Hafeez Centre, gathered on Main Boulevard and chanted slogans against the arrest and registration of a case against Abid Hashmi under Section 295-A of the Pakistan Penal Code and 16 of the MPO.
According to police officials, Hashmi was arrested Sunday for displaying a poster outside his computer shop banning Ahmadi customers from entering and declaring them as “infidels”.
On Saturday, a police team, led by Gulberg’s Station House Officer (SHO) Yousuf Butt had raided Hashmi’s shop and removed the poster. His arrest came a day after by the Model Town division Superintendent of Police (SP) Mustansar Feroze.
“The arrest was made under the National Action Plan (NAP) for spreading religious hatred,” Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Haider Ashraf said.
The NAP would be implemented at all costs and strict action taken against its violators, he said, adding that no one would be allowed to post any hate material against any religious group.
The move was welcomed by a spokesperson for the Ahmadi community, Amir Mehmood as the “first drop of rain”.
A photograph of the notice pasted outside Hashmi’s shop had gone viral on social media on Wednesday night, demanding the Punjab government and police officials “take action” against the “shameful” act.
The move came just two days before the first anniversary of a Taliban massacre at Peshawar’s Army Public School last year that left more than 150 people dead, mostly school children.
In November, Ahmadi families were forced to flee Jhelum after an angry mob torched a factory there, accusing the community members of burning the holy Quran.
Good job by the police…such fanatics should be punished and denounced in our society
To be a Muslim, one has to believe that there is No God but God and Muhammad is the last messenger of God. After Muhammad ,God will not appoint any messengers on earth and Muhammad’s will be the final message.
Ahmedis don’t believe Muhammad is the last messenger. They believe a man born in 19th century Punjab is the last messenger of God. This contradicts the core belief of Islam so they are not Muslims. They are a separate religion , like Baha’i. Who also share beliefs with Islam but are fundamentally contradictory to Islam’s core beliefs.
Despite the contradiction with the core beleif of Islam, Ahmedis insist on being labeled Muslims, while at the same time Ahmedis consider the other 1.5 billion Muslims to be Non Muslims.
Pakistan government should protect the rights of Ahmedis but not at the expense of the religious sentiments of the majority of the country.
Ahmedis deserve protection of the state , equal participation in social and political life, they should be honored for their contributions to Pakistan.
Omer Cheema you need to get your facts right.
I would only like to add that Jamaat Ahmadiyya and its followers have complete trust in each and every word of Allah in Holy Quran and we firmly believe in Holy Prophet saw to be khatamun Nabiyeen.
We also believe that Holy Prophet Muhammad saw prophesised a Mahdi and Messiah will come to reform the faith and we believe that promised messiah has come.
If I prove your logic wrong on the numbers then you should reconsider your facts:
2 Billion Christians says that 1.5 Billion Muslims are wrong. Using your logic you should become Christian shouldn't you?
At the time of Holy Prophet saw he started as one because he was sent divinely guided Allah did all the wonders and today you see that 1 person is now 1. Billion
Similarly 1 Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian is now in more then 200 countries of the world. His followers are in millions. If he was not divinely guided the Allah would have never blessed him this much.
Its people like you who should be considered separate from humanity and shunned. No wonder Trump and a growing number of Americans do not want your sorts turning up in US.
[…] We have been told ad nauseam that the terrorists have been defeated, and yet they continue to kill us by the dozens. Today we honour the memory of those poor children killed one year ago, but tomorrow we get back to our routines of taking out protests in support of extremists. […]
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